Unit 1 --------Light - Reflection and Refraction -------

 Light: Light is a type of electromagnetic radiation that allows the human eye
to see or makes objects visible.
 It is also defined as visible radiation to the human eye.
 Photons, which are tiny packets of energy, are found in light.
 Object, which themselves emit light, are known as luminous object or
source of light.
Eg. The sun, stars, a burning candle, an incandescent lamp, glowing bulb,
fire etc
 Objects, which do not themselves emit light but are visible to us in the
presence of light are known as non-luminous objects.
Eg. Book, chair, plants, clothes etc.
 When light from a source of light falls on an opaque object, it reflects the light.
When this reflected light enters in our eyes, we are able to see that object.
 The path along which a light wave travels is called ray of light
 Light travels in a straight line, so it's represented by a ray.

 A beam of light is a collection of light rays that travel in a specific direction.

Types of beams of light
 Parallel beam: Rays from a distant source travel parallel to each
other. Sunlight is an example of a parallel beam of light.
 Convergent beam: Rays from a source meet or converge at a point.
 Divergent beam: Rays disperse away from a source. Light rays from a point
source of light travel in all directions, moving away with time.

 Bending of light around the edges of an opaque object of very small size is
called diffraction of light.
 The speed of light in vacuum or air is 3 x 108 m/s
 Light is a form of energy which can travel through vacuum as well as different
transparent media in the form of electromagnetic waves having extremely
short wavelength with in the range 400 nm to 700 nm.

Reflection of light: The bouncing back of light in the same medium when it strikes
on a polished surface like mirror is called reflection of light.
Terms related to Reflection of Light
 Incident Ray: The light ray striking a reflecting surface is called the
incident ray.
  Point of Incidence: The point at which the incidence ray strikes the
reflecting surface is called the Point of Incidence.
 Reflected Ray: The light ray obtained after reflection from the surface
in the same medium in which the incident ray is traveling is called
Reflected ray.
 Normal: The perpendicular drawn to the surface at the point of
incidence is called the Normal.
 Angle of Incidence: The angle which the incident ray makes with the
normal at the point of incidence is called the angle of incidence.
 Angle of Reflection: The angle which the reflected ray makes with the
normal at the point of incidence is called the angle of reflection.

Laws of Reflection
The laws of reflection states that,

(b) The angle of incidence ∠i =∠r Angle of reflection.

(a) The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal, all lie in the same plane.

Types of Reflection:
There are two types of reflection
(a) Regular Reflection
(b) Irregular Reflection
(a) Regular Reflection: When all reflected rays are parallel to each other, the
reflection is called regular reflection. Clear image is formed in case of regular
reflection.
(b) Irregular Reflection: When reflected rays are not parallel to each other, the
reflection is called irregular reflection. We call it as diffused reflection.
Reflection of Light by Plane Mirror
Following are the characteristics of an image formed by the plane mirror:
 Image is always virtual and erect.
 Size of the image is equal to the size of the object.
 Image is as far behind the mirror as the object is in front of it.
 Image is laterally inverted.

Lateral Inversion: When an object is placed in front of a plane mirror, then the right
side of the object appears to become the left side of the image; and the left side of
the object appears to become the right side of the image. This change of sides of an
object and its mirror image is called as Lateral Inversion.
Image of an object
When light rays starting from a point object, after reflection, actually meet or appear
to meet at a point, then this second point is called image of an object.
Images are two types- real image and virtual image
Real image- when light rays from an object, after reflection actually meet, the image
is said to be real image. The real image can be formed on a screen and a real image
is an inverted image.
Virtual image - when light rays from an object, after reflection do not actually meet
but appear to meet, the image is said to be virtual image. The virtual image cannot
be formed on a screen and a virtual image is an erect image.
Spherical Mirror
There are two types of spherical mirrors,
1. Concave Mirror
2. Convex Mirror
(a) Concave Mirror: A concave mirror has a reflective surface that is curved inward.
(b) Convex Mirror: A convex mirror is a diverging mirror in which the reflective
surface bulges towards the light source.
Reflection of Light by Concave Mirror
Some Important terms
1. Pole: The centre of the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is a point called
the pole. It lies on the surface of the mirror. The pole is usually represented by
the letter P.
2. Centre of curvature: The centre of the sphere formed by the reflecting part of
a spherical mirror is called the centre of curvature. It is generally denoted by
C. The centre of curvature is not a part of the mirror. It lies outside its
reflecting surface.
The centre of curvature of a concave mirror lies in front of it. However, it lies
behind the mirror in case of a convex mirror.
3. Principal axis: This is normal to the mirror at its pole. The straight line joining
the Pole of the mirror and the Centre of curvature of a spherical mirror is
called the Principal Axis.
4. Radius of curvature: The radius of the sphere of which the reflecting surface
of a spherical mirror forms a part, is called the radius of curvature of the
mirror. It is represented by the letter R

5. Focus: principal focus of a spherical mirror is a point on its principal axis

where light rays travelling parallel to the principal axis actually meet ( in the
case of a concave mirror) or appear to meet ( in the case of convex mirror)
after reflection from the mirror. It is represented by F.
 Principal focus is a real point for a concave mirror and lies in front of its
reflecting surface.
 Principal focus a concave mirror is a virtual point situated behind its
reflecting surface.
6. Focal length: . The distance between the pole and the principal focus of a
spherical mirror is called the focal length. It is represented by the letter f.
7. Aperture: The diameter of a spherical mirror is called aperture. The part of
the mirror which can be exposed to the incident light is called the aperture.
8. Relation between focal length and Radius of curvature
R = 2f

NOTE==This implies that the principal focus of a spherical mirror lies

midway between the pole and centre of curvature.
 .
Rules for Obtaining Images of Concave Mirror

1. A line joining the centre of curvature to any point on the surface of the mirror
is always normal to it. A ray passing through the centre of curvature of a
concave mirror or directed in the direction of the centre of curvature of a
convex mirror, after reflection, is reflected back along the same path. The light
rays come back along the same path because the incident rays fall on the
mirror along the normal to the reflecting surface.

2. A ray parallel to the principal axis, after reflection, will pass through the
principal focus in case of a concave mirror or appear to diverge from the
principal focus in case of a convex
Mirror.
 3. A ray passing through the principal focus of a concave mirror or a ray which is
directed towards the principal focus of a convex mirror, after reflection, will
emerge parallel to the principal axis.

4. A ray incident obliquely to the principal axis, towards a point P (pole of the
mirror), on the concave mirror or a convex mirror, is reflected obliquely. The
incident and reflected rays follow the laws of reflection at the point of
incidence (point P), making equal angles with the principal axis.

5.
Formation of Images of Concave Mirrors
Uses of concave mirror: (Shaving mirror, dentist mirror, torch mirror)
  Concave mirrors are used as shaving mirrors and make up mirrors to see a
large sized image of the face.
 Concave mirrors are used in torches, search lights and headlights of vehicles
to get powerful parallel beam of light.
 The dentist uses concave mirror to see large images of teeth of patient
 Doctors use concave mirrors as doctor’s head mirror.
 Larger sized concave mirrors are used to concentrate lights to produce heat in
solar furnaces.
Uses of convex mirror: Rear view mirror, shop security mirror
 Convex mirrors are commonly used as rear-view (wing) mirrors in vehicles.
These mirrors are fitted on the sides of the vehicle, enabling the driver to see
traffic behind him/her to facilitate safe driving.
REASON Convex mirrors are preferred because they always give an erect,
though diminished, image. Also, they have a wider field of view as they are
curved outwards. Thus, convex mirrors enable the driver to view much larger
area than would be possible with a plane mirror.
 Convex mirros are used as reflectors in street lights
 Big sized convex mirrors are used as shop security mirrors.

Sign Convention for Reflection by Spherical Mirrors

The New Cartesian Sign Convention.

In this convention, the pole (P) of the mirror is taken as the origin
The principal axis of the mirror is taken as the x-axis (X’X) of the coordinate
system.
The conventions are as follows –
(i) The object is always placed to the left of the mirror. This implies
that the light from the object falls on the mirror from the left-hand side.
(ii) All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of
the mirror.
(iii) All the distances measured to the right of the origin (along + x-axis) are
taken as positive while those measured to the left of the origin (along – x-axis)
are taken as negative.
(iv) Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis (along
+ y-axis) are taken as positive.
(v) Distances measured perpendicular to and below the principal axis (along –
y-axis) are taken as negative.
These sign conventions are applied to obtain the mirror formula and solve
related numerical problems
 Mirror Formula
A formula which gives the Relationship between Image distance ( v ) , object
distance ( u ) and focal Length ( f ) of a mirror , is known as the mirror formula .

1/v + 1/u = 2/R

Where,
v = distance of image from mirror
u = distance of object from mirror
f = focal length of mirror
Magnification produced by a mirror is defined as the ratio of the size of the image to
the size of the object.
Magnification: Height of image / Height of object

where h’ is the height of image

h is the height of the object.
v = image distance
u = object distance
NOTE===
 If magnification is POSITIVE, then the image is UPRIGHT/ VIRTUAL
 If magnification is NEGATIVE then the image is INVERTED/ REAL
 Magnification of a convex mirror is always positive
 Magnification of a concave mirror is +ve or -ve, depending on the nature of
image formed.
 M>1, enlarged image
 M<1, diminished image
 M=1, size of the image is equal to the size of the object.

WORKSHEET NO 1
 NUMERICALS
Intext questions

1. A convex mirror used for rear-view on an automobile has a radius of curvature of

3.00 m. If a bus is located at 5.00 m from this mirror, find the position, nature and
size of the image.
2. An object, 4.0 cm in size, is placed at 25.0 cm in front of a concave mirror of focal
length 15.0 cm. At what distance from the mirror should a screen be placed in order
to obtain a sharp image? Find the nature and the size of the image.
3. Find the focal length of a convex mirror whose radius of curvature is 32 cm.
4. A concave mirror produces three times magnified (enlarged) real image of an object
placed at 10 cm in front of it. Where is the image located?
5. We wish to obtain an erect image of an object, using a concave mirror of focal
length 15 cm. What should be the range of distance of the object from the mirror?
What is the nature of the image? Is the image larger or smaller than the object?
Draw a ray diagram to show the image formation in this case.
6. An object is placed at a distance of 10 cm from a convex mirror of focal length 15
cm. Find the position and nature of the image.
7. The magnification produced by a plane mirror is +1. What does this mean?
8. An object 5.0 cm in length is placed at a distance of 20 cm in front of a convex mirror
of radius of curvature 30 cm. Find the position of the image, its nature and size.
9. An object of size 7.0 cm is placed at 27 cm in front of a concave mirror of focal
length 18 cm. At what distance from the mirror should a screen be placed, so that a
sharp focussed image can be obtained? Find the size and the nature of the image.
10. Name the type of mirror used in the following situations. (a) Headlights of a car. (b)
Side/rear-view mirror of a vehicle. (c) Solar furnace. Support your answer with
reason

Practice questions

11. An object is placed at a distance of 30 cm in front of a concave mirror

of focal length 10 cm. calculate the distance of the image from the
mirror.
12. An object is placed at a distance of 12cm in front of a concave mirror
and the image is formed behind the mirror at a distance of 48 cm from
the mirror. What is the nature of image? Calculate the focal length of
the given mirror?
13. An object is placed at a distance of 16 cm in front of a concave mirror.
It forms a real image 4 times larger than the object. Calculate the
distance of the image from the mirror. Also, calculate the focal length of
the given mirror.
14. A linear object 5 cm in size, is placed in front of a convex mirror of focal
length 20 cm at a distance of 20 cm in front of its reflecting surface.
Find the position, nature and size of the image formed?
15. A boy stands straight in front of a mirror at a distance of 40 cm from it.
He sees his erect image whose height is 1/5 th of his real height. What
is the nature of the mirror? Calculate its focal length?