Optics Reviewer discrete packets of energy called

LESSON 1: OPTICS quanta. Einstein called each quantum

of energy as photon.
The bible gives a vivid Account of the Isaac Newton
origin Of light. In the Beginning there was  He suggested that a beam of light
Darkness. But the Creator commanded, consisted of tiny particles, called
“Let there be light!” And there was light. corpuscles travelling at enormous
But what is light? speed.
 He argued that this theory explains why
Theories about light light travels in straight lines and casts
shadows.
a) Wave Theory
Christian Huygens, 1629-1695
b) Corpuscular Theory  Contrary to Newtons belief that light
traveled as waves.
c) Electromagnetic Theory  This accounts for splitting of white into a
spectrum of colors as it is refracted
d) Quantum Theory through a prism.
 He suggested that each color of light
Wave Theory has a different wavelength and the
 In 1690, Christian Huygens proposed amount of refraction is dependent on
the wave theory of light. the wavelength of light.
 Huygens’ theory considered light to be  The shorter the wavelength , the more
a wave propagating in ether. it is bent.

Corpuscular Theory Proofs of Rectilinear Propagation of Light

 Isaac Newton came up with his
corpuscular or particle theory of light in
1704.
 According to this theory, light consists
of tiny particles emitted by a luminous
object.

Electromagnetic Theory
 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL developed his
“Maxwell’s equations” that show light is
an electromagnetic wave.
 On the evening of this important Solar Eclipse
discovery of the electromagnetic
wave nature of light, he had a date
with a young lady.
 While walking in the garden the lady
remarked about the beauty of the
moon and stars.
 He remarked that she was walking with
the ONLY person who knew what the
starlight was. Shadow
 She was really amazed and soon  Umbra and penumbra are the two
enough she became his bride. regions of a shadow having different
Quantum Theory. amounts of light in them.
 In 1900, German physicist Max Planck
theorized that light is emitted in
 An umbra is the part of the shadow Illustrative Example
where all of the light from the source is  Several types of marine organisms such
totally blocked. as squid, jellyfish, and sea anemone,
 A penumbra is the region around the exhibit the unique ability of glowing in
umbra where light from the source is the dark, known as bioluminescence.
partially blocked.  On a chemical level, bioluminescence
 When the light source is very small occurs as a result of oxygen added to
compared to the size of the object, the luciferin, a substance capable of
shadow is equally dark and consists emitting light.
only of the umbra. If light comes from a  An enzyme-luciferase-is required to
source larger than the object or there promote this reaction mechanism.
are multiple sources, the shadow  Energy generated from reaction is
consists of umbra and penumbra. released as a visible light, primarily in
 The sun is a very big source of light and blue-green range.
does not cast sharp shadows.  The conversion of chemical energy to
light energy can be nearly 100 percent
efficient, producing vey little heat.
 I contrast, a common household
lightbulb is only 10 percent efficient,
wasting 90 percent of its energy to
heat.
 An object that can generate its own
light is called a luminous object.
 An object that is not capable of
Sample Problem producing its own light but receives
The frequency of Ultraviolet waves is light from a luminous object and
2.0x1016 Hz. Determine the wavelength. reflects this light to our eyes is called an
illuminated object.

When light is incident on a surface, it may

be
Radio Waves have a typical wavelength
of 102 m. Determine their frequency. a) reflected

b) transmitted

c) refracted

d) scattered

e) absorbed.
 A transparent body allows light to pass  Reflection from a mirror is regular.
through it.  Reflection from rough surfaces is called
 A translucent body scatters the light diffuse reflection.
passing through it so that objects  When a beam of light strikes a rough
behind it are not clearly seen. surface, the light is scattered in all
 An opaque body does not transmit directions, each reflected ray obeying
light at all. the laws of reflection.
 Reflection is the turning back of light  Since the surface is rough the rays
into the same medium after striking a cannot be parallel to each other.
surface.
 The ray that strikes the surface is called
the incident ray.
 The ray that rebounds from the surface
is called the reflected ray.
 A line perpendicular to the surface at
the point of incidence is called the
normal.
 The angle between the incident ray
and the normal is called the angle of
incidence.
 This is represented as θ in the figure
below.
 The angle between the reflected ray
and the normal is the angle of  Night driving is much easier when the
reflection, represented as θr. road is dry. The road is basically a
rough surface and scatters light.
LAW OF REFLECTION  However, if the road is wet, the water
fills in the irregularities, smoothing the
 The incident ray, the reflected ray, and road in the process.
the normal to the surface all lie in the  The headlights of an oncoming car will
same plane, and the angle of be reflected regularly, will be
incidence equals the angle of concentrated in a beam of light and
reflection. will produce glare.
Law of Refraction

 The angle at which the light rays

refracts is dependent on the ration of
the indices of refraction between two
media.

 What is the speed of waves from a

Types of Reflection
radio station 96.3 W rock that
broadcasts at a frequency of 210kHz?
 Reflection from smooth surfaces is
ANS: 3X10raised to 8 m/s
called regular or specular reflection.
 Who among the scientists the below
 When a group of parallel rays strikes a
demonstrated the how mirror reflect
smooth flat surface, the reflected rays
light?
are parallel to each other.
ANS. Isaac Newton
 Specular reflection  It is always inverted.
 A virtual image has the following
properties.
 No light actually passes at the
apparent location of the image. The
apparent location
 of the image is found by extending the
reflected rays until they intersect. A
virtual
 image is formed at the back of the
mirror.
 It cannot be focused on a screen.
 Which among the theories below  It is always upright.
developed by Max Planck?  Real images are always inverted.
ANS. Quantum Theory Virtual images are always upright.
 This is the part of the shadow where all Plane Mirror Images
of the light from the source is totally
blocked. What do you call this? Plane mirror images are
ANS. Umbra  virtual
 upright
LESSON 2: MIRROR  same size as the object
 same distance behind the mirror as the
Mirror  object is in front of the mirror laterally
There are two types of mirror: plane mirror reversed
and spherical mirror.
Spherical Mirror Terminology

1. Center of curvature is the center of the

sphere where the mirror was taken. A
letter C represents center of curvature.
2. The vertex V is the center of the mirror.
Other authors call it the pole of the
Man’s First Mirror mirror.
3. Radius of curvature R is the radius of
the sphere. It is the distance between
C and V.
4. Principal axis or optical axis is a straight
line joining C and V.
5. Aperture refers to the width of the
mirror.
6. Principal Focus F is the point where the
reflected rays meet as in the case of
converging mirror or the point where
the reflected rays seem to come from
Real /Virtual Images behind a diverging mirror.
 A real image has the following 7. Focal length f is the distance from the
properties. pole to the principal focus. Since the
 It is formed by actual intersection of principal focus is midway between C
light rays after encountering a mirror .A and P, the focal length is ½ of the
real radius of curvature.
 image is formed in front of the mirror.
 It can be projected on a screen.
Ray Diagram
 Ray passing through the center of
curvature is reflected along itself.
 Ray parallel to the principal or optical Case 1: the object is located beyond the
axis is reflected through the principal center of curvature (C)
focus in case of converging mirrors or When the object is located at a
appears to come from the principal location beyond the center of curvature,
focus in case of diverging mirrors. the image will always be located
 Ray passing through the focus is somewhere in between the center of
reflected parallel to the principal or curvature and the focal point. Regardless
optical axis. of exactly where the object is located, the
 Reflection of light passing through image will be located in the specified
principal focus region. In this case, the image will be
an inverted image. That is to say, if the
Convex Mirror Images object is right side up, then the image is
upside down. In this case, the image
 Virtual is reduced in size; in other words, the
 Upright image dimensions are smaller than the
 Smaller than the object object dimensions. If the object is a six-foot
 May be real or virtual tall person, then the image is less than six
 Smaller, same size or bigger than feet tall. The term magnification was
object introduced; the magnification is the ratio
 Maybe inverted or upright of the height of the image to the height of
the object. In this case, the absolute value
of the magnification is less than 1. Finally,
the image is a real image. Light rays
actually converge at the image location. If
a sheet of paper were placed at the
image location, the actual replica of the
object would appear projected upon the
sheet of paper.
 dimensions. A six-foot tall person would
have an image that is larger than six feet
tall; the absolute value of the
magnification is greater than 1. Finally, the
image is a real image. Light rays actually
converge at the image location. As such,
the image of the object could be
projected upon a sheet of paper.

Case 2: the object is located at the center

of curvature
When the object is located at the
center of curvature, the image will also be
located at the center of curvature. In this
case, the image will be inverted (i.e., a
right side up object results in an upside-
down image). The image dimensions are
equal to the object dimensions. A six-foot Case 4: the object is located at the focal
tall person would have an image that is six point (F)
feet tall; the absolute value of the When the object is located at the
magnification is equal to 1. Finally, the focal point, no image is formed. Light rays
image is a real image. Light rays actually from the same point on the object will
converge at the image location. As such, reflect off the mirror and neither converge
the image of the object could be nor diverge. After reflecting, the light rays
projected upon a sheet of paper. are traveling parallel to each other and do
not result in the formation of an image.

Case 3: the object is located between the

Case 5: the object is located in front of the
center of curvature (C) and the focal point
focal point (F)
(F)
When the object is located in front When the object is located at a
of the center of curvature, the image will location beyond the focal point, the
be located beyond the center of image will always be located somewhere
curvature. Regardless of exactly where the on the opposite side of the mirror.
object is located between C and F, the Regardless of exactly where in front of F
image will be located the object is located, the image will
somewhere beyond the center of always be located behind the mirror. In this
curvature. In this case, the image will be case, the image will be an upright image.
inverted (i.e., a right side up object results That is to say, if the object is right side up,
in an upside-down image). The image then the image will also be right side up. In
dimensions are larger than the object this case, the image is magnified; in other
words, the image dimensions are greater gradient in the refractive index of the
than the object dimensions. A six-foot tall air. Light from the sky at a shallow
person would have an image that is larger angle to the road is refracted (bent) by
than six feet tall; the magnification is the index gradient, making it appear to
greater than 1. Finally, the image is a be located at the road's surface. The
virtual image. Light rays from the same image of the sky resembles a pool of
point on the object reflect off the mirror water on the road.
and diverge upon reflection. For this
 Superior mirage occurs when air near
reason, the image location can only be
the surface is colder than the air above
found by extending the reflected rays
it. The viewer sees an image displaced
backwards beyond the mirror. The point of
upward.
their intersection is the virtual image
location. It would appear to any observer
as though light from the object were
diverging from this location. Any attempt
to project such an image upon a sheet of
paper would fail since light does not
actually pass through the image location.

LESSON 3: REFRACTION As a light source enters an

 Refraction is the change in the atmosphere, the light changes it direction
direction of light when it passes from upon entering a new medium. This is called
one medium to another of different refraction or bending of light.
optical density.
 Light travels slowly in an optically dense
medium.
Common Refraction Phenomena

Index of Refraction (n)

 Mirage comes from the words “ mirror Index of refraction of a substance is the
image”. ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to the
 It is not “a trick of the mind”. It is real speed of light in the substance.
and can be photographed.
(Hewitt,1993)
 There are two types of mirage: inferior
and superior.
 Inferior mirror: cooler air above warmer
air.
 Road wetness is an inferior mirage.
Warm air is less dense than cool air,
and the variation between the hot air
at the surface of the road, and the
denser cool air above it creates a
 and mathematician Willebrord Snell, states
that n1sin θ1 = n2 sin θR where n1 refers to
the index of refraction of first medium and
n2 the index of refraction of second
medium.
PROBLEM
A light ray in air (n=1.00) strikes the surface
Index of Refraction of Some Common
of a glass pane (n=1.52) at an angle of
Materials
incidence of 350. Determine the angle of
refraction.

LAWS OF REFRACTION
1. The incident ray, the refracted ray
and the normal lie in one plane. Arthur Podd's method of fishing
involves spearing the fish while standing on
the shore. The actual location of a fish is
shown in the diagram below. Because of
the refraction of light, the observed
location of the fish is different than its
actual location. Indicate on the diagram
the approximate location where Arthur
observes the fish to be. Must Arthur aim
above or below where the fish appears to
2. When a ray of light passes obliquely from be in order to strike the fish? (The Physics
an optically denser medium to less dense Classroom Tutorial)
medium, it is refracted away from the Arthur must aim at a position on the
normal. water below where the fish appears to be.
When a ray of light passes obliquely from Since light refracts away from the normal
an optically less dense medium to denser (water to air) as Arthur sights at the fish, the
refracted ray when extended backwards
medium, it is refracted towards the normal. passes over the head of where the fish
At perpendicular incidence, no bending of actually is.
light ray occurs. Plane mirror
The flat surface that produces an erect
visual image of a real object where front
and back are reversed.

3. Snell’s Law, named after the Dutch

astronomer
 Willebrord Snell
Dutch astronomer and mathematician
who developed the equation:n1sin 1 =
n2 sin R.
Wilsons method of fishing involves spearing
the fish while standing on the shore. The
actual location of a fish is shown in the
diagram below. Where must Wilson aim his
spear in order to strike the fish? Below
where the fish appears.

LESSON 3: LENSES
Peepholes
Convex Mirror

Spherical Lenses
 Lenses that are thicker at the middle
than at the edges are convex lenses.
Convex lenses are converging lenses.
 Lenses that are thicker at the edges
than at the middle are concave lenses.

Inferior Mirage
Warm air is less dense than cool air, and
the variation between the hot air at the
surface of the road, and the denser cool
air above it creates a gradient in the
refractive index of the air.

Refraction
The change in the direction of light when it
passes from one medium to another of
different optical density.

Parts of Lens
 PROBLEM
An object is placed 6.0 cm from a
concave lens whose focal length is -8.0 cm.
What is the image distance from the lens?
How many times the image magnified?

Lens Maker Equation

Concave Lens

f=focal length is being used in peeping holes

n=index of refraction Lens

R1 and R2=radii of curvature of the faces A material is used to refract a light source
of lens. to create an image.

If R is (+), then its mirror is convex. Double convex

If (-) negative, it is concave.

PROBLEM
A concavo-convex crown glass lens has a
radius of curvature of 12cm for its concave
side and 6.0 cm for its convex side. What is
the focal length of the lens?
An object is placed 15 cm in front of
concave lens with a focal length of -20cm.
Determine the distance of the image.
Which of the following equation should
you use?

Thin Lens Equation and Magnification

Diverging lens
LESSON 4: PHYSICS OF THE  It has been claimed that each iris is
unique and is a better identifier than
EYE the fingerprints
Trivia: Iridology is the study of the iris of the
eye. The iris is divided into 40 zones, each
corresponding to different body parts and
that diseases of different body parts may
be diagnosed by mere looking at the iris.
Ignatz Von Peczely(1866) –father of
iridology.
SCLERA
 The white background of the eye. It
provides structure, protection and
strength to the eye.
 The eye is an opaque ball averaging CRYSTALLINE LENS
2.3cm in diameter  clear convex structure at the back of
Parts of an Eye pupil.
 It can focus objects are different
distances by changing its shape.
 This ability of the lens is called
accommodation.
CILIARY MUSCLES
 The ciliary muscles are attached to the
crystalline lens and are responsible for
changing the shape of the lens when
focusing objects at different distances.
 To focus on a nearby object, the
muscles contract and the center of the
lens are thicker.
 If the object is distant, the muscles are
relaxed and the lens is thin.

CORNEA
 outer thin transparent membrane of
the eyeball.
 The cornea serves to protect the eye
and refract most of the incident light.
PUPIL
 The black circle that we see in the
middle of the eye.
 The pupil is actually an opening
through light enters the inner portion of
the eye.
 It changes its size to regulate amount RETINA
of light entering the eye.  For normal vision, the image of an
IRIS object seen by the eye is formed
 the colored circle of the eye. exactly at the retina.
 It may be brown, black, gray and  The retina consists of light sensitive rods
others depending on race. and cones. The cones can distinguish
 Its main task is to regulate the size of color and are responsible for our
the pupil by contraction or relaxation daytime vision.
of its muscles.
 On the other hand, the rods enable us and 6meters in Britain. The
to see in the dark. denominator represents the distance in
Fovea- the region of most distinct vision. feet or meters at which a person with
There are about 200,000 cones but no rods normal vision is able to see clearly an
in the fovea. object seen by another at 20 feet or
Blind Spot-the point in the retina where the 6meters.
optic nerves exit is called the blind spot.  If your vision is 20/50, you can see at 20
The optic nerve carries images from ft what a normal vision man can see at
the retina to the brain. 50 ft. Hawks for instance have 20/2
vision.
 Legal blindness is usually defined as
visual acuity less than 20/200 with
corrective lenses.
Visual Acuity

The Blind Spot Experiment

Close your left eye and look at the figures

in this box with your right eye only. You can
see both the square and the circle. Try
moving this book slowly towards your face.
You will reach a certain distance where
the circle disappears. Does the same thing
happen when you repeat the procedure
using the left eye?

aqueous humor – located between the

cornea and lens EYE DEFECTS

vitreous humor –located after the lens The closest distance at which an object
can be seen clearly by the eye is called
Both humors are responsible for giving the the near point of the eye. The near point
eye its near perfect spherical shape. They for young adults with normal vision is 25 cm,
also belong to the refractive system of the for children around 10 cm and for the
eye. aged, 50 cm or more.

Do you know that your eyes reveal your LEONARDO DA VINCI

emotions? While it is true that his masterpieces
like “Mona Lisa”, “Madonna of the Rocks”
20/20 vision and “ The Last Supper” have brought him
 Visual acuity simply means clarity of fame, his many sketches and notes have
vision or sharpness of vision. been the basis of modern scientific
 It is expressed usually as a fraction. The inventions. He was the originator of the
numerator is the standard testing concept of contact lens. In 1508, he
distance, 20 feet in almost all countries
sketched and described several forms of People aged 40 and above are
contact lenses though not producing even suffering from presbyopia. Presbyopia is
one for testing. sometimes called the “aging eyes or old
 The far point of the eye is the farthest eyes” in as much as it is a normal
distance at which an object can be consequence of growing old and cannot
seen clearly. The far point of the normal be prevented. As we grow old, the
eye is taken as infinity. crystalline lens hardens and the ciliary
 Thus, a normal healthy eye can see muscles become less flexible making
objects as close as 25cm or very distant accommodation not as easy as before. As
from it. a result of this, distant objects are seen
 Myopia is the medical term for clearly, but nearby objects are not. We see
nearsightedness. People suffering from elderly people holding a newspaper at
this visual problem can see close arm’s length to read it. A presbyopic eye
objects clearly but the distant ones are needs reading glasses. Alternatively, a
blurred. bifocal lens may be prescribed. The upper
 A myopic eye forms the image of a half of a bifocal lens is for normal viewing
distant object in front of the retina while the lower half is for reading purposes.
because the eyeball is longer than the A line separates the upper from the lower
normal or too curved. half. A bifocal lens produces the so called
 This can be corrected by using a “split- image effect” and reveals the age
diverging lens. of the user. To eliminate these, a no-line
bifocal lens or progressive lens may be
used.

A person suffering from astigmatism

cannot focus simultaneously on horizontal
and vertical lines. The cornea’s having
unequal curvature in various directions
causes this. A cylindrical lens is used to
correct astigmatism.

Pinhole Glasses
Introduced in 1995, pinhole glasses
or stenopeic glasses are not made of
glasses but of opaque material containing
A person suffering from holes about 1.0mm in diameter. Pinhole
hypermetropia (hyperopia in some books) glasses are said to correct refractive errors
or farsightedness can see distant objects by admitting only those rays that pass
but can not focus clearly on nearby through the central portion of the pupil.
objects. In this case, the eyeball is too short
and the image of a close object is formed Laser vision surgery has been a popular
behind the retina. A converging lens can procedure to correct eye defects. PRK
correct this problem. (Photorefractive Keratectomy) and LASIK
(Laser Assisted in-situ Keratomileusis) use
the excimer laser to reshape the cornea so
that images are formed at the retina. The
procedures take approximately 10 minutes,
with actual laser time exposure varying
from 15 to 60 seconds. People who have
undergone this surgery feel no pain but
may experience a “foreign body sensation”
lasting for several hours (LASIK) and 3 to 4
days (PRK).