NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COURSE CODE: PHY 124

COURSE TITLE: GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

PHY 124 COURSE GUIDE

COURSE
GUIDE
PHY 124
GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Course Developers/Writers Dr. Sanjay Goupta

National Open University of Nigeria

Dr. C. O. Ajayi
Physics Department
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Programme Leader Dr. Sanjay Gupta

National Open University of Nigeria

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

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PHY 124 COURSE GUIDE

National Open University of Nigeria

Headquarters
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island
Lagos

Abuja Office
No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street
Off Aminu Kano Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja
Nigeria

e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng
URL: www.nou.edu.ng

Published by
National Open University of Nigeria

Printed 2008

Reprinted 2009

ISBN: 978-058-927-9

All Rights Reserved

iii
PHY 124 COURSE GUIDE

CONTENTS PAGE

Introduction………………………………………………..………. 1
What You Will Learn in this Course………………………………... 1
Course Aims………………………………………………………… 2
Course Objectives……………………………….…………………… 2
Working through this Guide………………….……………………. 3
Course Materials………………………..………….………………. 3
Study Units……………………………..………………….……….. 4
Text Books and References……………………………….………. 4
Assignment File………………………………………….………... 5
Presentation Schedule……………………….…………….……….. 5
Assessment…………………….………………………….……….. 5
Tutor-Marked Assignment………………………………….……... 5
Final Examination and Grading…………………..………………... 6
Course Marking Scheme………………….……………………….. 6
Course Overview………………………………………...…………. 6
How to Get Most from the Course………..…………….…………. 7
Facilitators/Tutors and Tutorials……………………...……………. 9
Summary…………………………………..……………………….. 10

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Introduction

Light plays a vital role in human life. From the very beginning, it is a
subject of great interest to know the secrets of light. We are always
curious to know how we receive information to and from objects with
the help of light. This is perhaps the reason to learn about the light and
the phenomena associated with it. Geometric and wave optics is one
semester 2 – Credits core course. It will be available to all students to
take towards their B.Sc Education and other programmes like B.Sc
computer science, environmental studies etc. This course comprises 15
study Units in 3 Modules, which involves basic principles of geometric
and wave optics. The themes of these topics we have chosen are most
interesting and relevant. The material for this subject has been
developed in such a way that student with at least a credit pass at the
ordinary level or equivalent will follow quite easily. This course will
make the students to be aware of how perceive shapes, colors, motion of
objects.

There are no compulsory pre-requisites for the course. However, you

are strongly advised to heave adequate knowledge for further
Mathematics or applied mathematics.

This course guide tells you briefly what the course is about, what course
materials you will be using and how you can work your way through
these materials. It suggests some general guidelines for the time you are
likely to spend t complete it successfully. It also provides you guidance
on tutor-marked assignments which will be available on the Web in due
course.

There are regular tutorials and practical classes that are linked to the
course. You are advised to attend these sessions regularly as this is an
important aspect. Details regarding the time and locations of tutorials
and practical will be available at your Study Centre and included on
Web.

What You Will Learn in this Course

The overall aim of PHY 124 is to introduce the basic principles of

geometric and wave optics and appreciate the usefulness of these
principles to make our life simpler and convenient. During this course,
you will learn that light has a dual nature i.e. it exhibits characteristics of
wave in some situations and characteristics of particle in other
situations. In the beginning of this course, you would learn about
reflection and refraction at plane and curved surfaces and the
phenomena associated with them. Also, you learn about lenses and
PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

optical entrustments like telescopes, microscopes etc. required for

scientific and technological developments.

Towards the second part of this course, in the next few units, you will be
introduced into some aspects of wave optics like interference and
polarization of light. These include interference in thin films and air
wedge, Newton’s rings, and laws ad application of polarization.

Course Aims

The aim of this course PHY 124: Geometric and wave optics is to
introduce the principles of geometric and wave optics and so make use
of these principles and their applications in everyday life. This will be
achieved by:

• Introducing you to the basic principles of geometric and wave

optics,
• Demonstrating you how these basic principles can be used in our
day life situations,
• Explaining some phenomena associated with geometric and wave
optics,
• Stimulating your interest in this area for the betterments, of the
world through advancements of technology and,
• Giving you some insight into possible future developments in the
areas of telecommunications optical lenses, optical instruments,
surgery etc.

Course Objectives

To achieve the aims set out above, the course sets over all objectives. In
addition, each unit has specific objectives. The unit objectives are
always included at the beginning of a unit; you should read them
carefully before you start working through the unit. You may refer to
them during your study of the unit to check your progress. You should
always look at the unit objectives after completing a unit. In this way,
you can be sure that you have done what was required of you for the
unit.

Mentioned below are the wider objectives of the course as a whole. By

meeting these objectives, you should have achieved the aims of the
course as a whole.

On successful completion of the course, you should be able to:

1. Explain the concept of reflection and refraction;

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

2. Explain how images are formed by reflection and refraction on

plane and curved surfaces;
3. Apply the mirror formula to obtain either image distance or
object distance or the focal length;
4. Define Snell’s law and how it can be related with refractive index
or wavelength;
5. Describe refraction through a rectangular glass block and a prism;
6. Define a lens and identify its characteristics features;
7. Distinguish between the images formed by convex and concave
lenses;
8. Define and explain dispersion and identify the different colors of
white light;
9. Define power of a lens and to solve problems involving power of
a lens;
10. Explain the functions of microscope and astronomical telescope;
11. Distinguish between astronomical and terrestrial telescope;
12. Explain the concept of interference and the conditions for
interference;
13. Explain how a thin film and air wedge forms interference
patterns;
14. Differentiate between Newton’s rings and interference by him
films;
15. Identify the crystals that can produce polarize light; and
16. Define and explain Brewster’s law.

Working through this Guide

To complete this course you are required to go through the study units,
read set books and read other materials provided by NOUN. You will
also need to do some practical exercises, which will be arranged by your
course facilitator/tutor. Each unit contains self-assessment exercises,
and at points in the course you are required to submit assignments for
assessment purposes. The evaluation of your TMAs will be done by the
facilitator/tutor at the study center. At the end of the course, there is a
final examination. The course shall take you about 15 weeks in total to
complete. Below you will listed all the components of the course, what
you have to do and how you should allocate your time to each unit in
order to complete the course successfully and on time.

Course Materials

1. Course Guide
2. Study Units
3. Assignment File
4. Presentation Schedule

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Study Units

There are 15 Study Units in this course as follows:

Module 1

Unit 1 Reflection at Plane Surfaces

Unit 2 Reflection at Curved Surfaces
Unit 3 Refraction at Plane Surfaces
Unit 4 Refraction through Prism
Unit 5 Refraction at Curved Surfaces

Module 2

Unit 1 Images Formed by a Converging Lens and Diverging Lens

Unit 2 Lens Formula and Spectra
Unit 3 The Eye
Unit 4 Optical instruments
Unit 5 Other Types of Telescopes

Module 3

Unit 1 Interference
Unit 2 Interference in Thin Films and Air Wedge
Unit 3 Newton’s Rings and Interference in Thin Films
Unit 4 Polarization of Light
Unit 5 Laws and Application of Polarization

Each study unit consists of three hours work. Each study unit includes
specific objectives, directions for study, reading materials, conclusions,
summaries of key issues and ideas and references for further reading.
The units direct you to work on exercises. In general, these self-
assessment questions are based on the materials available in the units
and will help you to gauge your progress and to reinforce your
understanding of the material. Together with tutor-marked assignments,
these exercises will assist you in achieving the stated learning objectives
of the individual units and of the course.

Text Books and References

Nelkon and Parker, ‘An Advance Level Physics’, Published by British

Library Publication.

Shortley and Williams, ‘Principles of College Physics’. Englcool Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.:

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Mark W. Zemansky, ‘College Physics’. London: Addision-Wasley.

Waltham W. Ford, ‘Basic Physics’. London: Toronto.

Kenneth W. Ford, ‘Basic Physics’. Toronto London: Wltham

Massachuesetts.

Assignment File

This assignment file will be supplied by NOUN. In this file, you will
fine all the details of the work you must submit to your facilitator/tutor
for marks that you obtain in your assignments will be counted in your
final result you obtain for the course. Further information on
assignments will be found in the assignment file itself and later in the
Course Guide in the section on assessment. Therefore you are advised
to take you assignments seriously and regularly. Before submitting, you
must ensure that you have answered all the questions required from you
in all assignments. There are about 15 assignments in this course. The
assignments will cover all the topics treated in all the units.

Presentation Schedule

The presentation schedule included in your course materials gives you

the important dates for the completion of tutor-marked assignments and
attending tutorials. Remember, you have to complete the assignments in
time and submit these stipulated assignments y the due date.

Assessment

There are two aspects to the assessment of you performance for the
course. First are the tutor-marked assignments; second, there is a
written examination, knowledge and techniques gathered during the
course. The assignments must be submitted to your facilitator/tutor for
formal assessments in accordance with the deadlines stated in the
presentation schedule and the assignment file. The work you submit to
your facilitator/tutor for assessment will carry 30% weightage of your
total course work. At the end of your course, you need to appear for a
final written examination of three hours duration. The final examination
will carry 70% weightage of your course mark.

Tutor-Marked Assignment

The TMAs are listed as item 6.0 in each unit. The main of the
assignments is to test your comprehension of the material provided to
you and to help you by providing feedback to you. Generally, you will
be able to complete your assignments from the information and

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

materials contained in the study units of the course and other

recommended books. Using other references will give you a broader
viewpoint and provide a deeper understanding of the subject.

On completion of each assignment, send it, together with a TMA form,

to you facilitator/tutor. Make sure that each assignment reaches your
facilitator/tutor on or before deadline mentioned by the course
coordinator in the presentation schedule and assignment file. If, for any
reason, you cannot complete you work on time, contact you
facilitator/tutor before the assignment is due to discuss the possibility of
an extension. Extensions will not be granted after the due date unless
there are exceptional circumstances.

Final Examination and Grading

The final examination for PHY 124 will be of three hours duration and
carry a weightage of 70% of the total course grade. The examination
will consists of questions which reflect the type of self-testing practice
exercises and tutor marked problems you have previously encountered.
All areas of the course shall be assessed.

Course Marking Scheme

The assessment will be two folds – TMAs will carry 30% weightage of
course marks while the final examination will carry 70% marks of the
total marks obtainable.

Course Overview

The table given brings together the units, the number of weeks you
should spend to complete them, and the assignments that follow them.

Unit Title of Unit Week’s Assessment

Activity (end of unit)
Course Guide 0.5
Module 1
1 Reflection at Plane Surface 0.5 Assignment 1
2 Reflection at Curved 1.0 Assignment 2
Surfaces
3 Refraction at Plane Surfaces 1.0 Assignment 3
4 Refraction through Prisms 1.0 Assignment 4
5 Refraction at Curved 0.5 Assignment 5
Surfaces
6 Images Formed by 0.5 Assignment 6
Converging Lens and
Diverging Lens

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

7 Lens Formula and Spectra 1.0 Assignment 7

8 The Eye 0.5 Assignment 8
9 Optical Instruments 1.0 Assignment 9
10 Other Types of Telescopes 1.0 Assignment 10
11 Interference 1.0 Assignment 11
12 Inference in Thin Films and 0.5 Assignment 12
Air Wedge
13 Newton’s Rings and 1.0 Assignment 13
Interference in Thin Films
14 Polarization of Light 1.0 Assignment 14
15 Laws and Application of 1.0 Assignment 15
Polarization
Revision 2.0
Total 15.0

How to Get Most from the Course

In distance learning, the study units replace the lecturer. This is one of
the great advantages of distance learning; you can read and work
through specially designed study materials at your own pace, and at a
time and place that suit you best. Think of it as reading the lecture
instead of listening a lecture. In the same way that a lecturer might set
you some reading to do, the study units tell you when to read your set
books or other materials, and when to undertake computing practical
work. Just a lecturer might give you an in-class exercise, your study
units provide exercises for you to do at appropriate points.

Each of the study unit follows a common format. The first item is an
introduction to the subject matter of the unit and how a particular unit is
integrated with the other units and the course as a whole. Then, there is
a set learning objectives. These objectives let you know what you
should be able to do by the time you have completed the unit. You
should use these objectives to guide your study. When you have
finished the unit, you must go back and check whether you have
achieved the objectives. If you make a habit of doing this, you will
significantly improve your chances of passing the course.

The main body of the unit guides you through the required reading from
other sources. It will enhance your understanding of the material in the
unit. Self-tests are interspersed throughout the units and answers are
given within the units. Working through these tests will definitely help
you to achieve the objectives of the unit and prepare you for the
assignments and the examination. It is advised that you should do each
self-tests as you come across in the study unit. There will also be
numerous examples given in the study units; work through them when
you come to them, too.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

The practical strategy for working through the course is mentioned

below. If you have any trouble telephone your facilitator/tutor (or post
the question on the Web CT OLE’s discussion board). Remember that
facilitator/tutors are to help you. Here you will get an opportunity to
discuss with them your problems pertaining to the course of your study.
So, when you need help, don’t hesitate to consult you facilitator/tutor to
provide it.

1. First of all, read the Course Guide carefully and thoroughly.

2. Then, organize a study schedule. Refer to the course overview for

more details. Note the time you are expected spend on each unit
and how the assignments relate to the units. Important
information’s regarding the details of your tutorials and the
date of the first day of the semester is available from the Web
ct OLE. You need to gather all the informations in one lace,
such as your diary or a wall calendar. Whatever method you
choose to use, you should decide on and write in you own
dates for working on each unit.

3. Once you have created your own study schedule, do everything

you can to stick to it. The major reason that student fail is that
they get behind their course work. If you have any difficulty with
your schedule, please let your facilitator/tutor know before it is
too late for help.

4. Turn to unit 1 and read the introduction and the objective for the
unit. Assemble the study materials. You will almost always both
the study unit you are working on and of your set books on your
desk at the same time.

5. Work through the unit. The content of the unit itself has been
arranged to provide a sequence for you to follow. As you work
through the unit, you will be instructed to read section of your set
books or other articles. Use the unit objectives to guide your
readings.

6. Update yourself on the Web CT OLE. Up-to-date information

will be continuously posted there.

7. Keep in mind that you will learn a lot by doing the assignments
carefully. The assignments have been designed to help you to
meet the objectives of the course and, therefore, will help you
pass exam. Submit all assignments y due date.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

8. Review the objectives for each study unit to confirm that you
have achieved them. If you feel unsure about any of the
objectives, review the study materials or consult your
facilitator/tutor. After ensuring that you have achieved a unit’s
objectives, then start on the next unit. Proceed unitwise through
the course and try to keep yourself on schedule.

9. When you have submitted an assignment to your facilitator/tutor

for marking, do not wait for its return before starting on the next
unit. The evaluated assignments will be returned to you with
tutor comments and marks obtained in TMAs. Keep to your
schedule. When the assignment is returned, pay particular
attention to your tutor’s comments, both on the tutor-marked
assignment form and also written on the assignments. Consult
your facilitator/tutor as soon as possible if you have any question
or problems.

10. After completing the last unit, give sometime to review the
course and prepare yourself for the final examination. Check that
you have achieved the unit objectives listed at the beginning of
each unit and the course objective listed in the course Guide.

Facilitators/Tutors and Tutorials

There are 5 hours of tutorials provided in support of this course. You

will be notified of the dates, time and location of these tutorials, together
with the name and phone number of your facilitator/tutor, as soon as you
re allocated a tutorial group.

Your facilitator/tutor will evaluate and comment on your assignments,

keep a close watch on your progress and on any difficulties you might
face and provide assistance to you during the course. You must mail
your tutor-marked assignments to your facilitator/tutor well before the
due date (at least two working days required). They will be marked by
your facilitator/tutor and returned to you with comments at he earliest.

Do not hesitate to contact your facilitator/tutor by telephone, email, or

discussion board if you need help. The following might be
circumstances in which you would find help necessary.

Contact your facilitator/tutor if:

• If you do not understand any part of the study units or the

assigned readings.
• You have the difficulty with the self-tests or exercises.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

• You have a question or problem with an assignment, with your

tutor’s comments on an assignment or with the grading of an
assignment.

You should try your best to attend the tutorials. This is the only chance
to have face to face contact with your tutor and to ask questions which
are answered instantly. You can raise any problem encountered in the
course of your study. To gain the maximum benefit from course
tutorials, prepare a question list before attending them. You will learn a
lot from participating in discussion actively.

Summary

PHY 124 intends to introduce basic principles and applications of

Geometric and wave optics. Upon completing this course, you will be
equipped with knowledge of reflection, refraction, interference,
polarization and dispersion etc. and the laws and phenomena associated
with them. Also will learn how geometric and ray optics is useful in our
day-to-day life. You will be able to answer these kinds of questions:

1. What is reflection and refraction?

2. How reflection occurs at plane and curved surfaces?
3. How total internal reflection is useful for us?
4. How we see the different colours when a ray of white light passes
through prism?
5. What is a power of a lens?
6. How lens maker’s law can apply?
7. What are the various parts of the eye?
8. How the microscope and telescope functions?
9. Is the astronomical telescope different from terrestrial telescope?
10. What are coherent sources?
11. How air wedge forms interference patterns?
12. What is the difference between Newton’s rings and interference
by thin films?
13. What are the ways to produce a polarized light
14. What is Brewster’s law?
15. What are the applications of polarized light?

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Course Code PHY 124

Course Title Geometric and Wave Optics

Course Developers/Writers Dr. Sanjay Goupta

National Open University of Nigeria

Dr. C. O. Ajayi
Physics Department
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Programme Leader Dr. Sanjay Gupta

National Open University of Nigeria

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

National Open University of Nigeria

Headquarters
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island
Lagos

Abuja Office
No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street
Off Aminu Kano Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja
Nigeria

e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng
URL: www.nou.edu.ng

Published by
National Open University of Nigeria

Printed 2008

Reprinted 2009

ISBN: 978-058-927-9

All Rights Reserved

xii
PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

CONTENTS PAGE

Module 1 Reflection and Refraction at Plane and Curved

Surfaces……………………………….…….……... 1

Unit 1 Reflection at Plane Surfaces……………….………… 1

Unit 2 Reflection at Curved Surfaces…………………..……. 8
Unit 3 Refraction at Plane Surfaces………………….……… 20
Unit 4 Refraction through Prisms…………….…………….. 31
Unit 5 Refraction at Curved Surfaces……………………….. 40

Module 2 Lenses and Optical Instruments…………..……..… 47

Unit 1 Images Formed By a Converging Lens and Diverging

Lens (Ray Tracing)……………………………..…… 47
Unit 2 Lens Formula and Spectra……….………………….. 56
Unit 3 The Eye……………………………..……………….. 70
Unit 4 Optical Instruments……………………..…………… 79
Unit 5 Other Types of Telescopes…………………………… 90

Module 3 Interference and Polarization of Light………….…. 98

Unit 1 Interference……………………….………………….. 98
Unit 2 Interference in Thin Films and Air Wedge…............... 111
Unit 3 Newton’s Rings and Interference in Thin Films…….… 118
Unit 4 Polarization of Light………………………….……... 129
Unit 5 Laws and Application of Polarization………….…… 136

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

MODULE 1 REFLECTION AND REFRACTION AT

PLANE AND CURVED SURFACES

Unit 1 Reflection at Plane Surfaces

Unit 2 reflection at Curved Surfaces
Unit 3 refraction at Plane Surfaces
Unit 4 refraction Through Prisms
Unit 5 refraction at Curved Surfaces

UNIT 1 REFLECTION AT PLANE SURFACES

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Contents
3.1 Laws of Reflection
3.2 Reflection at Plane Surfaces
3.3 Image Formed by Plane Mirror
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

We see objects either by the light they produce or by the light they
reflect from other objects. Objects that produce their own light are said
to be luminous. Examples are the sun, candle light, electric light bulbs
etc. Whereas, non-luminous objects do not produce their own light.
They are seen only when light from other sources fall on them and is
thrown back or “reflected” into our eyes. For example the moon shines
in the night because it reflects light coming from the sun and not
because it is luminous.

i) The narrowest of light is a ray which is usually diagrammatically

represented by a thin line (as shown in Fig. 1.1a) with an arrow
head on it. The arrow head represents the direction of
propagation of the light.
ii) A group of rays gives rise to a beam of which can be parallel or
convergent or divergent as shown in Fig. 1.1. Light rays can be
reflected or refracted on plane or curved surfaces depending on
the nature of the surfaces, including their material make up. In
this unit we shall only look at reflection of light by a plane
surface.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

(a) A light ray (b) Parallel beams (c) Divergent beams (d) Convergent beams

Fig. 1.1: A ray and type of beams of light.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• recognize incident and reflected rays

• recognize angle of incident and angle of refraction
• explain how images are formed by plane mirrors
• solve problems related to reflection at plane surfaces
• state the laws of reflection
• experimentally verify the laws of reflection.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Laws of Reflection

N

A C
Normal

Incident
ray
Reflected
ray
i r

Fig.1.2: Reflection from a surface of a plane mirror

In this Fig 1.2, i is the angle of incident and r is the angle of reflection.

Fig. 1.2 shows a ray of light AB which is incident on the surface of a

plane mirror at an angle of incident i from the normal to the mirror. BC
is the ray of light reflected from the surface of the mirror, therefore is
known as the reflected ray. The angle formed by the reflected ray with
normal is r called angle of reflection. As it can be seen from Fig.1.2, the
incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal to the mirror at the point of
incidence all lie in the same plane. This is the first law of reflection.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Also, it has been experimentally found that

angle i = angle r …..(1.1)

That is, Eq. 1.1 implies that the angle of incident is always equal to the
angle of reflection. This has given rise to what is known as second law
of reflection.

Consequently the laws of reflection can be summarized as follows:

1st Law

The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of
incidence all lie in the same plane.

2nd Law

The angle of incident equals the angle of reflection.

3.2 Reflection at Plane Surfaces

When light is reflected from a surface that is smooth or polished it may

act as a mirror and produce a reflected image. If the mirror is flat, or
plane, the image of the object appears to lie behind the mirror at a
distance equal to the distance between the object and the surface of the
mirror. In figure 1.3, the light source is the object A, and the point on A
sends out rays in all directions. The two rays that strike the mirror at B
and C, are reflected as the rays BD and CE. To an observer in front of
the mirror, these rays appear to come from the point F behind.

Observer
D
E

A
Light Mirror F
Image
Source
Fig. 1.3: Formation of an image by a plane mirror

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Formation of Image by Plane Mirror

In the mirror, it follows from the laws of reflection that CF and BF form
the same angle with the surface of the mirror, as do AC and AB. If the
surface of reflection is rough, then normal to various points of the
surface lie in random directions in that case, rays that may lie in the
same plane when they emerge from a point source nevertheless lie in
random planes of incidence and therefore of reflection, and are scattered
and can not form an image.

3.3 Image Formed by Plane Mirror

A real image is the one formed through actual intersection of light rays,
and can be captured on a screen.

Fig. 1.3 (a): A real image

A virtual image is that formed by imaginary intersection of light rays

and can not be formed or captured on the screen.

Virtual image
I
Imaginary intersection
Fig. 1.4 (b): Virtual image

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Look at yourself in a mirror and compare your image with yourself and
answer the following questions.

1. Is your image real or virtual?

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

2. What can you deduce about the way or direction your image is
pointing?
3. Is your head in your image and in real life pointing in the same
direction?
4. On which side of your body (real) does your right side in the
image appear to be?
5. Is your image of the same size as your physical body?
6. Finally, what can you deduce from 1-5 above?

Having gone through exercise 1.1 above, you must have some idea
about the plane mirrors and the formation of images in plane mirrors.
Now, we will discuss the characteristics of images formed by a plane
mirror.

Major Characteristics of images formed by plane mirror are as

follows:

i) It is upright, that is, the image is oriented in the same direction as

the object.
ii) It is virtual, that is, it can not be received on the screen.
iii) It is of the same size as the object.
iv) It is laterally inverted.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Any polished surface is capable of becoming a reflector of light. Where

a reflection occurs, the incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal all
lie in the same plane. Also the angle of incident, i, is equal the angle of
reflection r. These two laws constitute the laws of reflection.
Finally, the formation of an image by a mirror is an application of
reflection of light at a plane surface.

5.0 SUMMARY

• A ray is a fundamental component of light in a given direction

and is represented by a thin line with an arrow, while a beam of
light consists of several rays.
• A beam can be parallel, convergent or divergent.
• A beam or a ray of light incident on a polished surface at an angle
i which is not 900 is reflected at angle r from the surface, while
angle i ( angle of incident) = angle r (angle of reflection).
• There are two laws of reflection:
1st Law: The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the
point of incidence all lie in the same plane.

2nd Law: The angle of incident is equal to the angle of reflection.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

• The image formed by a plane mirror due to reflection of light by

the plane mirror is such that the distance of the mirror object
from the surface of the mirror and the distance of the image from
the surface of the mirror are equal.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Activity

Place or fix a sheet of white A4 size paper with a thumbtack at each

edge of the paper. With the help of two empty match boxes with vertical
slot (holes) cut into them, support the mirror in a vertical position on the
paper as shown in Fig. 1.5 below.

R A Match box

M Mirror
Q
P

B P′
Match box

Fig. 1.5: A mirror in a vertical position on a paper

Then, trace with your pencil the surface of the mirror, line AB on the
paper. Place a point P and place another one as point Q as shown in fig.
1.5. Move your head to the left of P, looking into the mirror as you
move your head, until you see the image of P in line with P appearing to
be along line P′Q. Use a third pin R to a line with P′ and Q.

That is, until when pins P′, Q and R appear to be on the same straight
line. When this occurs, fix pin R on the paper and remove the mirror.
Then, draw line M Q such that line M Q is 90o to line AB. Measure the
angle between MQ and PQ and then, the angle between MQ and QR.

Questions

1. What is line MQ called?

2. What is line PQ called?
3. What is line QR called?
4. What is angle PQM called and what is angle MQR called?
5. What can you deduce about the magnitude of angle PQR and
MQR?
6. From 1-5, deduce the laws of reflection.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

UNIT 2 REFLECTION AT CURVED SURFACES

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Images Formed by Curved Mirrors
3.1.1 Images Formed by a Concave Mirror when the
Object is Placed Beyond Center of Curvature
3.1.2 Image Formed by a Concave Mirror when the
Object is Placed between the Center of Curvature
and the Principal Focus
3.1.3 Image Formed by a Concave Mirror when the
Object is Placed before the Principal Focus
3.2 The Mirror Formula
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the last Unit, you studied reflections at plane (flat) surfaces. In this
unit you will study reflection at curved surfaces. Such surfaces include
concave and convex mirrors.

When light is incident on a curved surface of mirror, the reflected rays

either diverge or converge depending on the direction of curvature of the
surface. We could produce a curved surface by cutting out a part of a
hollow spherical shell. A concave mirror is a curved surface which is
silvered inside while a convex mirror is a curved surface that is silvered
side is outside, as shown in Fig. 2.1 (a) and 2.1 (b) respectively.
Therefore, a concave or converging mirror reflect light from its inside
while a convex or diverging mirror reflect light from its outside as
shown in Fig. 2.2 (a) and Fig. 2.2 (b).

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Reflective Reflective
Silvered Side Side
Silvered
Side
Side

Fig. 2.1 (a) concave mirror (b) convex mirror

P
F C
Principal axis
A

Fig. 2.2 (a) Fig. 2.2 (b)

Because the convex mirror or the concave mirror is part of a sphere, it

has a center C called the center of curvature, and a radius (r) called
radius of curvature. And it also has a Principal Focus F1, whose distance
from the pole P to the mirror is half the radius of curvature. These
parameters are shown in Fig. 2.2 for the convex mirror respectively.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• distinguish between reflection at curved surface and that at a

plane surface
• identify the principal focus of a curved mirror
• obtain images formed by a curved mirror using ray diagrams
• state the mirror formula
• apply the mirror formula to obtain either image distance or object
distance or the focal length and solve problems involving a
curved mirror
• define magnification.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Images Formed by Curved Mirrors

We can find the nature and position of the images formed by curved
mirrors with the help of ray diagrams drawn to scale. To do this, we
make use of the following facts:

i) A ray parallel to the principal axis passes through the principal

focus after reflection (refer Fig. 2.3 (a))
ii) A ray through the center of curvature is reflected back along its
path (refer Fig. 2.3(b)).
iii) As a corollary to (i), any ray through the principal focus is
reflected parallel to the principal axis (refer Fig. 2.3 (c)). The
points to which these reflected rays converge or from which they
appear to diverge represent the required image. In practice
however, the tracing of only two of these rays will enable us to
find the position of the image.

P
F C O
Principal axis
A

Fig. 2.3(a): Ray parallel to principal axis reflects back

through principal focus F.

P
F C O

Fig. 2.3 (b): A ray goes through centre of curvature

reflected back along its path

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

P O
F C

Fig. 2.3(c): A ray goes through principal focus F reflected back

parallel to the principal axis.

We can represent the object as a straight line perpendicular to the

principal axis with arrow to represent its head. Now, in the next
sub-sections, with the help of diagrams, we will show the
position and nature of the image produced by a concave mirror
using these facts.

3.1.1 Image Formed by a Concave Mirror When the Object is

Placed Beyond Centre of Curvature

Fig. 2.4 shows the ray diagram for the Image formed by a concave
mirror when the object is placed beyond the center of curvature and OP
represents the object, IQ represents the image. F and C respectively
represent the Principal focus and the center of the curvature of the
mirror.

Concave
mirror

I
O C F f
Q v
r

Fig 2.4: Image formed by a concave mirror for object before C.

The figure shows that the image formed is inverted (that is, in opposite
direction to the object). The image is also diminished (that is, smaller
than the object) and it occurs to the right of the center of curvature C.
Finally, the image is real, because it can be received on the screen.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.1.2 Image Formed by a Concave Mirror when the Object is

Placed between the Center of Curvature C and the
Principal Focus F

Fig. 2.5 shows the ray diagram for the image formed by a concave
mirror when the object is placed between the center of curvature C and
the principal focus F.

I
O F
C

Fig. 2.5: Image formed by a concave mirror for an object between C

and F.

The figure suggests that the image formed by the concave mirror has the
following characteristics:

i) it is real;
ii) it is magnified, that is, larger than the object;
iii) it occurs after C (to the left of C); and
iv) it is inverted.

3.1.3 Image Formed by a Concave Mirror when the Object is

between the Principal Focus F and the Mirror

Fig. 2.6 shows the ray diagram of the image formed by the concave
mirror when the object lies between the mirror and the principal focus F.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

C F I

Fig. 2.6: Image formed by a concave mirror for object

between F and the mirror.

The figure suggests that the image formed is behind the mirrors.
Therefore, it is virtual because it cannot be received on the screen.

3.2 The Mirror Formula

As you have learnt in section 3.1.1, that the distance of the object from
the mirror is known as object distance. This is usually represented by
letter u. Similarly, the distance between image and mirror is known as
the image distance, this is generally represented by letter v, also one
may not need to determine u or v by construction as done in section 3.1
because it has been experimentally found, that there is mathematical
relationship connecting these parameters (without proof). The
mathematical relationship is given as:

1 1 1
+ = ….. (2.1)
v u f

Where f is the focal length.

Magnification

In the day to day language, magnification is the degree of enlargement

or reduction of the size of an object through it image formed.
Magnification is mathematically represented by M.

M = Height of image
Height of object

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

This can also be represented in terms of image distance of the mirror v

and object distance u from the mirror. Mathematically it can be
expressed as:

M = Image distance
Object distance

v
i.e. M = …..(2.2)
u

A “real” image is considered as having positive value, whereas a

“virtual” image is considered as having negative value. This convention
is normally borne in mind in the application of the mirror formula. This
means that distances for real objects and images are considered as
positive while distance for virtual objects or images are considered to be
negative. Also, the focal length for a concave mirror is normally
considered as positive while that of a convex mirror is considered as
negative value.

Now we will quickly solve few examples to clear these concepts of

mirror formula and magnification.

Example 2.1

An object is placed 0.15 m in front of a concave mirror of focal length

0.1m. Determine the position, nature and magnification of the image
formed.

Solution: Object position u = 0.15 m

Focal length f = 0.1 m The focal length is positive
because the mirror is concave

To determining the position of the image ( image distance), we apply the

mirror formula.

The mirror formula is given as

1 1 1
= +
f u v

1 1 1
∴ = +
v f u

1 150 − 100 10
= =
v 15 3

3
⇒v= = 0 .3 m
10

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Note1

The question requiring you to state the nature of the image means that
you are required to state whether the image is real or virtual. Since the
image distance obtained (i.e. v = 0.3 m) is positive, it implies that the
formed image is real.

v
Magnification m =
u
0 .3
= = 2 .0
0.15

Note 2

The value of the magnification implies that the image formed is twice
the size of the object.

Example 2.2

A man has a concave mirror with focal length of 40 cm. How far should
the mirror be held from his face in order to give an image of two fold
magnification?

Solution

f = 40 cm (positive)

Two fold magnification means m = 2

The man’s face is the object, so therefore, one is required to calculate
the object distance u. To get a magnification of 2, first we apply a
formula

1 1 1
+ = ….. (1)
u v f

v
m= =2 ….. (2)
u

v = 2u ….. (3)

Substitute the value v = 2u in Eq. (1), then we get

1 1 1 1
∴ + = =
u 2u f 40

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

2 +1 1
=
2u 40

3 1
=
2u 40

⇒ 2u = 120

u = 60cm

--------------------------------------------------

CONVEX MIRROR P
A
B Q
O Pole I F C

Fig. 2.7: Formation of an image by convex mirror

Fig. 2.7 shows the ray diagram for the formation of an image by a
convex mirror. OP is the object and IQ is the image. As usual, the ray
PA which is parallel to the principal axis of the mirror, is reflected from
the surface of the mirror at A as if it is coming from F. Also, the ray PB
that is directed from the top of the object towards the center of curvature
(C) of the mirror is reflected back along the same path as if it is coming
from C. Thus, the intersection of the two rays (dotted lines in the figure)
gives rise to formation of image IQ.

Fig. 2.7 shows that the image formed by the convex mirror is

i) Upright
ii) Formed behind the mirror; therefore it is virtual;
iii) Diminished, that is, smaller than the object.

It is necessary to note that the characteristics of the image stated above

are true for the convex mirror, irrespective of where the object is placed
in the front of the mirror.

Thus, convex mirror is said to have a very wide field of view. Hence,
because the image formed by the convex mirror is erect, the convex
mirror is always use in motor vehicle as side mirror.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Example 2.3

A diverging mirror of 50.0 cm focal length produces a virtual image of

25.0 cm from the mirror. How far from the mirror should the object be
placed?

Solution

A diverging mirror is a convex mirror, and therefore, its focal length is

negative i.e. f = -50.0 cm. Similarly, since the image is virtual it implies
that v = - 25.0 cm.
From the problem, it is required to calculate the object distance u.

∴Using the mirror formula

1 1 1
+ =
u v f

On rearranging the terms, we get

1 1 1
= −
u f v

Substituting the values of v and f into the above Eq., we get

1 1 1
= −
u − 50.0 (−25.0)

1 −1 + 2 1
= =
u 50 50

u = 50.0cm

4.0 CONCLUSION

The curved mirror either concave or convex is part of a hollow sphere.

When the sphere is silvered inside it is a concave mirror while it is
convex if it is silvered outside. That is, a convex mirror reflect light
from its outside whereas a concave mirror reflects light from its inside.
Both or either the concave or convex mirror has center of curvature C,
Principal Focus F, the principal axis and a pole.
Because the convex mirror diverges parallel rays of light, it is called a
divergent mirror, whereas the concave mirror is called a convergent
mirror, because it converges parallel rays of light. The image formed by

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

either a convex mirror or a concave mirror can be determined using

either the ray diagram or the mirror formula. For the same reason, the
basic facts used are as follows:

i) a ray of light parallel to the axis of the mirror is reflected by the

mirror through the principal focus;
ii) a ray of light directed to the center of curvature of the mirror is
reflected back along the same path;
iii) a ray of light incident on the mirror through a Principal Focus is
reflected parallel to the axis of the mirror.

In using the mirror equation the following sign convections are used:

i) real objects and images have positive distances;

ii) virtual objects and images have negative distances;
iii) Concave mirrors have positive focal length and radii of curvature
while convex mirrors have negative focal length and radii of
curvature.

5.0 SUMMARY

• Curved mirrors, concave or convex, are part of hollow spheres.

• The reflecting surface of a concave mirror is inside while that of
a convex mirror is outside.
• A concave mirror or convex mirror has a pole, center of curvature
and the principal focus.
• The focal length of concave mirror is considered positive while
that of the convex mirror is taken as negative.
• A concave mirror can form a real or a virtual image, depending
on the location of the object. On the other hand, the convex
mirror forms an erect and virtual image irrespective of where the
object is located.
• A concave mirror can form either an enlarged or a diminished
image depending on the position of the object.
• As a result, the convex mirrors have a wide field of view and
always form an erect image. It is used as rear view mirrors in
automobiles.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

A pin 2 cm long is placed 25 cm away from the pole of a concave mirror

of focal length 10 cm. Determine its magnification.

10 cm
2 cm P
C F
25

7.0 REFERENCE/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

19
PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

UNIT 3 REFRACTION AT PLANE SURFACES

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Refraction at Plane Surfaces
3.1.1 The Bending of Ray of Light when it Travels from
Air to Water
3.1.2 The Bending of Ray of Light when it Travels from
Water to Air
3.2 Laws of Refraction
3.2.1 Snell’s law
3.2.2 Refractive Index
3.2.3 Critical Angle
3.3 Total Internal Reflection
3.3.1 Application of Total Internal Reflection
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Light plays a vital role in our life. This is the only mean by which one
can see the objects. From the very beginning, efforts were made to
explain many properties of light. Then phenomena of reflection and
refraction were explained by Newton. Later Huygens explained the
phenomena of reflection and refraction by using wave theory of light. In
this unit, we will not discuss the wave theory of light.

In the earlier two units, you have learnt about reflection at plane and
curved surfaces respectively. But in this unit, you will learn the
refraction of light that occurs when light travels from one medium to
another medium through a boundary. When a ray enters to the second
medium, it bent at the boundary. This bending of a ray of light from the
boundary is known as refraction.
Before proceeding further for the laws of refraction and total internal
reflection in this unit, it is important to know about the concepts of
refractive index and critical angle. So here, we will briefly discuss
about these concepts.

20
PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• distinguish between rare medium and denser medium

• know about the concept of refraction
• explain how the refraction takes place from one medium to
another
• explain the meaning of refractive index
• state Snell’s law
• define Critical angle
• state the laws of refraction
• set up a relation between refractive index and wavelength of light
in two mediums
• know about the phenomenon of total internal reflection
• state the applications of total internal reflections.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Refraction at Plane Surfaces

You have learnt in Unit 2 that what happens when light strike the
surface of an object. They reflected from the surface as shown in Fig.
3.1. But you may now ask a question: what happens to the light rays, if
the surface is transparent like glass or water? In simple words, it means
that what happen to the light rays when they pass from one medium to
another medium through the transparent surface between the two
medium like air and water.

Normal
Incident Reflected
ray ray

i r Smooth
surface
Fig. 3.1: Light ray is reflected from the smooth surface.

Now to know the answer of the above question, let us first discuss
briefly about the refraction.

When a ray of light passes from one medium to another through a

surface (transparent), the ray bends at the surface as shown in Fig. 3.2.
This bending of a ray of light is called refraction.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Incident M
ray
P
Medium (1)

Air
i O
r Medium (2)

Water Refracted ray

N Q

Fig. 3.2: Refraction at plane surface between two medium

In Fig. 3.2, the ray of light PO is called an incident ray whereas OQ is

the refracted ray. The angle r is called the angle of refraction which is
formed between the refracted ray OQ with the normal at MN at O. The
angle of refraction, shown in fig. 3.2, depends on the properties of the
two media in which the ray travel and also on the incident angle i. The
medium like air is called rarer medium and the medium like glass and
water are denser medium. Now, let us consider the two cases:

1. First, when a ray of light enters towards a medium where the

speed of light is less i.e. the ray travels from air (medium 1) to
water or glass (medium 2). The speed of light (3x108) is more in
comparison to the speed when it enters a block of glass (2x 108
m/s).

2. Second, when the ray of light travels towards a medium where

the speed of light s more i.e. the ray travels from water or glass
(medium 2) to air (medium 1). Therefore, ray is entering from a
medium to second medium where its speed is greater.

3.1.1 Case 1

The Bending of a Ray of Light when it travels from Air to

Water

In this case, when a ray of light enters towards a medium where the
speed of light is less (denser medium) i.e. from air to glass or water, it
bends towards the normal as shown in Fig. 3.3 (a).

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.1.2 Case 2

The Bending of a Ray of Light when it travels from Water to

Air

For this case, when a ray of light travels towards a medium where the
speed of light is more i.e. a ray of light moves from glass or water to air,
then the ray goes (bend) away from the normal as shown in Fig. 3.3 (b)
below.

Incident Normal
ray Refracted Normal
ray

Air
Air
Medium (1) i r

Water r i
Water
Medium
(2)
Refracted Incident ray
ray
(a ) (b )

Fig. 3.3: (a) A ray of light is traveling from air to water bends
towards the normal.
(b) A ray of light is traveling from water to air bends away
from the normal.

3.2 Laws of Refraction

You have learnt about the angle of incidence i and angle of refraction r
with the normal MN as shown in Fig. 3.2.

3.2.1 Snell’s Law

A relation between the angle of incidence and angle of refraction was

established by a scientist Snell and known as Snell’s law. According to
this law, the sine of the angle of incidence (i) and refraction (r) have a
constant ratio to each other. The two laws of refraction are:

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

First Law

The incident ray, refracted ray and normal at the point of incidence, all
lie in the same plane.

Second Law: The ratio of sine of angle of incidence (i) to the sine of
angle of refraction is a constant for two given media. Mathematically, it
can be expressed as

sin i
= constant .……………… (3.1)
sin r
Eq. (3.1) is known as Snell’s law.

Now, you must be curious to know that what is this constant in Eq.
(3.1). Let us discuss about this constant.

3.2.2 Refractive Index

You have learnt that the speed of light is different for different
substances like air, water, and glass. Let us consider that the speed of
light in vacuum (air) is c and the speed of light in some substance (i.e.
water) is v. Therefore, there is relation between c and v because of the
difference in the speed of light in these substances and can be denoted
by a symbol n called refractive index. Therefore, refractive index can be
defined as the ratio of the speed of light c in a vacuum (air) to the speed
of light v in some other substance. Mathematically, it can be expressed
as
c
n= ………………… (3.2)
v

In general, for two given media, if v1 is the velocity of light in medium 1

and v2 is the velocity of light in medium 2, then the refractive index n
can be written as

n = speed of light in medium 1/speed of light in medium

v1
2= ………… (3.3)
v2

Since, refractive index n is a ratio of speed in two different mediums;

therefore it is a dimensionless number and is always greater than unity
as v is always less than c.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Example 1

Determine the speed of yellow light with wavelength λ = 589 nm in

diamond. The refractive index of diamond is 2.42.

Solution

Given n = 2.42 and λ = 589 nm

Using the Eq. (3.2) above,

c
n=
v

Substituting the values given above, we get

c
v=
v

10 8
=3 x
2.42

m
= 1.24 x 10 8
s

But the fact is that when light travels from one medium to another,
its frequency remains unchanged but its wavelength changes. So, if a
light ray is passing from one medium (air) to another medium (water),
then using the relation v = f/λ, where f is the frequency and λ is the
wavelength of light, one can write the relations for a ray of light in air
and water. The expressions for velocity of light in air and in water are:

c = f λ1 (for air) and v = f λ2 (for water or glass) ….. (3.4)

Now one can obtain an expression between wavelength and refractive

index as:

λ1 n
=n= 2 ………….……… (3.5)
λ2 n1

For air (vacuum) at normal pressure, the value of refractive index is n1 =

1.000293.

Or

n2 λ
=n= 1
n1 λ2

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Where λ1 is the wavelength of light in vacuum (air) and λ2 is the

wavelength of light in another medium (water or glass).

Now Snell’s law in Eq. (3.1) can be expressed as

sin i
=n Snell’s law of refraction ……………… (3.6)
sin r

Therefore, the constant in Eq. (3.1) is the refractive index for two given
media. The average value of n taken for glass is about 1.5 and for water
is about 1.33.

The expression of Snell’s law in terms of other quantities is expressed as

sin i n λ
=n= 2 =n= 1 ……………… (3.7)
sin r n1 λ2

Before proceeding further, let us solve an example to see what we have

understood so far.

Example 2

A beam of light of wavelength 550 nm traveling in air is incident on a

surface of transparent material. The incident beam makes an angle of
600 with the normal and the refracted beam makes an angle or 450 with
the normal. Calculate the refractive index of the material.

Solution

Using the Snell’s law (see Eq. 3.7)

sin i n
=n= 2
sin r n1

Where n1 = 1 (for air), i = 600, r = 450

Substituting the values in the above equation, we get

sin 60 0
n2 = n1 sin i/sin r = 1 x
sin 45 0
= 1.732/1.414
= 1.23

26
 M

PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.2.3 Critical Angle

In section 3.1.2, you have already learnt that when light rays passes from
water (or glass) to air (it means that the ray is passing into a medium of
lower refractive index), then the ray of light bends away from the
normal. Refer to figure 3.4. In this figure N1, N2 and N3 are the normals
at point O, P and Q respectively. MO, MP and MQ are the incident
rays. When an incident ray of light MO strikes the surface at O, the
refracted ray is OK with the angle of refraction r1. But as the angle of
incidence in water gets larger, so does the angle of refraction (see Fig.
3.4).

N1 N2 N3 n2

r1 K r2
O P 900 L Q
i1 i2 i3
M n1
M
Fig. 3.4: When light travels from water to air, the angle of incidence i2 produce
the angle of refraction of 90o (r2 = 90o ) is called critical angle, θc (i2 =θc).

But at a particular incident angle, the angle of refraction will be 90o as

shown in Fig. 3.4. Here, for (the light ray MP) the angle of incidence i2,
the angle of refraction r2 = 90o, the refracted ray travel along the surface
in this case. Hence, the incident angle for which the angle of refraction
is 90o is called the critical angle. The notation for critical angle is θc.
Therefore, critical angle θc is the angle of incidence for which the angle
of refraction is 90o.

The mathematical relation between critical angle and the refractive

index is

sin θc = n
where n is the refractive index of the medium.

3.3 Total Internal Reflection

Now you may ask a question: what would happen for incident angles
greater than critical angles? You have seen in Fig. 3.4 that for incident
angle less than θc, there will be a refracted ray. So, it is interesting to
know what happens to the rays of light, if they fall at an incidence angle
greater than θc. But if we look at Fig. 3.4 again for incident ray MQ at Q
for which the angle of incidence is i3. This angle of incidence is greater
than θc (i3 greater thanθc). It can be observed that the ray is reflected

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

back inside the water. There is no refracted ray but all the light is
reflected back. Therefore,

When a ray of light incident at an angle greater than the critical angle θc,
it reflects back inside the medium (with the larger refractive index).
This phenomenon is called total internal reflection.

3.3.1 Applications of Total Internal Reflection

Total internal reflection occurs only when light strikes a boundary where
the medium beyond is optically has a lower refractive index. Now a
day, total internal reflection has wider applications.

• It is used in many optical instruments like binoculars.

• The principle behind the fiber optics is the total internal
reflection. Through fiber optics, light can be transmitted with
almost no loss. A bundle of such light fibers is called light pipe,
which can be used in human body, in medicines, and in
communication signals.
• Optical fibers revolutionized the present era of
telecommunications. Now a day, optical fibers are used in place
of copper cables in telecommunications. They can carry a much
greater number of telephone calls in comparison to copper
electrical cables.
• Images can be transferred from one point to another easily.
• In surgery, these fiber optic devices are very helpful to locate the
areas of body which are not accessible easily. In examine
internal organs of the body, these are used.
• Another application of total internal reflection is in submarine
periscope.

4.0 CONCLUSION

When light rays travel from one medium (i.e. air) to another medium
(i.e. water or glass) through a transparent surface, the ray is bent at the
surface. This bending of ray of light is called refraction. When a ray
travels from air to water (or glass), it bends towards the normal and vice
versa. The angle formed by the incident ray of light with the normal is
called angle of incidence (i) and the angle formed by the refracted ray
with the normal is known as angle of refraction ( r ).

The incident ray, refracted ray and normal at the point of incidence, all
lie in the same plane. According to the Snell’s law, the ratio of sine of
angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is constant for

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

two given media. Later, we find that this constant as the refractive index
of the two media.

The term refractive index, n, is defined as the ratio of the speed of light,
c, in a vacuum to the speed of light in some substance, v. The refractive
index is a dimensionless number.

It is important to note that when light travels from one medium to

another, its frequency remains unchanged but its wavelength changes.
If n1 and n2 are the refractive indexes in air (vacuum) and water or glass,
then

Snell’s law can be expressed as

sin i n2
=
sin r n1

When a ray of light travels from glass (or water) to air, the light ray
bends away from the normal as they pass into a medium of lower
refractive index. If the angle of incidence is such that the refracted ray
travels along the surface or the angle of refraction is 90o, such an angle
of refractive is called critical angle.

The ray of light incident at angles greater than the critical angle θc is
reflected back in water (or glass). This phenomenon is called total
internal reflection.

This principle of total internal reflection is used in many optical

instruments, fiber optics, telecommunication, surgery, periscopes etc.

5.0 SUMMARY

• Bending of a ray of light when it passes from one medium to

another through a transparent surface is called refraction.
• When a ray of light enters from air to water (or glass), it bends
towards the normal. When it travels from water (or glass) to air,
it bends away from the normal.
• The ratio of speed of light in vacuum (or air) c to the speed of
light in some substance v is called refractive index.
Mathematically, it can be expressed as

c
n=
v

• The Snell’s law can be expressed as

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

sin i
=n
sin r

where i is the angle of incidence, r is the angle of refraction and n

is the refractive index.
• The phenomenon of total internal reflection occurs when the rays
of light incident at the surface at angles greater than critical angle
θc. The light rays reflected back inside the medium which has
large refractive index (the rays of light travel from a dense to a
less dense medium).
• The principal behind fiber optics is the total internal reflection.
• The total internal reflection has many applications like in
transmission, surgery, periscopes etc.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. A ray of light of wavelength 540 nm traveling in air is incident on

a slab of transparent material. The refractive index of the
material is 1.47. Calculate the wavelength of light in the
material.

2.a) Do light waves of different colours all travels at the same speed
in glass? Explain.

b) Determine the speed of yellow light with wavelength λ = 589 nm

in diamond. The refractive index of diamond is 2.42.

2. A ray of light strikes a surface of glass at an incident angle of 60o

with the normal. Calculate the angle of refraction in the glass.
The refractive index of the glass is 1.5. (Assume that the incident
ray is in air.)

7.0 REFERENCE/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics 7th Edition. Heinemann,

British Library Publication.
Douglas C. Giancoli. Principles with Application, International Edition,
4th Edition. Prentice-Hall.

W.T. Griffith. The Physics of Everyday Phenomena: A Conceptual

Introduction to Physics, 4th Edition McGraw Hill.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

UNIT 4 REFRACTION THROUGH PRISMS

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Angle of Deviation
3.2 Minimum Deviation of a Prism
3.3 Maximum Deviation of a Prism
3.4 Grazing Incidence and Grazing Emergence
3.5 Deviation by a Small Angle Prism
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In Unit 3, we discussed about the refraction at plane surfaces. In this

unit we are going to discuss refraction through a prism, which is a type
of glass block. In this case the glass block is triangular and it is called a
Prism. A typical cross section of a prism is shown in Fig. (4.1). It may
be equilateral if all the sides are equal or isosceles if two sides are equal.

Refracting angle
A
Angle of deviation
d
i Q R
e
r
P
S
B C
Fig. 4.1: A prism

A ray of light PQ is incident on the face AB of the glass prism as shown

in Fig. (4.1). The ray RS emerges on the face AC after refraction at Q
and R (that is faces AB and AC respectively). Angles i, r and e are the
angles of incidence, refraction and emergence respectively. Also the
angle A is called the refracting angle of the prism or simply called the
angle of the prism.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you would be able to:

• differentiate between rectangular glass block and a prism

• distinguish refraction through a rectangular glass block and a
prism
• define angle of deviation and minimum deviation of a prism
• solve problems related to deviation in prism
• Differentiate refraction between thin and normal prisms.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Angle of Deviation

If a ray XY is incident on the face AB (as shown in Fig. 4.2), it is

observed that the emergent ray RS is not parallel to XY. The original
ray has been deviated from its original direction by the glass prism by an
angle of deviation d. The angle between the original direction and the
final direction of the ray is called angle of deviation. It is denoted by d
in Fig. 4.2.
A
Original direction of ray
A
d R
x y
i1 Y r2 i2
Final direction of ray
r1
X B S
C
A

Fig. 4.2: A prism

Refer to Fig. 4.2. It can be seen that

A = r1 + r2 . …………….(4.1)
The angle of prism is equal to the angle between two straight lines
equals to the angle between their normal.

Whereas the angle of deviation can be obtained as

d = x + y (external angles of a triangle). ……………. (4.2)

but x = i1 – r1, ad y = i2 – r2 …………… (4.3)

Therefore d = (i1 – r1) + (i2 – r2) …………… (4.4)

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.2 Minimum Deviation of a Prism

As the angle of incidence i1 is increased from 0o to 90o, the deviation d

decreases continuously to a minimum value dmin and then increases to a
maximum value when i1 is 90o. This is shown in fig. 4.3

Angle of deviation

dmin
900
Angle of incidence

Fig. 4.3: Variation of angle of deviation d with angle of incidence i1

At minimum deviation the light passes symmetrically through the prism

i.e. i1 = i2 and r1 = r2

Then Eq. (4.1) becomes

A = r1 + r2 = r + r = 2r
A = 2r .… ( 4.5 )

Also we know from Eq. (4.4), that is

d = i1 – r1 + i 2 – r2
⇒ dmin = i – r + i - r = 2i – 2r
dmin = 2i – A …… (4.6)

From Eq. (4.5), we can write

A
r= … (4.7)
2

From Eq.. (4.6), one can write,

i = A + dmin …. (4.8)
2
Using the expression for refractive index

sin i
µ= … (4.9)
sin r

Substituting the values of r and i from Eq. (4.7) and Eq. (4.8) in Eq.
(4.9), we get the expression for refractive index

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

 A + d min 
sin  
∴ µ=  2  .… (4.10)
 A
sin  
2

Eq. (4.10) is the expression for the refractive index in terms of minimum
deviation and refracting angle A.
Since i1 = i2 at minimum deviation, it means that minimum deviation
value is for only one angle of incidence.

Example 4.1

A certain prism is found to produce a deviation of 51o 0′, while it

produces a deviation of 62o 48′ for two values of the angle of incidence
namely 40o 6′ and 82o 42′ respectively. Determine the refracting angle
of the prism, the angle of incidence at minimum deviation and the
refractive index of the material of the prism.
Solution

We know that

d = (i1 – r1) + (i2 – r2) = (i1 + i2) – (r1 + r2)

Therefore, it can be rewritten as

d = (i1 + i2) – A

The values are given as

d = 62o 48′, i1 = 40o 6′, i2 = 82o 42′

Substituting these values in the above equation

∴62o 48′ = (40o 6′ + 82o 42′) – A

We get the value of the refracting angle A as

A = 60o
To calculate the angle of incidence at minimum deviation we use the
relation,

i= A + dmin
2
A = 60 , dmin = 51o 0′
o

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

i = 60 + 51o 0′
2
i = 55o 30′
The refractive index of the prism is given by

 A + d min 
sin  
µ=  2 µ=
 A
sin  
2

Now substituting the values, we get

 60 0 + 510 0` 
sin  
 2 
µ=
 60 
0
sin  
 2 

µ = 1.65

3.3 Maximum Deviation of a Prism

The maximum deviation of a prism occurs when the angle of incidence

is 90o. From Fig. 4.4 below, it can be seen that unlike minimum
deviation, the maximum deviation occurs for two angles of incidence
namely 90o and i.
A
A

i
i r
e r

Fig. 4.4:

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.4 Grazing Incidence and Grazing Emergence

As the angle of the prism (A) is increased, r also increases and can
become equal to the critical angle, and as such the angle of incidence is
90o. At this point the angle of the prism is the greatest angle for which
emergent rays are obtained and it is called the limiting angle of the
prism. This is shown in Fig. 4.5

Grazing Limiting
A incidence A angle

c Grazing
emergence

Fig. 4.5
Since A = r1 + r2, it is therefore follows that at the limiting angle:
A = 2C ……………….. (4.11)
Example 4.2

The refracting angle of a prism is 62o and the refractive index of the
glass for yellow light is 1.65. What is the smallest possible angle of
incidence of a ray of this yellow light which is transmitted without total
reflection?

Solution
62o
B
i1 90o µ
r1 C
A

Fig. 4.6

From Fig. 4.6 above, it is required for one to calculate i1 which in-fact
be the smallest angle of incidence without total internal reflection at the
point B.

At the point B we can use the relation

1
µ=
sin C
or
1
C = sin −1  
µ

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Where µ = 1.65
 1 
∴C = sin −1  
 1.65 

C = 37.31o

Then A = r1 + C
62o = r1 + 37.31o
r1 = 24.70o

Also at the point A we can use the relation

sin i1
µ=
sin r1

sin i1
1.64 =
sin 24.7 0

Therefore,

i1 = 43.58o

3.5 Deviation by a Small Angle Prism

If the refracting angle of a prism is very small, the angle of incidence i1

in most cases would also be small which implies that the incident ray
would be normal at the point of entry of the prism.
Small angle
A

i1 i2
r1
r2

Fig. 4.7: Deviation by a small angle prism.

In figure 4.7, r1 is always smaller than i1. It also follows that r1 is small.

and sin θ ≅ θ (for any small angle θ)

sin i i1
Therefore the refractive index µ = =
sin r r1
i1
µ≅
r1
Or i1 ≅ µ r1

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Similarly i2 ≅ µ r2

The deviation of the ray is given by

d = (i1 – r1) + (i2- r2)

d = µ r1 – r1 + µ r2 - r2
d = µ (r1 + r2 ) - ( r1+ r2 )

On rewriting the above equation, we get

d = (µ – 1) (r1+ r2)

Recall from Section 3.1 that A = r1 + r2

∴ d = (µ - 1) A ……………… (4.12)

Eq.(4.12) indicates that for a small angle prism the deviation is

independent of the size of the angle of incidence. This means that all
rays emerging from the prism are deviated by the same amount. This
principle should be applied to lenses.

4.0 CONCLUSION

A prism is a glass block, but triangular in shape. It may be equilateral or

isosceles in shape. The angle at the apex of the prism forming the
triangle is known as the angle of the prism or refracting angle.

A ray of light incident on one side is refracted by the prism and emerges
at the adjacent side with the direction of emergence being different from
that of incidence. The difference between the directions of the emergent
ray and the incident ray is known as the angle of deviation.

The minimum value of the angle of deviation is known as the angle of

minimum deviation and when this occurs the ray passes symmetrically
through the prism. This value occurs for only one value of angle of
incidence. On the other hand, the maximum angle of the deviation is
known as the maximum deviation. Two angles of incidence give rise to
the maximum deviation of which one is 90o.

When the angle of the prism is very small we say the prism is thin. For
this type of prism the angle of deviation is independent of the angle of
incidence of the prism.

At a certain angle of the prism, the angle of incidence and emergence is

90o, in this case we have grazing incidence and grazing emergence.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

5.0 SUMMARY

• A prism is a triangular glass block;

• The angle of the apex of the prism is known as the angle of the
prism or the refracting angle;
• The change in direction between the incident ray and the
emergent ray is known as the deviation of the ray and the angle
between these directions is known as the angle of deviation;
• Minimum deviation occurs for only one angle of incident and
when this occurs the ray passes symmetrically through the prism;
• Maximum deviation occurs for two angles of incidence and these
are 90o and any other angle i;
• The deviation for a small angle prism (this) is independent of the
angle of incidence;
• For a particular refracting angle it is possible to have grazing
incidence and grazing emergence.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Determine the angle of deviation of a ray by a glass prism with a

prism angle of 3o if the angle of incidence of the ray on the front
face of the prism is zero. The refractive index of the glass
material is 1.5.

2. Calculate the angle of minimum deviation of a prism if its

refracting angle is 60o. The refractive index of the material of the
prism is 1.632.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

UNIT 5 REFRACTION AT CURVED SURFACE

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Image Formed By a Refraction at a Curved surface
3.2 Refraction Through Lenses
3.2.1 The Major Features of a Lens
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Just as reflection takes places at curved and plane surfaces, similarly,

refraction can also occur at plane and curved surfaces. In the last unit,
we have discussed about the refraction through a prism. In this unit we
shall look at refraction at curved surfaces. Fig. 5.1 shows refraction at a
curved surface.
Q

O I
P C I
u v µ2
µµ22 µ1
µ2
µ1
(a) (b)

Fig. 5.1: Refraction at curved surface

(a) Convex spherical refracting surface
(b) Concave spherical refracting surface.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• distinguish between refraction at a plane surface and at a curved

surface
• state the equation governing the relationship between the image
distance (v), object distance ( u ) and the parameters of the curved
refracting surface

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

• solve problems related to u, v and parameters of the curved

refracting surface
• define a lens and to identify its characteristics features.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Image Formed by Refraction at a Curved Surface

In Fig. 5.1, point O is an object near a convex spherical refracting

surface of radius of curvature r. The surface separates the two media
whose indices of refraction differ, that of the medium in which the
incident light falls on the surface being µ1 and that on the other side of
the surface being µ2.

A light source ray that enters normally at the point P would pass through
undeviated and pass through the center of curvature. A bright ray that
enters at any other angle (Q for example) would be deviated or
converged to intersect with a ray that passing through the center of
curvature to produce a real image 1. If the surface were concave then
the refracting ray would diverge and if produced backwards would form
a virtual image as shown in Fig. 5.1 (b).

The object and image distance are related by the formula (here we have
written only the result. The formula is not derived.)

µ1 µ2 µ 2 − µ1
+ = ……………. (5.1)
u v r

Where
u = object distance
v = image distance
r = radius pf curvature of surface
µ1, µ2 = refractive index of the two media

Note that µ1, is the refractive index of the medium in which the light is
originally traveling before it gets into medium with refractive index µ2.
It is to be noted that that we must use sign conventions if we are to use
this equation to a variety of cases. The side of the surface in which light
rays originate defined as the front side. The other side is called as the
back side. Real images are formed by refraction in back of the surface in
contrast with the mirrors, where real images are formed in front of the
reflecting surface. Because of the difference in location of real images,
the refraction sign conventions for v and r are opposite the reflection
sign conventions.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Just as in refraction the image formed can be enlarged or diminished and

the magnification of the image is given by

µ1 v
m=
µ2 u

The symbols have their usual meaning.

Example 5.1

One end of a cylindrical glass rod of refractive index 1.5 is a

hemispherical surface of radius of curvature 20 mm. An object is placed
on the axis of the rod at 80 mm to the left of the vertex of the surface (a)
Determine the position of the image (b) Determine the position of the
image if the rod is immersed in water of refractive index 1.33.

Solution

O I

80m r = 20mm

Fig. 5.2

(a) The object distance u = 80 mm

The radius of curvature r = 20 mm

As earlier discussed in unit (sign convention), if the side from

which the light is coming is concave then r would be negative.

Since the light ray is traveling from air to glass

µ1 = 1 (for air) and µ2 = 1.5 (for glass)
Using the formula
µ1 µ2 µ 2 − µ1
+ =
u v r

Substituting the values in the above Eq., we get

1 1 .5 1 .5 − 1
+ =
80 v 20

r = 120 mm (to the right of the curved surface)

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

(b) Since the glass rod is now immersed in water( µ1 = 1.33 ),

therefore
µ1 µ2 µ 2 − µ1
+ =
u v r

1.33 1.5 1.5 − 1

+ =
80 v 20

v = - 184.6 mm

The negative sign indicates a virtual image

3.2 Refraction through Lenses

The phenomenon of refraction is the change in direction of a ray of light

when it travels from one medium to another of different density.
Refraction through lenses involves the same change in the direction of
light rays.

A lens is a portion of a transparent medium bounded by two spherical

surfaces or by a plane and a spherical surface. The various types of
lenses are shown in Fig. 5.3.

Biconvex Plano-convex Bi-concave Plano-concave

(a) Converging lenses (b) Diverging lenses

Fig. 5.3: Various types of lenses.

Generally, a converging or convex lens makes rays of light originating

from a point come together at another point while the diverging or
concave lens makes rays of light which pass through a point spread out
or diverge.

3.2.1 The Major Features of a Lens

A typical lens of whatever type has the major features illustrated in Fig.
5.4.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Principal axis F Principal axis

F C C

(a) Converging lens (b) Diverging lens

Fig. 5.4: Major features of a lens.

i) The Principal Axis

This is the line joining the centers of curvature of the two curved
surfaces forming the lens.

ii) Optical Centre

For every lens there is a point C through which rays of light pass
through without being deviated by the lens. This point is called the
optical center of the lens. (see figure 5.1)

iii) The Principal Focus

The principal focus F of a converging lens is the point to which all rays
parallel and close to the principal axis converge after refraction through
the lens.

The principal focus of a diverging lens is the point from which all rays
parallel and close to the principal axis appear to diverge from after
refraction through the lens.

iv) Focal Length

The focal length F is the distance between the optical center and the
principal focal of the lens.

Note that the principal focus of a converging lens is on the far side from
the incident rays while for the diverging lens the principal focus is on
the same side as the incident rays and the refracted rays do not actually
pass through it (refer Fig. 5.4).

4.0 CONCLUSION

A lens is a portion of a transparent medium bounded by two spherical

surfaces or by a plane and a spherical surface.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

When refraction takes place at a curved surface, this results into an

image formation. The magnification m of the image is given by the
expression,

µ1 v
m=
µ2 u

The equation relating the image distance v to the object distance u and
the radius of curvature r and refractive index of the curved refracting
medium is

µ1 µ2 µ 2 − µ1
+ =
u v r

A typical lens has an optical axis, principal axis, principal focus, center
of curvature. For a converging lens the light rays close to the principal
axis are brought to the focus on the side of the lens where as in a
diverging lens, parallel rays close to the principal axis diverge or
appears to come from the focus at the same side as the incident rays.

5.0 SUMMARY
• Unlike refraction at a plane surface, refraction at curved surface
results in image formation which can be real or imaginary.
• A lens is a portion of a transparent medium bounded by two
spherical surfaces. Therefore refraction through a lens involves
refraction at two curved surfaces.
• A typical lens has an optical center, principal focus, principal axis
and center of curvature.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

A small tropical fish is at the center of a spherical fish bowl 1m in

diameter. Determine the position and the lateral magnification of the
image of the fish seen by an observer outside the bowl. The refractive
4
index of water is
3

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

46
PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

MODULE 2 LENSES AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS

Unit 1 Images Formed by a Converging Lens and Diverging Lens

(Ray Tracing)
Unit 2 Lens Formula and Spectra
Unit 3 The Eye
Unit 4 Optical Instruments
Unit 5 Other Types of Telescopes

UNIT 1 IMAGES FORMED BY A CONVERGING LENS

AND DIVERGING LENS (RAY TRACING)

CONTENT

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Images Formed by a Convex (Converging) Lens
3.1.1 Object Placed at Position 2f
3.1.2 Object at Principal focus
3.1.3 Object between F and the lens
3.2 Images Formed by Concave Lens
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In Unit 5, we have discussed that refraction at a curved surface gives

rise to image formation. That is, if an object is placed in front of a
curved refracting surface, the image of the object is formed. This is also
true of a lens which, as we have also discussed in Unit 5, consists of
two refracting curved surfaces.

In this Unit, you will study how images are formed by lenses (either
converging or diverging) for various object positions. This unit will
concentrate on using ray diagrams to determine the position of images
formed by such lenses. As we have discussed about the refraction. The
law of refraction is responsible to govern the behavior of lens images.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this Unit, you will be able to:

• trace rays to locate the image formed by a convex lens for various
objects distances
• trace the rays to locate the image formed by a concave lens for
various object distances
• distinguish the differences between images formed by convex
and concave lenses
• solve problems associated with images formed by convex and
concave lenses using ray tracing.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Images Formed by a Convex (Converging) lens
In this section discussion is on the image formed by a convex
(converging) lens. Here, we are going to look at how the image of an
object is formed by a convex lens for the three different object position
discussed below. The method is illustrated in Fig. 5.1 (a), 5.1 (b) and
5.1 (c).

In using the ray diagram to determine the position of the image of an

object formed by a lens either (convex or concave), a set of rules, similar
to rules that govern the reflection case, exist. These are as follows:

(i) a ray parallel to the principal axis incident on one side of the lens
is refracted to the far side of the lens through the far focus as
shown in Fig.51 (a).

F F

Fig. 5.1 (a): A ray parallel to the principal axis passes through the
focus on the far side of the lens.

(ii) A ray passing through the near focus on one side emerges parallel
to the principal axis on other side as shown in Fig 5.1 (b).

Fig. 5.1 (b): A ray coming through the near focus becomes parallel
to the principal axis on the other side.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

(iii) A ray incident along the optical centre of the lens goes through to
the other side without any deviation as shown in Fig. 5.1 (c).

C
F F

Fig. 5.1 (c): A ray incident along the optical centre of the line is
undeviated and passes to the other side without any
deviation.
As it will be seen in the case discussed below, the use of any two of
three rays is sufficient to determine the location and magnitude of the
image.

3.1.1 Object Placed at Distance Greater than 2f

Q
P
I
C
O 2f f f
R
Object distance
Image distance

Fig. 5.2: Shows the image formed when the object placed at a
distance greater than 2f.

Fig. 5.2 shows the ray diagram for the image formed by a convex lens of
focal length f, in which object OP is placed at distance greater than 2f
from the lens. Ray PQ which is parallel to the principal axis is refracted
through the principal focus to give ray QR. Then the ray PC which is
directed towards the optical center C of the lens through the lens
undeviated to give ray CR. The two refracted rays QR and CR intersect
at R to form the image IR. So, therefore IR gives the magnitude of the
image and CI the image distance and OC is the object distance so the
magnification M as earlier defined equal to

M = IR = CI = Image distance
OP OC Object distance

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

It can be seen from Fig. 5.2 that the image formed (IR) is real, inverted
and magnified.

3.1.2 Object Placed at the Position 2f

P Q

C I
O f f
2f
R
Fig. 5.3: A ray diagram for an object placed at 2f

Fig. 5.3 shows the ray diagram for the image formed by a convex lens of
focal length f when the object distance is 2f. The two rays considered
are similar to those in Fig. 5.2. It can be seen from Fig. 5.3 that the
image formed is real, inverted, and of unit magnification. That is, the
size of the image is same as that of the object.

3.1.3 Object is kept at Principal Focus

Q
P
O C
f f

Fig. 5.4: A ray diagram for an object placed at f.

Fig. 5.4 shows the ray diagram for the image formed by a convex lens
when the object is kept at focus which is at focal length f. Considering
just the two rays either discussed above, ray PQ parallel to the principal
axis is refracted through the far focus to give ray Qf. On the other hand
ray PC goes through the optical centre of the lens undeviated on the
other side. Thus, we have a set of parallel rays emerging on the other
side of the lens. Since parallel rays (lines) only converge infinity, it
applies that the image formed under this condition is at infinity. Thus,
the image formed by a convex lens, when the object is placed at the
principal focus, is at infinity.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.1.4 Object kept between f and the Lens

R
Q
P

C
I f O f

Fig. 5.5: A ray diagram for an object kept between f and the lens.

Fig. 5.5 shows a ray diagram for image formed by convex lens when the
object distance is less than the focal length of the lens. Ray PQ is
refracted to give ray Qf while ray PC, as usual, is undeflected.
Consequently, the emerging, (refracted rays) diverge and appear to come
from point R consequently given rise to image IR.

From Fig. 5.5 it can be seen that the image IR is virtual, erect and
magnified.

3.2 Images Formed by Concave Lens

P Q
R
C
O f I f

Fig. 5.6: Image formed by a concave lens.

Fig. 5.6 shows the ray diagram for the image formed by a concave
(diverging) lens. As can be seen from this figure that a ray PQ, parallel
to the axis, diverges at the other side of the lens after refraction to give
ray QR, ray PC through the optical center of the lens passes through to
the other side of the lens without any deviation. Hence, the image is
formed by the intersection of the apparent source of the divergent ray
(dotted line) and ray PC.

These two rays intersect at R. therefore, IC gives the image distance and
IR gives the magnitude of the image. As before the magnification of the
image can be written as

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

M = IR = IC
OP OC

It can be observed from Fig. 5.6 that the image formed is imaginary, it is
erect and it is diminished.
Also it has been found that irrespective of the position of the Object, the
shape of image and type of the image formed are always the same.

Example 1.1

An object 3 cm tall is placed 30 cm in front of a convex lens of focal

length 10 cm. Determine using a ray diagram
(i) magnification of the image
(ii) the image distance

Solution

Choose a suitable scale e.g. 1 cm = 5 cm

P Q
0.6 cm I
C
O f f
0.4 cm
3.2 cm R
6 cm
10 cm

Fig. 5.7

∴ The object distance OC = 30 cm= 6cm (in choosen unit)

Object height OP= 3cm =0.6cm ( in choosen unit)
Utilizing the above information, the resulting ray diagram is shown
in Fig. 5.7. IR as indicated earlier is the magnitude of the image and
OC is the object distance.

So (i) Using the definition of magnification

M = IR
OP

Which means the image is diminished, it is reduced by half.

(ii) the image distance IC = (3x5) cm = 15 cm

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Example 1.2

If the object in example 6.1 above is placed 15 cm away from lens,

what will be

(i) the height of the new image formed?

(ii) the new image distance?

P Q
5.1cm
C I
O 2 cm 2 cm
f
1cm
R

Fig. 5.8 IR = 1 cm = 5cm

IC = 5cm = 25 cm
Solution

Refer Fig. 5.8

(i) The new height of the image = (1.0 x 5) cm = 5 cm

∴The new magnification = 5.0 cm = 1.67 cm
3.0
(ii) The new image distance = (5 x 5) cm = 25 cm
So that there is a magnification 1.67 times which means the
image is enlarged.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The image formed by convex and concave lens can be determined by

ray tracing for various object distance. For obtaining these images, the
basic rules to be followed are;

(i) Rays parallel to the principal axis incident to the lens on one side
of a convex lens are brought to a focus on the other side of the
lens after refraction of the lens. For the concave lens, on the
other hand, the rays are diverge from the same side as the
incident parallel rays are appear to be brought to a focus on the
far focus.
(ii) For a convex lens, rays emanating from focus on one side
incident on the one side of the lens emerge parallel to the
principal axis on other side. For a concave lens, such rays are
reflected on the same side parallel to the principal focus.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

(iii) Light rays directed to the optical centre of the lens (whether
Convex or Concave) pass through the lens to the other side
undeviated.

When the object distance for a convex lens is greater than 2f, the image
formed is real, inverted and magnified.

When the object distance for a convex lens is equal to 2f, the image
formed is real, inverted and of unit magnification.

When the object distance for a convex lens is at f, the image is formed at
infinity.

When the object distance is less than f the image formed is virtual, erect
and magnified.

Finally, the image formed by a concave lens is always virtual and erect.

5.0 SUMMARY

Ray tracing is an interesting technique to determine the images formed

by concave and convex lenses. The three rules governing the rays are
summarized as in Section 3.1 above. The characteristics of image
formed by convex lens are as follows:

When object distance is greater than 2f then image formed is as follows:

(i) Real
(ii) Inverted
(iii) diminished.

The characteristics of image formed by convex lens when the object is

kept at 2f are;

(i) Real
(ii) Inverted
(iii) It is of unit magnification

When the object is placed at the focal point of a convex lens, the image
is formed at infinity.

The characteristics of image formed by a convex when the object

distance is less than f is as follows:

(i) it is virtual
(ii) it is erect
(iii) and it is enlarged

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

The image formed by a concave lens irrespective of its object distance is

always virtual and erect and upright. It may be diminished or enlarged.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1.a) A convex lens with focal length 15 cm is placed 45 cm away
from the object 2.5 cm tall (a) Determine the position and the size
of the image.

b) If the convex lens were a concave lens, what is the value of the
magnitude of the image and the image distance?

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

UNIT 2 LENS FORMULA AND SPECTRA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Lens Formula
3.2 The Lens Makers’ Equation
3.3 Dispersion and Spectra
3.4 Spectra
3.4.1 Types of Spectra
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In Unit 1, we discussed how to obtain image distance and the

magnification of the image by ray tracing formed by convex and
concave lenses for different object distances. The same kind of
information can be obtained using the lens formula.

This equation relates the focal length f to the object distance u and
image distance v of a lens to the refractive index and the radii of
curvature, r1 and r2 of the curved surface of the lens.

Also, there is another equation that relates the focal length of a lens to its
refractive index and the radii of curvature of the lens, this law is known
as the lens maker’s law. You will know more about these laws while
you study this unit.

Further in this unit, you will study about dispersion of white light, that
is, how white light is splits into its different colour components by a
glass prism. As you will see in Section 3.2, dispersion is related to the
angle of deviation i.e. dispersion is due to the fact that the various colour
component of white light are associated with different angles of
deviation while traveling through glass prism. In addition, in this Unit,
you will study different types of spectra.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• state the lens maker’s law

• apply the lens maker’s law in solving problems
• define and explain dispersion
• identify the colours of white light
• differentiate and explain different kinds of spectra.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Lens Formula

It has been found that there is a mathematical relationship linking the

focal length of a lens (f), the object distance from the lens (u) and image
distance from the lens (v).

This relation is given as

1 1 1
= − …… (2.1)
f v u

This Eq.(2.1) is the same as that for curved mirrors (concave or convex).
Hence, if any two of these parameter f, u and v are known, Eq. (2.1) can
be used to determine the third unknown parameter. Consequently, this
equation can be used to derive the same pieces of information obtained
in Unit 6 by ray tracing.

3.2 The Lens Makers’ Equation

The best way to represent the focal length of a lens is by using the radius
of curvature of the two faces (or surfaces).
Now in this section, we will derive an expression for the focal length f
of a convex lens. Here, it is assumed that the ray falls on the flat surface
of the lens and these surfaces at which a ray enters and leaves similar to
the surfaces of a prism. So, we will use prism formula to determine the
deviation d.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

lens

d
Principal h
d f
axis
f

Fig. 2.1 (a): Convex lens A

A
d
h A
α β Fig. 2.1(c)
r1 r2 ∝

Fig. 2.1(b)

When a ray of light enters a prism, it deviates. Let d be the angle of

deviation of light from a small angle prism. The small angle of the
prism is A. Let µ is the refractive index of the glass. Then the
expression for the deviation of a ray passing through a prism can be
written as

d = (µ - 1) A ……(2.2)

But from Fig. 2.1 (a), it is observed that the light rays are parallel to the
principal axis. To focus these light rays on the focal point f, each ray is
deflected by an angle θ, then

h
d = …..(2.3)
f

(here the value of θ is small <15o)

It means that all light rays do not hit lens too far from its centre. It is
also known that a transparent material whose surface is spherical will
deflect light rays according to Eq. 7.3 i.e. will make useful lens.

Combining Eq. (2.2) and (2.3), we get another expression,

h
= ( µ − 1) A
f

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Rewriting the above equation in another form, we get

1 A
= ( µ − 1) …. (2.4)
f h

from Fig. 2.1 (b), it can be seen that r1 and r2 are the radius of curvature
and

d = α +β …… (2.5)

(The sum of two interior opposite angles is equal to the exterior angle)

and d = A ….. (2.6)

Now substituting Eq. (2.6) in Eq. (2.5), and also substituting the values
of

h h
α= and β=
r1 r2

we get

h h A 1 1
α= and β = or = + …. (2.7)
r1 r2 h r1 r2

Substituting Eq. (2.7) into Eq.( 2.4), we get

1 1 1
= ( µ − 1)  +  …… (2.8)
f  r1 r2 

So, now you can see a relation between focal length of a lens in terms of
its refractive index and radius of curvature. Now, it can be seen from
the Eq. (2.8) that to obtain a short focal length f the lens should have a
small value of r1 and r2 and refractive index of the material should be
high. The Eq. (2.8) is known as the lens maker’s equation.

It can also be noted that the values of the radii of curvature of the two
spherical surfaces, which a lens of required focal length should have,
can be determined by using this formula. Then the two surfaces of glass
can be given the calculated value of the radii of curvature. Hence, the
lens so produced will possess the required focal length.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Example 7.1

A pin is placed 40 cm away from a convex lens of focal length 15 cm.

Determine the magnification of the pin formed by the lens.

Solution

Focal length (f ) of the lens = 15 cm

Object distance ( u) = 40 cm
The image distance ( v) is to be determined

Using Eq. (2.1)

1 1 1
+ =
v u f

On rearranging the terms on either side, we get

1 1 1
= −
v f u

Now substituting the given values

1 1 1
= −
v 15 40

1 8−3 5
= =
v 120 120

1 5
=
v 120

∴ v = 24cm

But Magnification is defined as

v
M =
u

Again substituting the values, we get

40
=
24

∴M = 1.67

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Intensity and colour are the two properties of light. The colour of the
light is related to the wavelength or frequency of the light. The intensity
(brightness) of light is related to the square of the amplitude of the wave.
The visible spectrum to which our eyes are sensitive lies in the range of
450 x 10-9m to 750 x 10-9m . Within this spectrum lie the different
colours from violet to red. Light with wavelength shorter than 450 x 10-
9
m is called ultraviolet and light with wavelength greater than 750 x 10-
9
m is called infrared. It is to be noted that human eyes are not sensitive
to ultraviolet and infrared.

In your physics course earlier, you come across with the prism. A prism
is a triangle (wedge) shaped piece of transparent material make up of
glass. So, what happens if while light from a source is passed through
this prism? Let us discuss about it.

3.3 Dispersion and Spectra

It is found that if white light, such as light from the sun, passes through
a prism, an elongated coloured patch of light is obtained on a screen
placed behind the prism as shown in Fig. 2.2.
Prism Spectrum
(impure)
Screen(S)

White
light

Fig. 2.2: A white light pass through a prism

This patch of light is called a spectrum and it consist of the following

colours arranged in the order of presentation with the red light rays
having the least of deviation and the violet light rays having the most
angle of deviation. The incident white light actually consists of these
colours combined but because each component colour has different
speed in the glass medium. However, in ordinary air, the speed of each
of these components is virtually the same and these components cannot
be differentiated as they travel together with a common speed.
However, in a medium like glass these components travel with different
speeds (i.e. red travel with the fastest speed and violet is the slowest)
and therefore they are associated with different angles of deviation.
(Also we have learnt that light of different wave lengths bent at different
angles when falls on a refracting material. The index of refraction of
material depends on the wavelength.) Therefore, the component splits
into their different colours as they travel through glass and separated the
white light into its various colours

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 PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

The wavelength of red light in air is 750 x 10-9m (the longest

wavelength) and violet light has a wavelength in air 450 x 10-9m (the
shortest wavelength).

As shown in Fig. 2.2, a band of impure colours is obtained on a screen

S. The separation of colours (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo
and violet) by a prism is called dispersion. In simple words, the
spreading of white light into the full spectrum is called dispersion. The
formation of rainbows is a natural example of dispersion.

The prism alone produces what is called an impure spectrum or

continuous spectrum in which different colours overlap. Therefore in
order to produce a pure spectrum, the set up is as shown in Fig. 2.3.
Convex
lens

Convex
lens
Screen

Pure
Source spectrum
of light
Fig. 2.3: Two convex lenses in addition to the prism to obtain pure
spectrum.

After discussing the dispersion in this section, now in section 3.4 the
topic of spectra will be discussed. Here also, we will familiarize you
with the different type of spectra.

3.4 Spectra

Spectra is the study of wavelengths of the radiation coming out from a

hot body. There are two types of spectra, the emission spectra and the
absorption spectra.

Emission spectra

When an atom is heated, it’s electrons gain thermal energy until it gets
to the excited state. And within a very short time, the electron can go
back to a lower energy level, thereby emitting energy in the form of
photons. For example, iron has 400 different wavelengths in its
spectrum, but a very element has a unique spectrum characteristics of
it’s atoms. Consequently a study of the spectrum of a substance enables

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

its composition to be readily determined. Spectroscopy is the analysis

of mixtures or compounds by a study of their spectra.

3.4.1 Types of Spectra

1. Line Spectra

This is the type of spectra obtained from atoms or molecules and is

displayed in the form of lines. The line spectrum is obtained when a gas
is heated or a large electric current is passed through it. It is important to
note that, only certain wavelengths of light are emitted and these are
different far different elements and compounds. These lines are actually
the image of the narrow slit of the spectrometer in which the light is
incident. These lines occur in series as shown in the Fig. 2.4 below.

Series of lines
Fig.2.4: Line spectra for series of lines

The various series and their wavelength are:

1 1 1
Lyman series: = R  2 − , , µ = 2,3, ……………
λ 1 µ

1  1 1
Balmer Series : = R  2 − , µ = 3,4,5…………..
λ 2 µ

1  1 1
Paschen Series = R  2 − , µ = 4,5…………….
λ 3 µ

1  1 1
Bracket series: = R  2 − , µ = 5,6………………
λ 4 µ

where R is a Rydberg constant = 1.097 x 107 m-1

2. Band Spectra

This is the kind of spectra obtained from molecules and it consists of

bands (fine lines) sharp atom end and at the other end as shown in Fig.
2.5.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Fig. 2.5: Band Spectra

3. Continuous Spectra

This is kind of spectra obtained from solids and liquids. Since the atoms
and molecules are closely packed, there interaction exists between
neighboring atoms, such that all radiations of different wavelength are
emitted. For example, light bulb filament produces a continuous
spectrum.

4. Absorption Spectra

When a white light (for example a continuous spectrum) is passed

through a sodium, the flame absorbs from the light, a wavelength equal
to that which it can emit at that state (temperature). This will produce a
dark line with in the continuous spectrum when viewed with a
spectrometer. This dark line is a natural characteristic of the absorbing
substance (sodium). Also atom and molecules absorb light at the same
wavelength at which they emit light i.e. if we look at sun’s continuous
spectrum, it will contain a number of dark lines called absorption lines.
This kind of spectra is called absorption spectra.

Example 2.2

When an object is placed 10 cm away from a lens it is found that the

image formed 5 cm behind the object on the same side of the lens (i)
Determine the focal length of the lens (ii) the magnification and (iii)
type of image.

Solution

(i) The object distance, u = 10 cm

The image distance, v = - (10 + 5) cm
(since the image is on the same side as the side of the object.)

Because the image distance is negative, Eq. 2.1 becomes

1 1 1
= −
f u v

That is on inserting the values of the parameters, we get

1 1 1
= −
f 10 15

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

1 1
i.e =
f 30

∴ f = 30 cm.

(b) Since the sign of f is positive, the lens concerned must be a

convex one as by convention, a convex lens has positive focal
length.

v
Magnification, M =
u

But v is negative, therefore the magnification is

15
∴ M =−
10

M = - 1.5

Actually, the negative sign of the magnification, M and the image

distance, v shows the image is virtual.

Example 2.3

The curved face of a plano- convex lens of refractive index 1.5 is placed
in contact with a plane mirror. An object at a distance of 20 cm
coincides with the image produced by the lens and reflects by the mirror.
A film of liquid is now placed between the lens and the mirror and the
coincident object and image are at 100 cm distance. Determine the
refractive index of the liquid.

20 cm
Plano-convex

Fig. 2.6(a)

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

100 cm = F

F2
Fig. 2.6(b)

Solution

In Fig 2.6 (a), the rays reflected by mirror are parallel. Therefore, they
would converge at the focus of the overlying lens after reflection.
Similarly, when the space between the lens and the mirror is filled with
liquid the reflected rays converge at the joint focus of Plano concave
lens formed by the liquid and the existed Plano convex lens after
refraction through these two lenses.

This implies that f1 = 20 cm, f = 100 cm.

Relating the focus lens to their joint focal (f) is

1 1 1
= +
f f1 f2

1 1 1
= +
f f1 f2

1 1 1 1 1
= − = −
f2 f f1 100 20

1 −4
=
f 2 100

1 −1
=
f2 25

∴f2 = - 25 cm.

The negative sign indicates that the lens is a concave lens.

A Plano – concave has a negative focal length. Using the lens maker’s
equation for the Plano – convex lens, we have

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

1 1 1
= ( µ − 1)  + 
f  r1 r2 

hence, µ is the refractive index of the glass for the Plano-convex lens r2
is infinity (r2 = ∞) because one of it’s surfaces is flat.

1 1 1
∴ = (1.5 − 1)  + 
20  r1 ∞ 

1  1 
= (1.5 −1)  sin ce = 0
r1  ∞ 

Therefore, r1 = 10.0 cm

Using the lens maker’s equation for the Plano-concave liquid lens, we
have

1 1 1 
= ( µ − 1)  + 
f2  r1 r2 

where µ = refractive index of liquid

f2 = - 25 cm

r1 = 10 cm

1 1
r2 = ∞, ⇒ = =0
r2 ∞

1 1
− = ( µ − 1)
25 10

µ = 0.6

4.0 CONCLUSION

1 1 1
The lens formula is = +
f v u

Thus, if any two of the three parameter f, v, and u are known, then third
one can be easily computed using the above Equation. Therefore the
information that can be obtained about the object for image distance
through ray tracing can also be obtained by using this equation.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

The lens maker’s equation

1 1 1
= ( µ − 1)  + 
f1  r1 r2 

This equation relates a focal length, refractive index and the radii of
curvature of a given lens. Consequently, if we know any of the three
parameters above we can always use the equation to determine the
fourth one.

Dispersion is the break down of white light into its colour component.
These colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Dispersion results from the fact that the various colour components have
moved through the glass prism at different velocities and are associated
with different angles of deviations. While red light has the least angle of
deviation, violet has the most angle of deviation. This gives the colour
spectra of white light after dispersion. The spectrum can be continuous
in which case, the colours match with each other pure, in this case they
appear distinctly in fine lines.

5.0 SUMMARY

• The lens formula can be used to obtain the same information

about the u or v or f as by a lens by ray tracing.

• The lens maker’s equation relates the focal length, the refractive
index and the radii of curvature of a given lens.
• When white light passes through a prism, it splits into its basic
component colours. This is known as dispersion.
• Dispersion is due to different velocities of travel and
consequently, different angle of deviation of the component
colours of white light through the glass prism.
• Red light is least deviated whereas violet deviates most out of the
component colours.
• The emerging ray of light received on the screen after incident,
white have passed through a prism is usually in form of a
continuous spectrum in which the adjacent colours interfere with
each other with appropriate instrumentation, pure spectrum can
be obtained.
• Other forms of spectra are band spectra and absorption spectra.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Determine the radius of curvature of the convex surface of a

plano convex lens if its focal length is 0.3m and the refractive
index of the material of the lens is 1.5.

2. An object placed 45 cm away from a lens forms an image on a

screen placed 90 cm on the other side of the lens.

(a) What type of lens it is?

(b) Determine the focal length of this lens.
(c) Calculate the size of the image if the size of the object is 15 cm.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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UNIT 3 THE EYE

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Human Eye
3.2 Power of a Lens
3.3 Eye Defects and Their Corrections
3.3.1 Long Sightedness
3.3.2 Short sightedness
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 Reference/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

We have learnt about the lenses in earlier units. You can recall that how
different kind of images are formed when the object is kept at different
positions. Eyeglasses are now a day commonly used to correct visual
problems. We use lenses to solve the problem of nearsightedness,
farsightedness or to magnify object. Now, you may ask logically what
goes wrong with our vision. Why are we not able to see properly? To get
the answer of these questions, first, it is vital to know about the human
eye and its essential parts and their functions.

The eye is a natural optical instrument which an average person uses to

see. It is analogous in every way to the camera. It has a lens, a shutter
known as the iris and a retina which acts like film of a camera. The
image of an object being viewed is formed on the retina in the same
manner as the image is formed on the film of a camera.

In this unit you will study about essential parts of the eye as well as the
defects of the eye and their corrections. The major defects of eye are far
– sightedness, and short sightedness. They are corrected using
appropriate convex or concave lenses which are usually worn in form of
eye glasses (spectacles).

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2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• identify the various parts of the eye

• discuss the function(s) of each part of the eye
• define the power of a lens
• solve problems involving power of a lens
• discuss the major defects of the eye and their corrections.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Human Eye

A vertical section of the human eye is shown in Fig. 3.1 below. As you
can see, the eye has the following essential parts:

Fig. 3.1: Main parts of human eye

i) The cornea is the transparent part of the eye. The light which
enters to the eye passes through it. It serves as a protective
covering to the parts like pupil, crystalline lens etc. and also
partly focuses light entering the eye.

ii) The iris which acts as a muscular diaphragm of variable size that
controls the size of pupil. Its function is to regulate the amount of
light entering to the eye. In low light conditions, it dilates the

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

pupil and on the other hand, it contracts the pupil in high light
conditions.
iii) The pupil is a circular aperture in the iris.

iv) The eye lens which is supported by the ciliary’s muscles and its
function is to focus light entering the eye onto the retina. The
action of the ciliary’s muscles alters the focal length of the lens
by changing its shape.

v) The retina is the light sensitive portion at the back inside surface
of the eye. The optic nerves of the brain begin at the retina from
which they transmit massages to the brain. The most sensitive
spot of the retina is known as the yellow spot and its least
sensitive portion is the blind spot, which is where the optic nerve
leaves the eye for the brain. An image is perceived. The retina in
the eye works in the same way as the film in a camera. It is
interesting to note that our brains interpret the object scene as
right side up.

vi) Cornea is the curved membrane forming the front surface of the
eye.

vii) The aqueous humor is the transparent liquid between the lens and
the cornea.

viii) The vitreous humor is a jelly liquid between the lens and the rest
of the eye ball.

The optical system of the eye consists of the cornea, the aqueous and
vitreous humor and the lens. The rod and cones known as receptors,
when stimulated by light, send signals to the brain through optic nerves
and where an image is perceived. They form an ideal and inverted
image of an external object on the retina. The retina transmits the
impression created on it by this image through the optic nerve to the
brain. The brain then interprets the inverted image as being vertical in
reality.

The focal length of the eye lens is not constant. The shape of the lens is
altered by the action of the ciliary muscles to obtain a convex lens of
appropriate focal length required to focus the object viewed (far or near)
on the retina. The ability of the lens to focus on near and far objects is
known as accommodation.

You may have come across with Optometrists and Ophthalmologists in

regard of eyeglass or contact lenses. It is important to know that they use
inverse of the focal length to determine the strength of the eyeglass or

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lens. This inverse of the focal length is called power, which we will
discuss in the next section 3.2.

3.2 Power of a Lens

The power of a lens is defined as the reciprocal of the focal length.

Where P is the power of the lens and f is the focal length. The power of
a lens is measured in diopter (D). For example, when the focal length is
1m, the power of the lens is 1D.

1
P= ....(3.1)
f

Hence the power of a lens in diopters is given by the expression

100
P=
f (cm)

Here the focal length is taken in centimeters.

The power of a converging lens is positive while that of a diverging lens

is negative because their focal lengths are positive and negative
respectively,

Example 3.1

Determine the focal length of a lens with power + 2.5 diopters.

Solution

100
P= = 2 .5
f

100
⇒f=
2 .5

= 40 cm

Example 3.2

Determine the power of a concave lens with focal length 20 cm.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Solution

100 100
=− ,
f 20

⇒ f = − 5 cm

Many of us encountered with the visual problems like nearsightedness

and farsightedness. Most of us use glasses at some point of time in our
life. In section 3.1, various parts of eyes and their functions were
discussed. It was mentioned that focused image of an object is observed
on the retina. But sometimes the image of the object is not formed on the
retina because the lens in the eye does not focus the light rays properly
on to the retina. Hence, we are not able to see properly or there is some
defect observed in the eye. Now in the next section, let us discuss about
the eye defects and also learn how these defects can be corrected?

3.3 Eye Defects and their Corrections

The closest distance a normal eye can see an object clearly (without
accommodation) is called “the near point or the least distant of distinct
vision”. The near point is the closest distance for which the lens can
accommodate to focus light on the retina. This distance is equal to 25
cm for a normal eye. This distance increases with the age. It is
mentioned in the literature that it is about 50 cm at age 40 and to 500 cm
or greater at age 60.

The farthest distance a normal eye can see an object is called the far
point and is at infinity for a normal eye. Therefore, a person with
normal eye can see very distant objects like moon.

3.3.1 Farsightedness (hyperopia)

In farsightedness (or hyperopia), a person can usually see far away

objects clearly but not nearby objects. The light rays do not converged
by the eye on the retina but focuses behind the retina. Hence, the image
formed by the lens in the eye fall behind the retina (see Fig. 3.2(a).

Correction: In order to correct this defect, a convex lens needs to be

placed before the eye. It help in converging further more the incoming
rays before they enter the eye, so that by the time the lens in the eye
converges them, they would exactly fall on the retina (see Fig. 3.2 b).

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Near
Image is formed
Point
behind the retina

Fig. 3.2 (a): Farsightedness

Convex lens
Image is
formed at
retina
I

Fig. 3.2 (b): Use of convex lens to correct farsightedness.

3.3.2 Nearsightedness (or myopia)

When a person cannot see clearly or focus to the retina objects at the far
point but can focus on the nearby objects, then the person is said to be
suffering from nearsightedness (or myopia). Usually this problem arises
with the people who do a lot of reading. Fig. 3.3 (a) shows that for
nearsighted person, rays from a distance objects get focused before
getting to the retina.

Correction

The type of defect can be corrected by using a concave lens placed

before the eye (see Fig. 3.3 (b). It can be seen in Fig. 3.3 (b) that the
concave lens diverge the rays from distant object before getting to the
cornea and thereby enabling the natural lens of the eye to focus the rays
on the retina.

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Image formed
Rays coming
I before the retina
from far point
I

Fig. 3.3 (a): Nearsightedness

Concave Focused
lens correct image
Parallel rays I

Fig. 3.3 (b): Use of a concave lens to correct nearsightedness.

Example 3.3

A man cannot see clearly objects beyond 100 cm from his eye.
Calculate the power of the lens he needs to see distant object clearly.

Solution

Since the man cannot see beyond 100 cm, it implies that he is
shortsighted and would need a diverging lens for correction.

For him to see the object at infinity, the lens must assure his object
distance to be infinity and image distance at 100 cm, because the object
to man appear to be at 100 cm away.

∴ u =∞

v = - 100 cm (negative sign because lens is concave)

f =?

Using the lens formula, we can insert the values

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1 1 1 1 1
= + =− +
f v u 100 ∞

1 1
=− +0
f 100

f = - 100 cm
Therefore, power

100
= dioptres
− 100

= - 1.0 dioptres

= - 1.0 D

4.0 CONCLUSION

The eye is similar to the camera in many ways. It has a lens, a shutter
(iris) and a film (retina). Its mode of image formation is very similar to
that of a camera in all respect. The image formed on the retina is always
inverted just like the image formed by a camera on a film. The only
difference is that the human brain interprets the image and also the lens
of the eye is usually adjustable to enable it focus on far or near objects.
The ability of the lens to adjust it so if for the purpose is known as
accommodation.

The power of a lens is usually expressed as the inverse of the focal

length. Its unit is diopter. The diopter is represented by D.

The two defects of eye are farsightedness (or hyperopia) and

nearsightedness (or myopia). In farsightedness, the person is able to see
distinctively far away objects but not nearly objects. In this case, light
from near objects are focused behind the retina and a convex lens is used
to correct these defect.

In the case of nearsightedness, the eye is able to see distinctively objects

that are near but not those far off. In this case, rays from distant object
are focused by the lens before the retina. A concave lens is used to
correct this defect.

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5.0 SUMMARY

• The eye is similar in form and in operation to the camera.

• The image formed by the eye is inverted just like the one formed
on the camera film but it’s interpreted as being correct by the
brain.
• Also the shape and consequently the focal length of the normal
eye are variable and can therefore focus on near or far object
when required. The ability of the eye to do these is known as
accommodation.
• One of the major defects of the eye is farsightedness. This defect
occurs when light from far objects are focused behind the retina.
The defect is corrected by introduction of a convex lens before
the eye.
• Another major defect of the eye is nearsightedness. This defect
occurs when light from distant object are focused before the
retina. The defect is corrected by the introduction of a concave
lens before the eye.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1.(a) Calculate the focal length of a lens of power 2.0 D.

(b) Explain, how a normal eye produces a sharp image?

2. What are the two defects of vision? How they can be corrected?
Explain with diagram.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER REDINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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UNIT 4 OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Microscope
3.1.1 Simple Microscope in Normal Use
3.1.2 Simple Microscope with Image at Infinity
3.1.3 Compound Microscope
3.1.4 Telescope
3.1.5 The Astronomical Telescope in Normal Adjustment
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In earlier units, we have studied about reflection and refractions and see
how the rays are reflected and refracted. Then, we learnt about lenses
and studied that these lenses can be used to converge or diverges the
rays from distant objects. These lenses focus light and produce a sharp
image. In the last unit, we discussed that how lenses are used to correct
the defects of vision. Now the question arises: can we make use of
these lenses further? Yes, we can, in the form of microscope, telescope,
which you may have come-across in your earlier school physics
curriculum. In this unit, we will study about the further use of lenses in
optical instruments like microscope and telescope. You will also learn
that how the combination of lenses form these optical instruments.

The microscope or a magnifier is used to see very tiny objects or to

magnify the size of the objects which cannot be seen by naked eyes
whereas telescope is used to view the distant object such as planets or
other Astronomical objects.

The invention of these instruments (i.e. microscope and telescope etc.)

has made a great impact on our life. So, now we will study in detail
about these two optical instruments and also look how they operate.

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M Eye lens
Object K
P
N θ θ q Image
formed

Fig. 4.1: Size of the image on retina, q and angle θ subtended on eye.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you will be able to:

• define visual angle and angle of magnification

• distinguish between microscope and the telescope
• explain how the microscope function
• explain how the astronomical telescope functions in normal
adjustment
• explain how the astronomical telescope functions when its image
is formed at near point.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Microscope

Before discussing the details of simple microscope, first we briefly

discuss about visual angle subtended by an object at the eye. This is
because in the optical instruments like telescopes and microscopes, we
are concerned with the visual angle.
An object NM is placed at some distance from the eye as shown in Fig.
4.1. This object is subtended an angle θ at the eye.

The length of the image q formed by the eye is proportional to angle θ

subtended at the eye by the object. This angle is called the visual angle.

Using the relation

Angle = Arc
Radius

q = pθ

∴q is directly proportional to θ (as p is constant)

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

This shows that the visual angle is directly proportioned to apparent size
of the object.

Optical Instruments such as telescopes and microscopes are designed to

increase the visual angle. The resultant effect of this is that the image of
the object formed on the retina becomes much bigger than it is when
these instruments are not used to view them i.e., image formed on the
retina when these instruments are used become much magnified than
when they are not used.

Now in our next subsections you will learn about simple microscope and
compound microscope. First, we will discuss about the simple
microscope in normal use and then simple microscope with image
infinity.

3.1.1 Simple Microscope (in normal use)

M
M'

θ
N N'
θ = visual angle

Fig. 4.2: Object move from N to N'

Fig. 4.2 shows that two objects (of different size) MN and M'N' are
subtending the same visual angle θ at the eye, therefore appears to be of
equal size. But in actual, the objects are of different sizes and object
MN is bigger in size.

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h h'
α'
α D
eye
D

Fig. 4.3: (a) The visual angle α Fig. 4.3 (b): α ' is the visual angle
without microscope subtended after using the
microscope

A simple microscope in normal use means that the image is formed at

the near point as shown in Fig. 4.3 above. Here h is the length of the
object viewed at near point (it means at D). The visual angles subtended
are α (in radian) and α′ (in radian). The α′ is the increased angle when
the simple microscope is used to view the object given in Fig 4.3 (b).

As you can see, magnified image is obtained which is erect and the
distance of image is equal to D.

The angular magnification is maximum when the image is at the near

point of the eye.
The angular magnification in terms of visual angle is

M = α′ ………………….(4.1)
α

Now, the values of α and α′ can be obtained from Fig. 4.3 (a) and (b).

α′ = h′/D and α = h/D

Therefore Eq. 4.1 becomes

h` D h` v
M = = =   …. (4.2)
h D h u

Here u is the object distance and v is the image distance.

Since you know that

1 1 1
+ =
u v f

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

On multiplying the above Eq. by v and on rearranging the terms, we get

v v
= −1
u f

Or

v D
=− −1
u f

v D 
= −  + 1
u  f 

h′ v D 
∴ = = −  + 1 ……… (4.3)
h u  f 

Substituting Eq. (4.3) in Eq. (4.2), we get the expression

D 
M = −  + 1
 f 

Numerically, magnification can be written as

D 
M =  + 1 ………. (4.4)
 f 

Eq. (4.4) gives the angular magnification of a microscope in normal use

and the negative sign is an indication that the final image is virtual.
Further, it can be seen that for higher angular magnification, a lens of
short focal length is needed. You know that the eye has the tendency to
focus on an image formed anywhere between the near point and infinity
by a simple microscope. So, now you will study another case, when the
image is formed at infinity.

3.1.2 Simple Microscope (with Image at Infinity)

You know that the eye has the tendency to focus on an image formed
anywhere between the near point and infinity by a simple microscope.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

α
D
Fig. 4.4 (a)

A simple microscope is an instrument which is used to see very small

objects. As discussed in the earlier sub-section (section 3.1.1) that,
when it is in normal use, the image is formed at D (least distance of
distinct vision)

infinity

f
(b)
Fig. 4.4: (a) Visual angle when the object is placed at the distance D,
(b) Visual angle formed when the object is placed near the
focal point.

A simple microscope with the image formed at infinity means that the
eye must be accommodated to bring the image to infinity as shown in
Fig. 4.4 above.

Where f is the focal length of a lens. The magnification M can be

defined as

h
α′ f D
M = = =
α h f
D
……(4.5)
D
∴ M =
f

Eq. (4.5) gives an angular magnification with a microscope having a

single lens. Magnification can be further increased by using one or two
additional lenses. So, now we will discuss about the compound
microscope.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.1.3 Compound Microscope

A simple microscope in normal adjustment has its magnification

numerically as
D
M = +1
f
A decrease in f implies an increase in angular magnification. But in
practice, it is difficult to obtain a very small f. Therefore two lenses can
be used to increase angular magnification. This two lens microscope is
known as the compound microscope as shown in Fig. 4.4 below.

Objective lens
u v Eyepiece lens
f2
object f1
fe
• α •
fo h1 Eye
h2

(a)

α
D
(b)

Fig. 4.4 (a) Compound microscope (b) compound microscope in

normal use

A compound Microscope in normal use means that the final image is

formed at the near point. The details of the image formation are
discussed below.

The compound microscope essentially consists of two convex lenses of

focal length f1 and f2 in which one of the lenses (of focal length f1) is the
objective lens and the second lens (of focal length f2) is the eye piece.
The objective lens is placed near the object being viewed while the
eyepiece is the lens near the eye as shown in Fig. 4.4(a). fo is the focus
of the objective lens and the fe is the focus of the eyepiece. h1 is the
height of the image formed by the objective and finally we get image h2
by an eyepiece.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

The lenses are arranged such that their separation is less than f1 + f2. As
such the image of the object formed by the objective lens is located from
the second lens at a distance less than the focal length of the second lens.
Thus the image of the first image formed by the second lens must be
virtual and magnified. Consequently the final image formed is several
times larger than the object to the observer.

Now, the formula of angular magnification for compound microscope is

given by

D  v 
∴ M =  + 1  − 1 ….. (4.6)
 f2   f1 

Therefore, from Eq. (4.6), it can be noted that M is large for small f1
and f2. It means that if the focal lengths of the objective lens and
eyepiece lens are both small, angular magnification will be high.
After discussing about microscope, now you will learn about the
telescopes in the next subsection. Telescopes are the instruments used
to see distant objects or heavenly bodies like stars, planets etc.

3.1.4 Telescope
The angular magnification of a Telescope is defined as the ratio:

α′
M = …..( 4.7)
α

Where α is the visual angle subtended by the distance object at the

unaided eye and α′ is the angle subtended at the eye by its final image
when telescope is used.

There are different types of telescope one of which is the astronomical

telescope. Now, we will discuss in the succeeding section first the
Astronomical Telescope in normal Adjustment.

3.1.5 The Astronomical Telescope in Normal Adjustment

Astronomical telescope like compound microscope, consist of two

lenses: objective and eyepiece. The objective is of large focal length
and eyepiece is of short focal length closer to the image. f1 is the focal
length of the objective while f2 is the focal length of eyepiece.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

objective Eyepiece
f1 f2 piece

α1
α
fo
h
α

f1 f2
Image at
infinity
Fig. 4.5: An Astronomical Telescope in normal adjustment.

The parallel rays are collected by the objective lens O and an image h is
formed. Final image is formed at infinity (∞).

In normal adjustment the two foci f1 and f2 coincides and it therefore

implies that the distance between the two lenses is f1 + f2 .

If α is the angle subtended by the unaided eye and α′ is the angle

subtended by the aided eye. Then, since α and α′ are small the angular
magnification of the telescope is

h
α′ f2
M = =
α h
f1

f1
M = ……( 4.8)
f2

So from Eq. 4.8, the angular magnification is the ratio of focal length of
objective to the focal length of eyepiece. For high angular magnification
the eyepiece should have a small focal length and objective should have
high focal length.

Example 4.1

An astronomical telescope consists an objective of focal length 100 cm

and an eyepiece of focal length 4 cm. Calculate the angular
magnification of the telescope and also determine the distance between
the two lenses.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Solution

Given
f1 = 100 cm , f2 = 4 cm
The angular magnification of the telescope is (Refer Eq. 4.8)

f1
M =
f2

100
=
4

= 25 cm

The distance between the two lenses = f1 + f2

= 100 + 4 = 104 cm

4.0 CONCLUSION

• The visual angle of an object dictates the size of the image on the
retina. To increase the image size of an object therefore required
increasing the visual angle of the object. This is usually done by
means of optical instruments such as the microscope and the
telescope.
α′
• Angular magnification is defined as, M =
α
where α is the angle subtended by the unaided eye and α′ is the
angle subtended by the aided eye.
• The Compound microscope consists of an object lens and an
eyepiece of focal length f1 and f2 respectively. These lenses are
separated at a distance slightly less than f1 + f2. The image
formed by the objective lens serves as the objects for the
eyepiece. As the object distance for the eyepiece is less than f2,
the image formed by the eye piece is virtual and enlarged and this
is the image of the object seen by the eye. Consequently, the
image is magnified.
• Also the telescope essentially consists of two convex lenses of
focal length f1 and f2. At normal adjustment the distance between
two lenses is f1 + f2 and the image formed is at infinity. Thus the
astronomical telescope is useful for viewing objects at infinity
such as the moon and stars.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

5.0 SUMMARY

• The magnitude of the image of an object formed on the retina is

determined by its visual angle.
• Angular magnification is achieved by using optical instruments
such as the microscope and telescope.
• The microscope has an objective lens and an eye-piece, the two
lenses are arranged in such a way that their separation is slightly
less than f1 + f2.
• In the microscope the image formed by the objective lens falls
between the second lens and its near principal focus. As such,
the final image formed by the eyepiece is virtual and enlarged.
Consequently, the final image seen by the eye is much more
magnified than the object.
• The telescope also consists of an objective lens and eyepiece of
focal lengths f1 and f2 respectively. At normal adjustment, the
separation of the two lenses equals f1 + f2 and the final image
formed is at infinity. Hence such telescope is good for viewing
very distant (astronomical) objects at infinity.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Calculate the angular magnification of a magnifying glass of focal

length 7 cm. Also, determine the object distance.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER REDINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

UNIT 5 OTHER TYPES OF TELESCOPES

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Eye Ring
3.2 Astronomical Telescope with Image Formed at Near Point
3.3 The Terrestrial Telescope
3.4 The Reflective Telescope
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the last unit, we discussed the different optical instruments like

compound microscope and telescope. Both these optical instruments
consist of two lenses, objective and an eyepiece, of different focal
length. The astronomical telescope is used primarily for viewing objects
at very large distances or astronomical bodies like stars and the moon.
On the other hand, the compound microscope is used to magnify the size
of the object. So, in these optical instruments, objective lens collects
light rays from the object which is bounded by the perimeter of the
objective lens. Therefore the lens acts as a stop to the light rays from
the object.

As the eyepiece is a lens, the objective lens also serves as an object to it.
The image of the objective lens formed by the eyepiece is called the eye-
ring. When the observer places the eye at the eye-ring of the instrument
(i.e. compound microscope or telescope) he receives maximum light
from the objective and consequently from the object being viewed.
In this unit, you will learn the principle and theory behind the formation
of eye-ring. Also in this unit you will study about two other types of
telescopes. One of them is another type of astronomical telescope
known as the reflector telescope and second one is primarily used to
view distant objects on earth and this type of telescope is known as the
terrestrial telescope.

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2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you should be able to:

• define and explain the eye-ring

• distinguish between astronomical and terrestrial telescope
• distinguish between reflector and the terrestrial telescope
• explain the operation of the terrestrial telescope
• explain the operation of the reflector telescope.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Eye Ring

A Object lens
Eye lens
b
fo Eye-ring

B r
f1+f2

Fig. 5.1: Formation of an eye-ring

In the Fig. 5.1 as shown above, the rays are refracted from the boundary
of objective lens to make the image at f0 in normal adjustment. These
rays again refracted from the boundary of eye-lens and an eye-ring ab is
formed. The eye-ring ab is the image of the object lens AB formed at the
eyepiece. It is the best position of the eye when using the telescope
because maximum amount of light enters the object lens from outside
thereby creating a wide field of view. At a distance closer to the eye-
lens than the eye-ring, no further improvement in view is obtained.

Using the lens equation for the above figure, one can obtained the value
of distance v from the eye-ring as

1 1 1
+ =
v ( f1 + f 2 ) f2

On rearranging the terms of the equation, we get

f2
v= ( f1 + f 2 ) ………….. (5.1)
f1

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∴ Objective diameter: eye-ring diameter = Height of object

Height of image

=Distance of object
Distance of Image
Or

AB u ( f1 + f 2 ) f
= = = 1 …… (5.2)
ab v f2 f2
( f1 + f 2 )
f1

But as you know, that the angular magnification of the telescope is given
by the relation as
f1
M =
f2

This implies that for the angular magnification to be large, f1 must be

much greater than f2
So, the angular magnification for a telescope in normal adjustment can
also be expressed as

M = diameter of objective
diameter of eye-ring ……… ( 5.3)

3.2 Astronomical Telescope with Image Formed at Near

Point

When the telescope is not in normal adjustment the eye needs

accommodation to focus the image to a numerical distance D (the least
distance of distinct vision). This is shown in fig. 5.2 below.

Objective
f1 u Eye lens

Rays from
infinity
fo
Eye
h

Fig. 5.2: Telescope with image formed at near point.

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In the Fig. 5.2, the image formed by the objective lens fall between the
focus of the eye lens and the eye lens so that the final image is virtual.
The angular magnification is given by

α′
M =
α
Or in another form, it can be written as

h
M = u = f1 …………… (5.4)
h u
f1

But as you know that the value of u can be obtained using the Eq.
1 1 1
+ =
u v f

Then
1 1 1
+ =
u −D f2

f2D
u= ………………. (5.5)
f2 + D

Substituting the value of u from Eq. (5.5) in Eq (5.4), we get the

expression for magnification as

f1 ( f 2 + D)
M =
f2 D

Or

f1  f 
M = 1 + 2 
f2  D

But as you know

f1
= M (angular magnification)
f2

This implies that angular magnification can also be written as

M = Diameter of objective
Diameter of eye-ring

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After studying about astronomical telescope with image formed at near

point, we will now discuss another telescope known as the terrestrial
telescope.

3.3 The Terrestrial Telescope

Object
lens
Eyelens
Erecting lens

Eye

f1 f2

Fig. 5.3: A terrestrial telescope

Unlike the astronomical telescope used to view distant objects or objects

at infinity, such as the stars and moon, the terrestrial telescope is used to
view distant objects on land. This means that it is important for the final
image to be erect. It therefore consists of an erecting lens placed
between the object lens and the eye-lens as shown in Fig. 5.3 above.
The erecting lens is placed such that the center of curvature of its faces
coincides with the focus of the object lens. This is done so that the
angular magnification of the instrument is retained and also the final
image remains erect (recall that when an object is placed at the center of
curvature, the image formed is of the same size as the object).

Despite the importance of the erecting lens, its disadvantages are:

i) The erecting lens reduces intensity of light through the eye-piece.

ii) The instrument is now longer by 4f, where f is the focal length of
the erecting lens.

Now, we will study another telescope, known as the reflector telescope.

It was first suggested by Newton. This telescope consists of a large
curved mirror as its objective lens. Let us discuss about it briefly.

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The Reflector Telescope

Light Plane
rays mirror Eyepiece

Objective

Fig. 5.4: Newton Reflector Telescope

Fig. 5.4 refers to a reflector telescope. An astronomical telescope with

lens as its objective is called a refractor telescope while a reflector
telescope has a large curved mirror as its objective as shown in Fig. 5.4
above. It consists of a parabolic mirror of large size as its objective.
Because of its large size, the mirror collects large amount of light from
distant planets and brought to focus to be photographed. The advantages
of using this kind of telescope are:

i) It has a large angular magnification. Recall the expression

f1
M =
f2
Where, f1 is the focal length of the objective.

As it is difficult to manufacture a lens with very large focal

length, there is a limitation to the magnification. This can be
achieved with a mirror; it is preferable to use a very large mirror
as the objective.
ii) The telescope is free from chromatic aberration caused by an
objective lens.
iii) There will be no loss of light due to absorption and reflection of
light as on the surface of a lens.
iv) The large diameter of the objective increases the resolving power
of the telescope.

The resolving power of a telescope (the two distant objects just

seem separated) is given by

D 1
P= = ….. (5.8)
1.22λ θ

Here, θ is the smallest angle which is subtended at the telescope

by two distant objects which can just be seen separated. The

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other symbols used here are: D is the diameter of the objective

lens and λ is the mean wavelength of light from the object.

From Eq. (5.8), it can be observed that θ is inversely proportional

to resolving power of a telescope. If the value of θ is smaller,
then the resolving power is greater. The value of θ does not
depend upon the focal length of the objective but only depends on
its diameter.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The eye-ring is the image of the objective lens formed at the eyepiece.
That represents the position at which the observer eyes should be placed
in order to obtain the maximum light from the objective lens. Under this
condition, the angular magnification obtained from the image formed is

M = Diameter of objective
Diameter of eye-ring

The other type of telescope studied in this unit is the terrestrial

telescope. This type of telescope is used mainly for viewing distant
object on the earth surface. The astronomical telescope has an
additional convex lens whose sole purpose is to make the final image
appear erect. The refractor telescope is another type of astronomical
telescope. It has a very large concave mirror as its objective rather than
a lens. The advantages of this type of telescope are:

i) It has a large angular magnification;

ii) It is free from chromatic aberration;
iii) It is not associated with loss of light due to absorption and
reflection of light on the surface of lens; and
iv) It has better resolving power.

5.0 SUMMARY

• The eye-ring is the image of the objective lens at the eyepiece.

• The angular magnification associated with eye-ring is

Diameter of objective
M= Diameter of eye-ring

• The terrestrial telescope is a telescope used mainly for viewing

distant objects on the earth surface.
• Te terrestrial telescope has an additional lens which makes the
final image erect

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• The introduction of this additional lens in the terrestrial telescope

causes a reduction in intensity of light available to the eye
thereby making the image dull.
• The reflector telescope is another type of astronomical telescope,
however unlike the normal telescope its objective is a large
concave mirror.
• The advantages of the reflector telescope over the normal
astronomical telescope are its large angle of magnification, its
better resolving power and its freedom from chromatic
aberration.
• A large mirror as objective in reflector telescope reduces loss of
light by lens telescope

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Determine the resolving power of a telescope, if the objective of

a telescope has a diameter of 300mm. The mean wavelength of
the light from stars is 6 x 10-7 m.

2. Explain the term eye-ring of a telescope. Show with a ray

diagram, how the eye ring is formed in an astronomical telescope.

3.(a) What is meant by angular magnification of an optical instrument?

(b) Calculate the angular magnification of a simple astronomical
telescope in normal adjustment which has an objective of focal
length 120 cm and an eyepiece of 6 cm.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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MODULE 3 INTERFERENCE AND POLARIZATION

OF LIGHT

Unit 1 Interference
Unit 2 Interference in Thin Films and Air Wedge
Unit 3 Newton’s Rings and Interference in Thin Films
Unit 4 Polarization of Light
Unit 5 Laws and Application of Polarization

UNIT 1 INTERFERENCE

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Wave Nature of light
3.2 Coherent Sources
3.3 Interference
3.4 Optical Path
3.5 The Young’s Double Slit Experiment
3.6 Fringe Separations
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

You know that light travels as a stream of particles and also in the form
of waves. Light is wave motion. However light is an electromagnetic
wave, which vibrates at right angle to its direction of propagation while
sound energy is a mechanical wave, which vibrates, in the same
direction as the direction of propagation. In other words, light wave is a
transverse wave of electromagnetic origin and sound is a longitudinal
wave of mechanical origin. But here, we will study a very important
characteristic of wave motion that is the phenomena of interference.

When two beams of light superposed, there intensity varies from point
to point between maxima and minima in the region of superposition.
This phenomenon is called interference. It means at certain point, the
intensity exceeds the sum of intensities in the beams and on the other
point, the intensity weaken or may be zero. Hence, we obtain bright and
dark fringes on a screen.

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In this unit, we discuss the coherent sources and the use of path
difference for constructive and destructive interference. The
interference pattern produced by waves originating from two point
sources is also discussed here. You will also learn about the interference
produced in Young’s two-slit experiment.

In the next unit, you will study how interference takes place in thin films
and Air wedge.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• explain the wave nature of light

• explain what coherent sources are
• define the interference and its types
• define optical path
• explain the conditions for interference
• describe Young’s double slit experiment
• express the fringe width in terms of wavelength of light
• solve problems involving Young’s experiment.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Wave Nature of Light

Even though in units 1 – 10, we have considered light in a form of rays.

It has been found that in reality light is a form of wave traveling in
straight lines represented by the rays. These waves are different from
sound waves because sound waves are longitudinal while light waves
vibrate perpendicularly to the direction of propagation. Also sound wave
is a mechanical wave, whereas light is an electromagnetic wave.

The human eye can see light of wavelength which lies between 450 x
10-9m and 750 x 10-9m. This range of wavelength is known as the
visible range of electromagnetic spectrum. Some electromagnetic
waves have shorter wavelength that visible light, while others have
longer wavelength then visible light. These invisible electromagnetic
waves differ from visible light only in terms of wavelength and in the
ways by which they are produced.

Before studying interference in detail, it is necessary to familiarize with

the terms like coherent sources used in interference phenomena. Now
we shall first discuss coherent sources.

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3.2 Coherent Source

Let there are two interfering waves (light waves). If these interfering
waves are produced randomly, it means that they are out of phase with
each other (or there is a continual change of phase), then such sources of
interfering waves are known as incoherent source.
Coherent sources are the sources which must emit light waves of
(i) same frequency or wavelength and
(ii) a constant phase difference or which are always in phase with
each other (and they must be traveling in the same or nearly the
same direction).
So, now in the next section we discuss in details the phenomena of
interference produced by two coherent sources.
3.3 Interference
Consider two waves originated from two coherent sources of light A and
B, of the same frequency (or wavelength) travel in the same direction
and having a constant phase difference with the passage of time. The
resultant intensity of light do not distributed uniformly in space.
Therefore, non-uniform distribution of the light intensity due to
combined effect (superposition) of two waves is called interference.
Usually, it is found that at some points the intensity of light is maximum
and on the other points, the intensity of light is minimum. Refer to Fig.
1.1.

Screen

P M

Q K

Fig. 1.1: Point of constructive interference (T) and destructive

interference (M).

Now, let us discuss the different types of interference patterns.

The interference is of two types: (a) constructive interference (b)
destructive interference.

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(a) Constructive Interference

Constructive interference occurs when the effect of two interfering

waves is additive at the point of interest. At these points, intensity
becomes maximum. The resultant vibration at the point is obtained by
adding them (their amplitudes). A bright ‘band’ of light is obtained at
these points. That is, they add up to give something bigger than
contribution from either source of the two sources.

Suppose we consider two coherent source A and B that are exactly in

phase as shown in Fig. 1.2, the interference effect at an equidistant point
T is constructive, and obtained by adding the displacement of the
individual wave at the point.
Displacement

Time →

(a) Wave from source A

Displacement

Time →

(b) Wave from source B

Displacement

Time →

Resultant Wave
Fig. 1.2: Constructive Interference: (a) wave from source A (b) wave
from source B (c) Resultant of two waves.

In general constructive interference would occur if the path difference,

d, at any point P is multiples of zero or whole number wavelength that is

d = nλ

Where n = 0, 1, 2, ……… so on. …………….. (1.1)

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On the other hand destructive interference occurs when the net effect at
the point of interest, is the effect of one source minus the effect of the
other source. Now you will learn about destructive interference in detail.

(b) Destructive Interference

The destructive interference occurs at some point where the intensity is

minimum. This is the situation in which the interference effects is
smaller than that produced by the individual waves. Refer to fig. 1.3. At
these points, a dark band of light is obtained.

The path difference d for constructive interference can be given by the

expression

 1
d=QM – PM =  n +  λ …………… (1.2)
 2

where n = 0, 1, 2, 3, ……… so on.

displacement
Wave
from A
time →

displacement
Wave from B
time →

Resultant
(zero)

Fig.1.3: Graphical representation of Destructive interference

3.4 Optical Path

Consider a medium of refractive index µ and its thickness is t. A light

ray is traveling from a point O (in air) to another point A (in air) through
a medium which is introduced in between this ray. So the light ray partly
travels in air and partly in a medium introduced between as illustrated in
Fig. 1.4. In interference phenomena, the optical paths of the coherent
light rays are found. The product of the refractive index µ and the path
length t is called optical path in the medium.

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Medium with
refractive index µ

O A

t
d
Fig. 1.4: Optical path

Optical path = µt

When a glass slab is introduced between a ray from O to A, then the

expression for optical path is given by

Optical path = (d-t) + µt

=d + (µ-1) t ……… (1.3)

This shows that the effect of introducing a material of thickness t,

refractive index µ is increased the optical path by (µ - 1) t. In other
words, the air path OA is increased by an amount (µ - 1)t due to the
introduction of the plate of material of refractive index µ and thickness t.

Young had first demonstrated the interference of light. In the following

section, we will discuss the interference produced in the Young two-slit
experiment.

3.5 The Young’s Double slit experiment

Screen

P
Source of
monochromatic A Y
light ↓
S O Bright band
B of fringes

Fig. 1.5: Young’s double slit experiment

Two slit A and B are illuminated by the same monochromatic source of

light S. This ensures that the wave leaving A and B are coherent. It was
Thomas Young who first observed that if a transparent screen is placed

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parallel to AB, band of bright and dark images (fringes) would be

formed in the region where the beams overlap.

At O, along the perpendicular bisector of AB, the waves due to A and B

are in phase. Hence, a bright band or fringe is formed. This is because
the two light wave coming from A and B would have traveled the same
distance at the point O. Bright and dark bands are subsequently formed
on either side of O. The bright bands occur where d = n λ where n = 0,
1, 2, 3, …. i.e. constructive interference takes place.

 1
On the other hand the dark bands are formed where d = λ  n + .
 2

These conditions of dark and bright fringes have been discussed earlier
also.

These alternate bright and dark bands are known as interference fringes.
At point O, the path difference is zero.

3.6 Fringe Separations

In this section you will see that the thickness Y between two adjacent
bright or dark fringes and a is the distance between the slits A and B. D
is the distance of the slit from the screen and the wavelength of the
monochromatic light is λ. Refer to Fig. 1.6.

P
P Xn
tan θ = =
Xn B D
A P nλ
sin θ = =
θ θ
O H a
a N
M
nλ D
B λ
Fig. 1.6: The geometry of Young’s experiment.

In Fig.1.6, P is the position of the nth bright fringe, then the path
difference at that point P is given by

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BP – AP = BM = nλ.

Consider a ∆ NPO, then

Xn
tan θ = ……….(1.4)
D
Similarly in ∆ AMB,
nλ
sin θ = …………(1.5)
a
In practice, D is large and Xn is very small, thus θ is small,
Hence tan θ ≃ sin θ

Xn nλ
∴ =
D a

The position of the nth bright fringe from origin O is given by

the relation

nλ D
Or Xn = ……. (1.6)
a

The distance of the next bright fringe from O is given by Xn + 1

λD
Xn+1 = (n+1) …….. (1.7)
a

[i.e. replaced n with n+1]

Hence the spacing Y between the nth and (n+1)th fringes can be
determined by subtracting Eq. 1.6 from Eq. 1.7

Y = Xn+1 – Xn
Hence on substituting the values

λD nλ D
Y = (n+1) −
a a

nλ D λ D nλ D
y= + −
a a a

Therefore the expression for the fringe width is

λD
∴Y = ……….. (1.8)
a

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Therefore it can be found from Eq (1.8) that the fringe width varies
directly proportional to D and λ and inversely proportional to the
distance between the slits a. Hence using the expression in Eq. 1.8, one
can measure the wavelength of light easily.

Example 1.1

Young’s experiment is performed with sodium light of wavelength of

589nm. Fringes are measured carefully on a screen 100 cm away from
the double slit and the center of the 20th fringe is found to be 11.78nm
from the axis. Determine the separation of the two slit.

Solution

a
D
S

Data Given:

n = 20, D = 1m, and λ = 589 X 10-9m

∴ The distance of the 20th fringe X20 = 11.78 x 10-3m

Using the Eq. 1.8

nλ D
Xn =
a

On substituting the values and rearranging the terms, we get

nλ D 20 x 589 x 10 - 9 x 1.0
Or a= =
X 20 11.78 x 10 −3

∴a = 1.0 nm

Example 1.2

Using red light, state the effect of the following procedure on the
appearance of the fringes.

(a) The separating of the slit is decreased.

(b) The source slit is moved closed to the two slits.
(c) The screen is moved closer to the slit.
(d) Blue light is used in place of red light.

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(e) One of the slit is covered up.

(f) The source slit is made wider.

Solution

λD
(a) Since Y =
a

Then the separation of the fringes would increase if a slit

separation is decreased

(b) The fringes would appear brighter but their separation Y would
not change

λD
(c) Since Y =
a

If the screen’s distance D is reduce, the separation of the fringes

Y would also decrease.

(d) Replacing the light source with blue light instead of red is
equivalent to changing the wavelength of light used. The wave
length of red light is longer than that of blue light. Therefore the
separation of the fringe would decrease because.

λD
Y=
a

as λblue < λred

(e) When one of the two slit is covered up, the fringes would
disappear because there would be no interference.

(f) If the source slit is made wider, the fringes would overlap and
become blurred because the edge of each opening would behave
as a source on its own, as shown in Fig. 1.7.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

New
sources
1
2

Fig. 1.7

4.0 CONCLUSION

Light is an electromagnetic wave. It represents the visible range of

electromagnetic spectrum. The wave is transverse in nature and
therefore, vibrates in a direction perpendicular to the direction of
propagation. The range of wavelength associated with light energy is
visible spectrum of electromagnetic wave.

Coherent sources are the sources of light which emit light waves of (i)
same frequency or wavelength (ii) having a constant phase difference
between them.

An interference phenomenon occurs due to overlapping waves from

coherent sources. Young’s double slit interference produces bright and
dark fringes when the two slits are close and when coherent
monochromatic light passes through them.

For constructive interference, the path difference, d between the light

waves from the two sources must add up constructively. This happens
when the path difference, d = nλ where n = 0, 1, 2, ……….where λ is
the wavelength of the light.

For dark fringes to form, the light rays from the two surfaces must add
up destructively at a point. This happens when the path difference d
between the two light rays is equal to

 1
d = n +  λ where n = 0, 1, 2, 3, ………
 2

The optical path in the medium of refraction µ and thickness t is given

as µt.

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The separation between any two adjacent bright or dark fringes Y

depends on the distance a between the slits A and B. The mathematical
expression is given by the relation

λD
Y=
a

5.0 SUMMARY

• Light lies in visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Therefore light is an electromagnetic wave.
• Light from two coherent sources can interfere either
constructively or destructively.
• Young’s double slit experiment demonstrates the constructive
and destructive interference when light from coherent sources is
obtained.
• The bright fringe represent constructive interference which takes
place only when the path difference between light ray from the
two sources is equal to nλ where n = 0, 1, 2, ……so on.
• The dark fringe represent destructive interference which takes
place when the path difference d is equal to
 1
d =n +  λ where n = 0, 1, 2, ……so on.
 2

• The separation between any two adjacent dark or bright fringes is

λD
given by the relation Y =
a

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Interference fringes were produced by a Young’s slit method, the

wavelength of the light being 6 x 10-7m when a film of material
3.6 x 10-3 cm thick was placed over one of the slit, the fringe
pattern was displaced by the distance equal to 30 times that
between two adjacent fringes. Calculate the refractive index of
the material. To which side is the fringes displaced.

2. In a two-slit interference pattern with λ = 5600 Ao, the zero order

and tenth order maxima fall at 12.42mm and 14.64 mm
respectively. Determine the fringe width.
3. In a Young’s slits experiment, the separation between the first
and the sixth bright fringe is 3.0 mm when the wavelength used is
6.2 x 10-7m. The distance between the slits and the screen is
0.9m. Determine the separation of the two slits.

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7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

UNIT 2 INTERFERENCE IN THIN FILMS AND AIR

WEDGE

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Interference in thin Wedge Films
3.2 Phase Change in Reflection
3.3 The Air Wedge
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the last unit, you studied the phenomenon of interference of light

waves but there the two interfering light waves are produced by division
of wave-front. As an example, in Young’s double slit experiment, how
inference pattern is produced from two coherent light sources produced
by the division of wave-front by the two slits A and B. but now you may
ask: Is there any other method to produce interference pattern?

You may have observed another set of interference pattern in thin films
and Air wedge. In these patterns, two light beams derived from a single
incident beam by division of amplitude of the incident wave. These
interference patterns are produced due to optical path differences in thin
films and Air wedge. The amplitude of the wave (measure of energy) is
divided into parts.

In this unit, you will study about interference patterns produced in thin
film and Air wedge. You would also see that light reflected by a
material of higher refractive index than the medium in which the rays
are traveling undergoes 180o phase change.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• explain what a thin film is

• describe the origin of the interference pattern produced by a thin
film
• show that reflection of light at the surface of optically denser
medium is accompanied by a phase change of 180o

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• explain what an air wedge is

• explain how the air wedge forms interference patterns
• solve problems associated with interference in the thin films and
the air wedge.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Interference in Thin Wedge Films

Here, we will consider the interference pattern produced by a film of

varying thickness i.e. a film which is not plane parallel which is
produced by a wedge. Refer to Fig. 2.1. It consist of two non-parallel
surfaces inclined at an angle θ.

Suppose a ray of light from a monochromatic source S strikes a half

silvered mirror and reflected onto an air wedge.

Microscope or Eye
Monochromatic
source
R1 R2
S Half -silvered
Mirror

Air Wedge

Microscopic θ Foil or Paper

Slope P Q

Fig. 2.1 (a): Air wedge Fig. 2.2 Magnified region

of reflection

Light from a monochromatic source is partly reflected from the mirror

onto an air wedge. The air wedge is formed by inclining two
microscope slides at very small angle θ as shown in Fig. 2.1 above. If
the region of reflection at the slides is magnified, the result is shown in
Fig. 2.2. It can be seen from the Fig. 2.2 that some of the light is
reflected from the lower surface of the top slide and some from the top
side of the lower slide. Both wave trains R1 and R2 then combine
together and gives rise to interference patterns when viewed from above
the half silvered mirror by an eye or microscope.

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The two coherent sources are produce by division of amplitude. This is

different from the Young’s experiment in which the sources are
produced by division of wave-front.

3.2 Phase Change in Reflection

There is a very significant fact concerning the reflection of waves from

the surface of higher refractive index µ. The phase change of π (or
180o) occurs when the light strikes the boundary from the side of rarer
medium.
Hence, one can say that the light reflected by a material of higher
refractive index than the medium in which the rays are traveling
undergoes a phase change of π (or 180o). This phase change is
λ
equivalent to a path change of . For example, consider two standing
2
waves as shown in Fig. 2 3 below:

Fig. 2.3: Two standing waves having a phase difference of π

It can be seen that the phase difference and path difference between the
λ
waves A and B are respectively π (180o) and .
2

3.3 The Air Wedge

Refer to Fig.2.4. Here θ is the angle of the wedge. S is the distance

between bright bands. B and B′ are two consecutive bright bands.

As θ is small, in triangle ∆ ACA′,

λ 2
∴ tan θ =
s

λ
Or θ= …….( 2.1)
2s

Also, the vale of tan θ can be found as

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

t
tan θ =
a

As the value of θ is very small. Therefore

t
or θ = ……… (2.2)
a

On compairing Eq. (2.1) and Eq. (2.2), we get

λ t
∴ = =θ ……….(2.3)
2s a
Here θ is measured in radians.

A'
λ
t
A θ 2
C
θ s
B a
B'

Fig. 2.4

Suppose that the mth bright fringe is seen above A, one would expect
that
2AB = mλ

λ
However there is a path change of when light is reflected from B, thus
2
λ
2AB + = mλ
2

In general, the band is bright if

 1
2AB =  m −  λ ………. (2.4)
 2

And for dark band, the condition is

2AB = mλ Where m = 0, 1, 2 ……… (2.5)

If at A′, the (m + 1)th bright fringe is seen then it follows that the extra
path difference is
2 A′ B′ - 2AB = λ

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A′ B′ - AB = λ/2

You may now like to attempt the following example to know whether
you have grasped the concept of air wedge. Try the following example.

Example 2.1

A wedge-shaped film of air between two glass plates gives equal spaced
dark fringes, using reflected sodium light, which are 0.22 mm apart.
When monochromatic light of another wavelength is used the fringes are
0.24 mm apart. Calculate the wavelength of the second source of light.
Assume for sodium light λ = 589 nm.

λ λ1
Solution: As we know that θ = = for the 1st source
2S 2s1
λ2
Similarly, θ =
2s 2
On comparing the above two equations
λ1 λ2
∴ =
2s1 2s 2

λ1 x 2s 2
Or λ2 =
2s1

On substituting the values

λ1 = 589 x 10-9 m, S2 = 0.024m, and S1 = 0.022 m

We get

λ2 = 589 x 10-9 x 0.024

0.022
λ2 = 643 nm

4.0 CONCLUSION

Apart from the case of Young’s experiment in which interference occurs

for coherent light originating from two different sources, interference
can occur in thin films.

In thin films, the interference results from the splitting of amplitude

rather than the splitting of wave-front as in the Young’s experiment.

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When light is reflected on a surface, the reflection is accompanied by a

λ
phase change of 180o or π which is equivalent to path difference or
2
(i.e. half a wavelength).

Interference can also occur in the air wedge. Reflection also has a role
to play in the formation of the interference pattern. Therefore, the
λ
associated path difference between the reflection and the direct ray is .
2
 1
Generally, the bright fringe is governed by the relation 2AB =  m −  λ
 2
whereas the formation of the dark fringes is given by the relation 2AB =
mλ.

5.0 SUMMARY

• The thin film can also produce interference fringes just as for two
coherent sources in the Young’s experiment.
• While fringes are produced in the Young’s experiment due to
splitting of wave-front but interference pattern are produced in
thin films due to splitting of amplitude.
• Reflection of light is associated with a phase of change of 180o or
λ
π and a path difference of .
2
• Interference can also be formed by thin films. In this case, the
path difference for a bright fringe is governed by the relationship
 1
2AB =  m −  λ while that of the dark fringe is governed by the
 2
relationship 2AB = mλ.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Using monochromatic light of wavelength 5873Ao, an air wedge

is illuminated and the separation of the bright band is 0.29 mm.
Calculate the angle of wedge.

2. An air wedge is illuminated perpendicularly by monochromatic

light of wavelength 5.73 x 10-7 m, interference fringes are
produced parallel to the line of contact, which have separation of
1.25 mm. This air wedge film is formed by keeping a foil
between two glass slides at a distance of 80 mm from the line of
contact of the slides. Determine the angle of the wedge and the
thickness of the foil.

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7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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UNIT 3 NEWTON’S RING AND INTERFERENCE IN

THIN FILMS

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Newton’s Rings
3.1.1 Radius of a Ring
3.2 Interference in Thin Films
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION
In unit 2, you noted that apart from Young’s experiment, there are other
ways of producing interference pattern by division of amplitude i.e.
interference in air wedge. In this method, two light beams derived from
the single incident beam by division of amplitude of the incident wave.
It means, the amplitude of wave is divided into two parts. The other
ways of producing interference are Newton’s ring and thin films.

Newton rings were discovered by Newton. A lens is placed on a glass

plate and an air film is formed between the lower surface of the lens and
upper surface of the plane glass plate. As a result, a pattern of bright
and dark fringes consist of concentric circles are formed.
Now in this unit, you will study about Newton’s rings and interference
in thin films.

2.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• identify Newton’s ring
• explain the theory of Newton’s ring
• solve problems involving Newton’s ring
• differentiate between Newton’s rings and interference by thin
film
• explain a theory of interference in thin film
• solve problems involving thin film.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Newton’s Rings

As shown in Fig.3.1 below, a lens is placed in contact with a plane sheet

of glass. The len’s lower surface is of very large radius of curvature.
Because of this, an air film is formed between the lower surface of the
lens and upper surface of the plate. At the point of contact, the thickness
of the air-film is zero and it increases as one move away from this point
of contact. When light rays reflected back and brought to the focus to
the microscope, bright and dark fringes are obtained. Therefore taking
into account the phase change at B, the nth bright and dark rings are thus
given by

 1
2AB =  n −  λ for a Bright ring ….. (3.1)
 2
and 2AB = nλ for a Dark ring ….. (3 2)

Microscope

Monochromatic
light source
half silvered
mirror

Glass lens
A
O
B Plane sheet of
glass

Fig. 3.1: Newton’s rings experiment arrangement

An interference pattern known as Newton’s rings is obtained when light

from a monochromatic source is reflected from a sheet of glass.
Interference occurs between light reflected from the lower surface of the
lens and upper surface of the plane glass.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.1.1 Radius of a Ring

(2a-t) a

rn A
t
O B
rn

Fig. 3.2: Newton’s ring

Now refer to Fig. 3.2 to obtain a relation between the radii of rings and
the wavelength of light.

In this section, we shall determine the radius of either a dark or bright

Newton’s rings formed.

Let rn be the radius of the nth Newton’s ring at A where the film
thickness is t= AB, and a is the radius of curvature of the lens surface of
which A is a part.
By the theory of intersecting chords
(2a – t) x t = rn x rn

On expanding the above equation, we get

2at – t2 = r2n
On rearranging this equation, we get
r 2n
2t = (Since t is small as compared to a, therefore t2 is neglected)
a
The condition for bright ring is

r 2n  1
∴ = n − λ ……(3.3)
a  2
λa
Or rn2 = (2n –1) (Bright ring)
2
The condition for dark ring is
r 2n
and = nλ …….(3.4)
a

= nλa (Dark ring)

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These expressions can also be easily written in terms of diameter of the

ring. Suppose Dn is the diameter of the nth ring, then Eq.(3.3) and Eq.
(3.4) becomes
D
Dn = 2rn ⇒ rn = n
2
∴ Dn = 2(2n-1) λa
2
(Bright ring)
∴
Dn2= 4 n λa (Dark ring)

Example 3.1

In a Newton’s rings experiment the radius of curvature of the lens is 5.0

m and its diameter is 2.0 cm. Determine (a) how many dark rings are
produced? (b) how many dark rings would be seen if the arrangement
were immersed in water of refractive index 1.33. Assume the
wavelength of light used is 589 nm.

Solution

(a) Diameter of lens = Diameter of largest ring = 2.0 cm

∴ Radius of last ring r = 1.0 x 10-2m
Radius of curvature a = 5.0 m
Wavelength of light λ = 589 x 10-9m
Using the equation and substituting the values
n = r2 = (1.0 x 10-2)2
aλ 5.0 x 589 x 10-9

No. of rings (n) = 34

(b) If immersed in water the refractive index is
fλ λ
µw = air = −air
fλ w λw
When λair = vacuum wavelength of the light
λw = wavelength of light in water
µw = refractive index of water = 1.33
λair
∴λw =
µw

r2
and n = in water
aλ w

r 2µ w (1.0 x 10 −2 ) 2 x 1.33
n = =
aλ air 5.0 x 589 x 10 −9
n= 46

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Example 3.2

The diameter of the 7th and 17th bright rings formed by a plano- convex
lens resting on a plane glass surface is respectively 0.14 cm and 0.86
cm. When the space between the lens and glass is filled with water, the
diameter of the 11th and 21st bright rings is respectively 0.23 cm and
0.77 cm. What is the refractive index of water?

Solution

In air have

r1 2 = am 1 λa ……(3.5)
r2 2 = am 2 λa …..(3.6)
λa = wavelength in air
m1 = 7
m2 = 17

Subtracting Eq.(3.5) from Eq.(3.6), we have

r22 – r12 = (m 2 - m 1) a λa …..(3.7)

In water, we have
r3 2 = am 3 λw …..(3.8)
r4 2
= am 4 λw …..(3.9)
λw = wavelength in water
Subtracting Eq.(3.8) from Eq.(3.9), we have

r42 – r32 = (m 4 - m 3) a λw …..(3.10)

Equation (3.7) divided by (3.10), gives

r22 – r12 = (m 2 - m 1) a λa
r42 – r32 (m 4 - m 3) a λa
µw

10 µ w
=
10

r22 – r12 = µw
r42 – r32

or µw = (0.862 – (0.142)
(0.772) – (0.232)
µw = 1.33
In the next section, you will study interference in the thin films.

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3.2 Interference in thin Films

A thin film is a very thin layer of the medium concerned. Examples of

thin film are a soap film or a bubble and thin layer of oil spread over
water surface. Such layers are also known to cause interference patterns.
The details of how this is done are discussed below.

Consider a thin transparent film of refractive index µ. A ray IA from a

point monochromatic source is partly reflected as a ray AR and part
refracted into the material of the film along AB, such that the r is the
angle of refraction. At point B, the ray of light is partly reflected to A′,
and partly transmitted out. At A′, the ray will again get partly reflected
along A′B′ and refracted as ray A′R′. When these two rays, AR and
A′R′, meet, then interference occurs as shown in Fig. 3.3. It is to be
noted that the amplitude decreases from one ray to the next.

Eye
Monochromatic R
source R'
I
i D air
'
i A
A
r
C µ
t
r

B B'
air

Fig. 3.3: Interference in thin film

Let A′D is the perpendicular to AR. Then optical path difference

between these rays is

= µ (AB + BA′) – AD …... (3.5)

But cos r = BT = t ⇒ t = BA′ = AB

AB AB cosr .… (3.6)
and sin i = AD
AA′
∴ AD = AA′ sin i
AA′ = AT + TA′

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AA′ = BT tanr + BT tanr

= 2t tanr
Therefore
AD =2t tanr sin i
AD = 2t sin r sin i ….. (3.7)
cosr

Using Snell’s law as

µ = sin i ⇒ sin i = µ sinr .… (3.8)
sinr

Substitute Eq. (3.8) into Eq (3.7), we get

AD = 2t sin r µ sinr
cosr

AD = 2µt. sin2 r
cosr

Now substitute the value in Eq. (3.5), for the path difference, the
expression is

Path diffrence = µ (t + t ) - 2µt sin2 r

cos r cos r cos r
2
= 2µt (1 – sin r)
cosr

= 2µt cos r [as sin2r + cos2r

= 1]

At point A, the ray is reflected when it is going from a rarer to a denser

medium and suffers a path difference of λ/2 or a phase change of π .
But at B, the reflection takes place when the ray is going from a denser
to a rarer medium, and hence there is no phase change.

Hence the effective path difference between two rays is

2µt cos r - λ
2
The condition for destructive interference in the film is given by

2µt cos r - λ = (2n-1) λ

2 2

2µt cos r= n λ where n = 1, 2, …………..

The condition for constructive interference is

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

2µt cos r - λ = n λ
2
2µt cos r = (2n +1) λ
2
Where n = 0,1,2 ………..

Example 3.3

White light falls on a soap film with a refractive index of 1.33 at an

angle of 45o. What must be the minimum thickness of the film for the
reflected rays to be yellow and a wavelength of 6.0 x 10-7m.

Solution

45o

r
t

For a bright fringe, we have the condition

λ
2µt cosr = (2n+1)
2

where µ is the refractive index of thin film

= 1.33
t = thickness of film
λ = wavelength of light = 6 x 10-7m
(n − 1 )
t = 2 λ ….(3.8)
2µ cos r

From Eq. 3.8, the minimum value of t occurs when r = 1

∴ tmin = (1 – ½ ) x 6.0 x 10-7

2 x 1.33 x cos r

Using Snell’s law at point A, we have

µ = sin i = sin 45
sin r sin r

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

1.33 = sin 45
sin r

r = 32.1

∴ tmin = 6.0 x 10-7 / 2 x 1.33 x cos (32.1)

= 1.3 x 10 -7 m

4.0 CONCLUSION

• Newton’s ring is a spherical form of interference in an air wedge,

it result from path difference between light reflected from the
bottom of the lens and the top of transparent mirror.
• The air wedge is formed between a lens and a flat mirror over
which the lens is placed
• The equation governing the formation of bright and dark fringes
in Newton’s ring are

 1
2AB =  n −  λ for Bright fringes
 2
and

2AB = nλ for Dark fringes.

• Relationship between the radius of a fringe and the radius of the

curvature of the lens is given by
r 2n  1
= n −  λ for a Bright ring
a  2
r 2n
= nλ for a Dark ring
a
• Interference also occurs in thin film and this is due to the path
difference between monochromatic light reflected on the top and
bottom of thin films. A bright fringe in this case occurs when a
λ
path difference, d = 2 µ t cos r = (2n+1) where n =
2
0,1,2……….

On the other hand a dark fringe occurs when the path difference,
d = 2 µ t cos r = n λ where n = 1,2,……..

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5.0 SUMMARY

• Newton’s rings are a special from of interference within an air

wedge.
• They are formed due to path difference between reflected
monochromatic light waves reflected by a mirror and the bottom
of a convex lens overlying it which also forms the air wedge.
• For a bright fringe, the path difference required must obey the
relation,
λ
d = 2 µ t cos r = (2n+1) where n = 0,1,2…………
2
while for a dark fringe the relationship, d = 2 µ t cos r = n λ where
n = 1,2,3 ………..
where n represents the number of fringes and λ is the
wavelength of light.
• The radius of a bright fringe is governed by the relation.
r 2n  1
= n −  λ (for a Bright fringe)
a  2
While that of a dark fringe , the relation is
r 2n
= nλ
a
Where r = radius of the nth ring
a = radius of curvature
λ = wavelength of light
• Interference can also occur in thin films. Thus, interference in
thin film is due to path difference between light reflected from
lower surface and upper surface of a parallel sided thin film.
• For the formation of a bright fringe by a thin film, the path
λ
difference required is equal to d = 2 µ t cos r = (2n+1)
2
Where n = 0, 1, 2……..
And for a dark fringe path difference is d = 2 µ t cos r = n λ
Where n = 1, 2, …………..

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1(a) A thin film of thickness 4 x 10-5 cm is illuminated by white light

normal to its surface (r =0o). Its refractive index is 1.5. Of what
colour will the thin film appear in reflected light.

(b) Why do the oil films on the surface of water appear to be

coloured?

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7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

UNIT 4 POLARIZATION OF LIGHT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Polarized and un-polarized light
3.2 Optical Activity
3.3 Methods of Polarization
3.3.1 By Reflection
3.3.2 By Refraction
3.3.3 By Double Refraction
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In our earlier units, you have thus far studied about interference which
illustrates the wave nature of light. You have seen that these waves are
transverse waves. Another phenomenon known as polarization also
shows the transverse nature of light. When a light is obtained from a
source, this ordinary light vibrates in virtually all directions
perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Hence, it is called
unpolarized light. But light can be constrained by either natural or
artificial crystals to vibrate in only one plane perpendicular to the
direction of propagation. When this happens, the light is referred to as
polarized light.

In this unit, you will study the various ways of producing polarized light
and you will also come across with various crystals that can be used to
produce polarized light.

2.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• differentiate polarized and unpolarised light

• describe the various ways of producing polarized light
• identify the crystals that can produce polarized light
• explain the theory behind each method of producing polarized
light
• define and explain optical activity
• solve problems associated with production of polarized light.

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 PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Polarized and Unpolarized Light

Recall from Unit 1 that light waves are transverse waves. Such a light is
said to be unpolarised. In ordinary light, the waves vibrate in different
planes (in all directions) perpendicular to the direction of propagation.
However when the light ray vibrates only in one direction, it is said that
the light is polarized i.e. light vibrate only in one direction as it is
propagated.

Some natural crystals such as, tourmaline allows rays of light vibrating
in certain direction to pass through and block the other rays vibrating in
other direction. If an observer view light coming from a source with
two of such crystals A and B as arranged in Fig. 4.1, the observer would
note the positions of brightness and darkness as the crystal B is rotated.
You would notice that at a stage a very bright light would get into his
eyes but at another stage you would not see anything. Therefore, you
would notice positions of maximum brightness and maximum darkness
as the crystal rotates near the eyes. The position of maximum brightness
occurs when the planes or the crystals through which light is allowed to
pass are oriented in the same direction. On the other hand, a position of
maximum (complete) darkness occurs when these planes are at right
angles to each other. Artificial crystalline materials that polarize light
are called polaroids.

Source of
unpolarised
light
No light is
transmitted

Polariser
Analyser
(a) Crossed
Source of
unpolarised
light Bright
beam

Polariser Analyser

(b) In line

Fig. 4.1: Plane polarization of light

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

3.2 Optical Activity

λ
Eye

Polariser Analyser
Tube containing
the sample

Fig. 4.2

Certain substances have the ability to rotate the plane of polarized light
when a plane polarized light is passed through them. Such substances
are said to be Optically Active. If the rotation of the plane is clockwise
that is, to the right, then the substance is dextrorotatory. On the other
hand, it is “levorotatory if the rotation is anticlockwise. The degree of
rotation may be determined by means of a polarimeter. In its simple
form, the polarimeter consists of two Polaroid sheets functioning as
polarizer and analyzer and a tube containing the substance. With the
tube empty, maximum amount of light reaches to eye when the sheets
are oriented in the same direction. The analyzer is then turned through
90o before placing the substance in position. Depending on the rotation
of the plane of polarization the analyzer would appear brighter.

The analyzer is again rotated until minimum light is seen. The

difference in the readings of the analyzer gives the angle of rotation of
the beam.

Now in the subsequent section, you will learn about the various ways of
producing polarized light.

3.3 Method of Polarization

The following ways of producing polarized light are discussed below:

3.3.1 By Reflection

When an ordinary light meets a plane surface, the reflected components

is partially polarized. At a certain angle of incidence, the reflected light
is plane polarized and an analyzer can block it completely. This angle of
incidence is called the polarizing angle, as shown in fig. 14.3 below.

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Unpolarised
light No light

Analyser

ip i
p

Refracted
ray

Fig. 4.3

As shown in the Fig.4.3 above that and represents the vibrations are
perpendicular to each other.

In Fig. 4.3, if the analyzer is perpendicular to the plane of vibration of

the polarized light, no light would be transmitted and this would be an
indication that the light has been polarized.

3.3.2 By Refraction

In the method described in section 3.3.1 above, the reflected ray unlike
the deflected ray is never completely polarized. However several
refractions using a pile of plates as shown in Fig. 4.4, it is noticed that
the refracted beam is almost completely polarized.

Source of light

Completely
polarized light
Fig. 4.4:

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PHY 124 GEOMETRIC AND WAVE OPTICS

Apart from the two methods studied to obtain polarization, we will now
learn about polarization by double refraction in the next section.

3.3.3 By Double Refraction

There exist many transparent crystalline substances which while

homogenous, are anisotropic. That is the velocity of a light wave in
them is not the same in all directions. Crystals having this property are
said to be doubly refracting.

In such a crystal, two sets of Huygens wavelets propagate, one set being
spherical and the other ellipsoidal.

The two sets are perpendicular to one another and also perpendicular to
an axis of the crystal at which the velocity of all wave is the same.

Crystal
Optic axis

Spherical wavelet
Ellipsoidal wavelet

Fig. 4.5:

It is to be noted that any line parallel to the optic axis is also an optic
axis when light is passed perpendicular to the surface of the crystal; the
incident ray is broken up into two rays in traversing the crystal. The ray
which corresponds to the spherical wavelength remains undeviated and
is called an ordinary ray. The ray corresponding to the ellipsoidal
wavelet is deviated and is called the extra-ordinary ray.

Crystal
Source of
light
Extraordinary ray
Ordinary ray

Fig. 4.6:

Both the ordinary and extra ordinary ray comes out polarize. If the
crystal is rotated about the incident ray as an axis, the ordinary ray

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remains fixed but the extra ordinary ray revolves round it as shown in
Fig. 4.7

Crystal

Screen

Fig. 4.7:

Along the optic axis, the velocity of both ordinary and extra-ordinary
ray is the same but along other axis, they are not.

Snell’s law holds for the ordinary ray but not for the extra-ordinary ray
because the velocity of the extra-ordinary ray is different in different
directions. Crystal which have only one optic axis are said to be
uniaxial. But some crystals have two different directions in which the
velocities are equal, this kind of crystals are called biaxial crystals.
Most crystals used in optical instruments mainly quartz and calcite are
uniaxial.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Ordinary light vibrates in all directions perpendicular to the direction of

propagation. It is therefore, unpolarised. On the other hand, polarized
light vibrates only in one direction perpendicular to the direction of
propagation.

Polaroids are artificial crystals which are used to produce polarized

light. They are generally used in combination as Polarizer and
Analyzers.

Other natural crystals which can be used for producing polarized light
are tourmaline, quartz and calcite.

Optical activity is a phenomenon in which the plane of polarization of

crystal can be rotated. Any crystal that possesses this ability is said to
be optically active.

The polarimeter can be used to determine the degree of rotation.

The principal methods of producing polarized light are:

i) By reflection

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ii) By refraction
iii) By Double refraction

5.0 SUMMARY

• While unpolarized light vibrate in all direction perpendicular to

the direction of propagation, polarized light vibrate in only one
direction perpendicular to the direction of propagation.
• Polaroids, tourmaline, calcite and quartz can be used to produce
polarized light.
• A pair of Polaroid can be used as polarizer and Analyzer to study
the polarization of light.
• The ability to rotate the plane of polarization of a crystal is
related to its optical activity.
• The magnitude of the optical activity of the crystalline can be
determined by using the polarimeter.
• Other principal ways of producing polarised light include by
reflection, by refraction and by double refraction.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. What are the different methods by which polarized light can be

obtained? Explain.
2. State any two useful applications of plane polarized waves.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

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UNIT 5 LAWS AND APPLICATION O POLARIZATION

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Brewster’s Law
3.2 Percentage of Polarization
3.3 Malu’s Law
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In Unit 4, you learnt about the polarization of light. You studied that
polarization of a light can be obtained by different ways like polarization
by reflection, polarization by refraction and polarisation by double
refraction. An ordinary light vibrates in every plane at right angles to
the direction of light. Then the question arises: apart from the above
mentioned methods, is there any laws which govern the polarization?
Yes, there are certain laws which govern polarization. These include
Brewster’s and Malu’s Law.

In this unit, Brewster and Malus law would be derived and examined in
detail. Also discuss the various applications of polarization in the end of
this unit.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• define and explain Brewster’s law

• define and explain Malu’s law
• solve problems involving Brewster’s and Malu’s law
• list the applications of polarization of light.

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Brewster’s Law

Ordinary
light

ip r
90o

Fig. 5.1: Polarization by reflection

Brewster’s observed that when unpolarised light is incident on a

material, the reflected and refracted ray are at an angle of 90o as shown
in Fig. .5.1. Using Snell’s law, we know that refractive index of a
material is given by the relation

sin i p
µ=
sin r

Here ip is the polarizing angle. It is defined as the angle of incidence

when the reflected light is almost completely polarized. µ is the
refractive index of the material.

But from the Fig. 5.1, one can see that r = 90 - ip

sin i p sin ip
∴µ = = = tan ip
sin(90 − i p ) cos ip

∴Refractive index µ = tan ip ……. (5.1)

Eq 5.1 is called Brewster’s law. Therefore, the refractive index of a

transparent medium is equal to the tangent of the polarizing angle ip

Thus Eq. 5.1, (Brewster law) can be used to find the refractive index of
materials. For further clarity, you should now work out an example.

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Example 5.1

(a) At what angle of incidence will light be reflected from water of

refractive index 1.33 and would it be completely polarized?
(b) Does the angle depend on the wavelength of light?

Solution

Let µ is = refractive index of water

= 1.33
Using Brewster’s law given by Eq. 5.1,

tan ip = µ

∴ tan ip = 1.33

ip = tan-1 (1.33)

ip = 53o 1o

b) Yes, the angle depends on the wavelength of light because the

refractive index of a medium with respect to the other varies with
wavelength.

3.2 Percentage of Polarization

Unpolarised
light Polaroid
sheet
Photocell

Fig. 5.2

when light passes through a Polaroid (or polarizer), the light which has
vibration along the specified direction of the crystal above is transmitted
(refer Fig. 5.2). If the transmitted light intensity is measured by means of
a photocell, the current measured remains constant in whatever direction
the polarizer is rotated. If there is any variation in the intensity, it shows
that the incident light is partially polarized. That is, the vibration of the
incident beams are not uniform in all directions.

The percentage of polarization (p) is given by

P= I max – I min x 100
I max x I min .… (5.2)

When Imax = maximum light intensity

I min = minimum light intensity

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3.3 Malu’s Law

Unpolarised
light E
θ Photocell

Eo
Analyser
Polariser
Fig. 5.3
Analyser
Polariser
Eo cos θ

Eo sin θ

Fig. 5.4: Two components of polarized light.

This section explains in detail the theory behind Malu’s law. Refer to
Fig. 5.3 above. An analyzer is introduced between a polarizer and a
photo cell. The specified direction of the polarizer makes an angle θ
with the analyzer being oriented vertically. The polarized light
transmitted by the polarizer can be resolved into two components,
therefore, Eocos θ vertically and E o sin θ horizontally, as shown in
Fig. 5.4, where E o is the amplitude vector of the incident beam. Only
the component of amplitude E o cos θ , which is parallel to the
transmission direction, would be transmitted by the analyzer. The
transmitted light is maximum when θ is 0o and is zero (minimum) when
θ is 900. At intermediate angles, the intensity is proportional to the
amplitude, and we have
I0 α Eo2, and I α E2

I E 2 Eo 2 cos 2 θ
∴ = =
I 0 Eo Eo 2

∴ I = Io cos2 θ …. (5.3)

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This equation (5.3) is known as Malu’s law

Therefore from Eq. (5.3), it can be seen that he intensity of the emergent
light varies as the square of the cosine of the angle between the polarizer
and the analyzer.

Example 3

A beam of plane polarized light strikes two polarizing sheets. The first
sheet is inclined at a angle θ with respect to the incident beam, while
the second sheet is inclined at 900 to the incident beam. Determine to
the nearest degree, the angle θ for a transmitted beam intensity that is
one tenth the incident beam intensity.

Solution
Io
Incident
beam

I1

90 - θ

Incident
beam

Second I2
beam
Fig. 5.5

Apply Malu’s law to the first Polaroid we have

I1 = Io cos2 θ ………………(1)
and to the second Polaroid we have
I2 = Io cos2 θ cos2 (90 - θ )
I2 = Io cos2 θ sin2 θ
I2
= cos2 θ sin2 θ
Io
I2 1
but =
Io 10

1
∴ = cos2 θ sin2 θ
10

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1
= cos θ sin θ
10
1
= sin 2 θ
2
1
2 = sin 2 θ
10

θ = 200

3.4 Application of Polarization

(a) Use of Polaroids in Sunglasses

Unpolarised light is harmful to the human eye, but with the use of
Polaroid this can be prevented. They protect our eyes from glare. They
helped to reduce the intensity of sunlight.

(b) In Film Industries

Polarised light is used in films to create illusion of three dimensional

pictures.

(c) Saccharimetry

The rotation of the plane of polarization by sugar solution is used as a

method of determining the concentration of sugar solution in a given
sample.

(d) Photoelectric Stress Analysis

Some substances such as glass and plastic, that are not normally double
refracting, may become so if subjected to stress. If such stressed
materials are placed between a polarise and analyzer, the bright and dark
areas that are seen give information about the strains. The technology of
photo-elasticity is based on double refraction produce by stresses.

(e) Used in window pares

The window panes of airplane and trains used polaroids to control the
light entering through them.

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4.0 CONCLUSION

Brewster’s law is one of the laws applied in the study of polarization of

light. Whenever unpolarized light is incident on a surface at the
Brewster angle ip, the angle between the resulting reflected and refracted
ray is found to be 90o. Under this condition, the refractive index of the
medium concerned is given by µ = tan ip .This is a Brewster’s law.

The pencentage of polarization of a given light cell can be found by

applying Malus law to a polarized and analyzer used to view light.
Malu’s law is given by the relationship

I = Io cos2 θ

Polarisation of light can be applied in the following areas:

i) Used as sunglasses;
ii) In the film industries for three dimensional pictures;
iii) To determine the level of concentration of sugar solution
(saccharimetry); and
iv) For photoelectric stress analysis.

5.0 SUMMARY

• Two major laws used in polarization of light are Brewster’s law

and Malu’s law.
• While Brewster’s law relates refractive index to the Brewster
angle, Malu’s law relates the percentage of polarization to the
angle of rotation of the plane of polarization.
• That is, Brewster’s law is given by µ = tan ip while Malu’s law is
given by I = Io cos2 θ .
• The industrial uses of polarization of light include:

- The use of Polaroids as sunglasses;

- The use of Polaroids in the film industries i.e. 3D effects;
- The determination of concentration of sugar solution;
- For photoelastic stress analysis; and
- The one of polaroids in window panes.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. A polarized and analyzer are oriented so that the maximum

amount of light is transmitted. To what fraction of maximum
value is the intensity of the transmitted light reduced when the
analyzer is rotated through 60o?

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2. A beam of light falls on the surface of a glass plate of refractive

index 1.536 at the polarizing angle. Determine the angle of
refraction.

3. Let θ be the angle between the polarizer and the analyzer. Using
the Malu’s law, plot a graph showing the dependence of intensity
of transmitted light on θ

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Nelkon and Parker. Advance Level Physics. British Library Publication.

Kenneth .W. Ford. Basic Physics. Toronto London: Waltham

Massachusetts.

Mark .W. Zemansky. College Physics. London: Addison – Wesley.

Shortley and Williams. Principles of College Physics. Englewood Cliff

New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.

143