Light

Introduction to Reflection of Light

 Light is a form of energy due to which we are able to see the objects which emits light for example objects like
sun, lamp, candle emits light of their own and thus they are known as luminous objects.
 There are objects like table , chair etc. which are not luminous objects and still we are able to see them and this
happens because they reflects lights which falls on them from a luminous object like sun, lamp etc. and when
this reflected light reaches our eyes we are able to see such non luminous objects.
 According to Wave Theory:- Light rays basically consist of electromagnetic waves which do not require any
material medium (like solid, liquid or gas) for their propagation. For example the phenomena of diffraction,
interference and polarization of light can only be explained if light is considered to be of wave nature.
 The wavelength of visible light waves is very small and is of the order of 4×10−7m to 8×10−7m .
 Speed of light waves depends on the medium through which they pass as speed of light in air is slightly less
than the speed of light in vacuum 8×108m/s same way speed of light in water and glass is much less than that in
air.
 According to Particle Theory:- Light is composed of Particles which travel in a straight line at very high speed.
The elementary particles that defines light is “Photon”. The phenomena of reflection and refraction of light and
casting of shadow of objects by light can be explained only if light is thought to be made of particles.
 Light has dual nature: light exhibits the properties of both waves and particles. The modern theory of light
called “Quantum Theory of Light” combines both the wave and particle models of light.
 When light falls on the surface of an object it can either be
1. Absorbed:- If an object absorbs all the light falling on it , then it will appear perfectly black for example a
blackboard
2. Transmitted: - An object is said to transmit light if it allows light to pass through itself and such objects
are transparent.
3. Reflected:- If an object sends back light rays falling on its surface then it is said to have reflected the
light

Reflection of Light
 The process of sending back light rays which falls on the
surface of an object is called REFLECTION of light
 Silver metal is one of the best reflectors of light.
 Mirrors we use on our dressing tables in our home are
plane mirrors.
 A ray of light is the straight line along which the light
travelled and a bundle of light rays is called a beam of light.

 Laws of Reflection of light

1. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of
reflection, and
2. The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal
to the mirror at the point of incidence all lie in the
same plane.
 These laws of reflection are applicable to all types of
reflecting surfaces including spherical surfaces

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Real and Virtual images
 An image is formed when the light rays coming from an object meet at a point after reflection from a mirror (or
refraction from lens).
1. The images are of two types

Real Images:- Real images are formed when rays of light that comes from an object (or source)
meets at a point after
reflection from a mirror
(or refraction from a
lens). Real images can
be formed on a screen
and can be seen with
the eyes.
2. Virtual images:-
Virtual image is an
image in which the
outgoing rays from an
object do not meet at a
point. It will appear to
meet at a point in or behind the optical device (i.e., a mirror) but they do not actually meet after reflection
from a mirror (or refraction from a lens). A plane mirror always forms virtual images.
Characteristics of images formed by mirrors:-
(a) Images formed by mirrors are always virtual and erect
(b) Size of image is always equal to the size of the object and the image is laterally inverted.
(c) The images formed by the plane mirror are as far behind the mirror as the object in front of the mirror.
Lateral inversion:- If an object is placed in front of the mirror, then the right side of the object appears to be the
left side and left side of the object appears to be the right side of this image. This change of sides of an object
and its mirror image is called lateral inversion.

Spherical Mirrors
 The reflecting surface of a spherical mirror may be curved inwards or outwards.
 Spherical mirrors are of two types
1. Concave mirror: - In a concave mirror reflection of light takes place at the concave surface or bent-in surface
as shown below in the figure.

2. Convex mirror:- In a convex mirror reflection of light takes place at the convex surface or bent out surface as
shown below in the figure

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  Commonly used terms about Spherical mirrors :-

1. Centre of curvature: - The reflecting surface of a spherical mirror forms a part of a sphere. This sphere
has a centre. This point is called the centre of curvature of the spherical mirror. It is represented by the
letter C. Please note that 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 as shown above in the figure .

2. 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.
3. Pole: - The center of a spherical mirror is called its pole and is represented by letter P as can be seen in
figure.
4. Principle axis: - Straight line passing through the pole and the centre of curvature of a spherical mirror is
called principle axis of the mirror.
5. Aperture of the mirror: - Portion of the mirror from which reflection of light actually takes place is called
the aperture of the mirror. Aperture of the mirror actually represents the size of the mirror.
Principle focus and focal length of a Spherical Mirrors
 For understanding about principle focus and focus length of a spherical mirror first consider the figure given below

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  From figure we see that a number of rays parallel to the principal axis are falling on a concave mirror. If we now
observe the reflected rays we see that they are all intersecting at a point F on the principal axis of the mirror. This
point is called the principal focus of the concave mirror.
 In case of convex mirror rays get reflected at the reflecting surface of the mirror and these reflected rays appear to
come from point F on the principle axis and this point F is called principle focus of convex mirror.
 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.
 There is a relationship between the radius of curvature R, and focal length f, of a spherical mirror and is given by R=2f
which means that that the principal focus of a spherical mirror lies midway between the pole and centre of curvature.

Image Formation by Spherical mirrors

 The nature, position and size of the image formed by a concave mirror depend on the position of the object in relation
to points P, F and C.
 The image formed can be real as well as virtual depending on the positions of the object.
 The image is either magnified, reduced or has the same size, depending on the position of the object.

Rules for obtaining images formed by spherical mirrors

(1) Rule 1 -A ray of light which is parallel to the principle axis of the mirror passes through its focus after reflection
from the mirror as shown below in the figure

From the figure given above it can be clearly seen that the light rays passes through principle focus in case of concave mirrors
and appears to diverge from principle focus in case of concave mirror.
(2) Rule 2- A ray of light passing through the centre of curvature of the curvature of the concave mirror or directed in
the direction of the centre of curvature of a convex mirror, is reflected back along the same path as shown below in
the figure

This happens because the incident rays fall on the mirror along the normal to the reflecting surface.

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 (3) Rule 3- A ray passing through principle focus of a concave mirror or a ray which is directed towards the
principal focus of a convex mirror, becomes parallel to the principle axis after reflection and is shown below in
the figure

(4) Rule 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 and is shown below in the figure

Image formation by concave mirror

Object at infinity:
Since parallel rays coming from the object converge at principal focus, F of a
concave mirror; after reflection. Hence, when the object is at infinity the
image will form at F.

Properties of image:

 Point sized
 Highly diminished
 Real and inverted

Object between infinity and Centre of Curvature:

When object is placed between infinity and centre of curvature of a concave
mirror the image is formed between centre of curvature (C) and focus (F).

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Properties of image:

 Diminished compared to object

 Real and inverted

Object at Centre of Curvature (C):

When the object is placed at centre of curvature (C) of a concave mirror, a real and
inverted image is formed at the same position.

Properties of image:

 Same size as object

 Real and inverted

Object between Centre of curvature (C) and Principal Focus (F):

When the object is placed between centre of curvature and principal focus of concave mirror, a real image is formed beyond the
centre of curvature (C).

Properties of image:

 Larger than object

 Real and inverted

Object at Principal Focus (F):

When the object is placed at principal focus (F) of a concave mirror, a highly enlarged image is formed at infinity.

Properties of image:

 Highly enlarged
 Real and inverted

Object between Principal Focus (F) and Pole (P):

When the object is placed between principal focus and pole of a concave mirror, an enlarged, virtual and erect image is formed behind
the mirror.

Properties of image:

 Enlarged
 Virtual and erect

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  Concave mirrors are used as shaving mirrors, reflectors in car headlights, hand torch and table lamps.
 Large concave mirrors are used in field of solar energy to focus sun rays on objects to be heated.

Image formation by convex mirrors

 In order to construct a ray diagram to find out the position, nature and size of image formed by convex mirror we
should remember following path of rays of light.
 A ray of light parallel to the principle axis of a convex mirror appears to be coming from its focus after reflection from
the mirror.
 A ray of light going towards the centre of curvature of convex mirror is reflected back along its own path.
 Convex mirrors have its focus and center of curvature behind it and no light can go behind the convex mirror and all
the rays that we show behind the convex mirror are virtual and no ray actually passes through the focus and center of
curvature of the convex mirror.
 Whatever be the position of object in front of convex mirror, the image formed by a convex mirror is always behind the
mirror, virtual, erect and smaller than the object.
 Nature, position and relative size of the image formed by a convex mirror is given below in the table

 Convex mirrors are used as rear view mirrors in automobiles to see the traffic at back side as they give erect images
and also highly diminished one giving the wide field view of traffic behind.
Sign convention for reflection by spherical mirrors
Reflection of light by spherical mirrors follow a set of sign conventions called 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 of the
coordinate system. The conventions are as follows
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.
 All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of the mirror.
 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.
 Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis (along + y-axis) are taken as positive.
 Distances measured perpendicular to and below the principal axis (along y-axis) are taken as negative.

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These new Cartesian sign convention for spherical mirrors are shown below in the figure

Mirror formula and Magnification

Mirror formula:-
It gives the relationship between image
distance (v) , object distance (u) and the
focal length (f)of the mirror and is written as

1 1 1
+ =
𝑣 𝑢 𝑓
Where v is the distance of image from the
mirror, u is the distance of object from the
mirror and fis the focal length of the mirror.
This formula is valid in all situations for all
spherical mirrors for all positions of the
object.

Magnification
Magnification produced by a spherical mirror gives the relative extent to which the image of an object is magnified with respect
to the object size. It is expressed as the ratio of the height of the image to the height of the object. It is usually represented by
the letter m. So,
or
ℎ′
𝑚=
ℎ
The magnification m is also related to the object distance (u) and image distance (v) and is given as
ℎ′ 𝑣
𝑚= =−
ℎ 𝑢

Refraction: Introduction
The change of direction of light because of change of medium is known
as Refraction or Refraction of Light. The ray of light changes its direction
or phenomenon of refraction takes place because of difference in speed
in different media.
The light travels at faster speed in rare medium and at slower speed in
denser medium. The nature of media is taken as relative. For example air
is a rarer medium than water or glass.
When ray of light enters from a rarer medium into a denser medium, it
bends towards normal at the point of incidence. On the contrary, when ray
of light enters into a rarer medium from a denser medium it bends away
from the normal.
Ray emerging after the denser medium goes in the same direction and
parallel to the incident ray.
The angle between incident ray and normal is called Angle of Incidence
and it is denoted as ‘i’. The angle between refracted ray and normal is
called the Angle of Refraction. Angle of refraction is denoted by ‘r’.

Fig: Refraction of Light

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Laws of Refraction
a. The incident ray, refracted ray and normal to the interface of given two transparent media, all lie in same
plane.
b. The ratio of sine of angle of incidence and sine of angle of refraction is always constant for the light of
given colour and for the pair of given media.

Refraction of Light
The phenomenon of change in the path of a beam of light as it passes from one medium to another is called refraction
of light.
The cause of refraction is the change in the speed of light as it goes from one medium to another.
Laws of Refraction
First Law: The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal to the interface of two media at the point of incidence, all
lie in the same plane.
Second Law:The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is constant for a given
pair of media.
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑖
= 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 = 𝑛21
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑟

This law is also known as Snell’s law

.
The constant ,written as 1𝑛2 is called the refractive index of the second medium (in which the
refracted ray lies) with respect to the first medium (in which the incident ray lies).
Absolute refractive index (n) of a medium is given as
𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑢𝑚 𝑐
𝑛= =
𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑚 𝑣
When a beam of light passesfrom medium 1 to medium 2, the refractive index of medium 2 with respect to
medium 1 is called the relative refractive index, represented by 1𝑛2, where
𝑐
𝑛2 𝑣2 𝑣1
1𝑛2 = = 𝑐 =
𝑛1 𝑣2
𝑣1

Similarly, the refractive index of medium 1 with respect to medium 2 is

𝑐
𝑛1 𝑣1 𝑣2
2𝑛1 = = 𝑐 =
𝑛2 𝑣1
𝑣2

1
So 𝑛2 x 2𝑛1 = 1

Or 1n2 = 1/2n1

 While going from a rarer to a denser medium, the ray of light bends towards the normal. While going from a
denser to a rarer medium, the ray of light bends away from the normal.
 Conditions for no refraction
o When light is incident normally on a boundary.
o When the refractive indices of the two media are equal.
 In the case of a rectangular glass slab, a ray of light suffers two refractions, one at the air–glass interface and the
other at the glass–air interface. The emergent ray is parallel to the direction of the incident ray.

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 Optical Density: Medium having greater value of refractive index is called optically denser medium, this means light
will travel at slower speed in optically denser medium compared to in an optically rarer medium.

Spherical Lens
Lens is an optical device which converges or diverges the rays of light before transmitting. A lens has similar shape to
lentils and genus of lentil is called Lens, thus a lens got its name after the shape and name of genus of lentils. A lens
is made by combining at least one part of sphere made of transparent material, generally glass.
Spherical Lens: Most of the lenses are made by the combination of parts of transparent sphere. Concave and
Convex lens are most commonly use spherical lens.
Convex lens is the most commonly used lens in our day to day life.

Convex lens:
A lens having two spherical surface bulging outwards is called Convex Lens. It is also known as biconvex lens because of
two spherical surface bulging outwards.

Fig: Spherical Lens

Concave lens:
A lens having two spherical surface bulging inwards is called Concave Lens. It is also known as biconcave lens because of
two spherical surface bulging inwards.

Important terms for spherical lens:

Fig: Convex Lens

Centre of curvature: The centre of sphere of part of which a lens is formed is called the centre of curvature of the lens.
Since concave and convex lenses are formed by the combination of two parts of spheres, therefore they have two centres
of curvature.
One centre of curvature is usually denoted by C1 and second is denoted by C2.
Focus: Point at which parallel rays of light converge in a concave lens and parallel rays of light diverge from the point is
called Focus or Principal Focus of the lens.

Fig: Converging Lens

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 Fig: Diverging Lens

Similar to centres of curvature; convex and concave lenses have two Foci. These are represented as F1 and F2.
Principal Axis: Imaginary line that passes through the centres of curvature of a lens is called Principal Focus.
Optical centre: The central point of a lens is called its Optical Centre. A ray passes through optical centre of a lens without
any deviation.
Radius of curvature: The distance between optical centre and centre of curvature is called the radius of curvature, which is
generally denoted by R.
Focal Length: The distance between optical centre and principal focus is called focal length of a lens. Focal length of a
lens is half of the radius of curvature.
This is the cause that the centre of curvature is generally denoted by 2F for a lens instead of C.

 Sign Conventions for Spherical Lenses 

 According to New Cartesian Sign Conventions,

o All distances are measured from the optical centre of the lens.

o The distances measured in the direction of incidence of light are taken as positive and vice versa. o The
heights above the principal axis are taken as positive and vice versa.

 Rules for tracing images formed by spherical lens

Rule 1: A ray which is parallel to the principal axis, after refraction passes through the principal focus on the
other side of the lens in case of a convex lens or appears to diverge from the principal focus on the same
side of the lens in case of a concave lens.

Rule 2: A ray passing through the principal focus of a convex lens or appearing to meet at the principal focus of
a concave lens after refraction emerges parallel to the principal axis.

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 Rule 3: A ray passing through the optical centre of a convex lens or a concave lens
emerges without any deviation.

 Image formation by a convex lens 

Sign convention for lens:

Sign convention for lens is similar to that of spherical mirror. Signs are taken left of the optical centre as negative,
right of the optical centre as positive, above of the principal axis as positive and below of the principal axis as
negative.

Fig: Sign Convention

The new sign convention is known as New Cartesian Sign Convention. In this sign is taken negative towards left and
taken as positive towards right at X-axis from origin.

The sign is taken as positive (+) above the origin point at Y-axis; and below the origin point as negative (-) at Y-axis.

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Lens Formula and Magnification:
The relation between distance of object, distance of image and focal length for a lens is called lens formula.
1 1 1
− =
𝑣 𝑢 𝑓
Where, v is the distance of image, u is the distance of object, and f is the focal length of lens. Distance of object and
image is measure from the optical centre of the lens. The sign for distance is given as per convention.

The lens formula is valid for all situations for spherical lens. By knowing any of the two the third can be calculated.
Magnification:
The ratio of height of image and that of object or ratio of distance of image and distance of object gives magnification.
It is generally denoted by ‘m’.

ℎ′
𝑚=
ℎ
The magnification m is also related to the object distance (u) and image distance (v) and is given as
ℎ′ 𝑣
𝑚= =
ℎ 𝑢

The positive (+) sign of magnification shows that image is erect and virtual while a negative (-) sign of magnification
shows that image is real and inverted.

Power of lens:
A convex lens with short focal length converges the light rays with greater degree nearer to principal focus and a
concave lens with short focal length diverges the light rays with greater degree nearer to principal focus.

The degree of divergence or convergence of ray of light by a lens is expressed in terms of the power of lens. Degree
of convergence and divergence depends upon the focal length of a lens. The power of a lens is denoted by ‘P’. The
power of a lens is reciprocal of the focal length.

1
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 (𝑃) =
𝐹𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝑓)

The SI unit of Power of lens is dioptre and it is denoted by ‘D’.

Power of a lens is expressed in dioptre when the focal length is expressed in metre. Thus, a lens having 1 metre of
focal length has power equal to 1 dipotre.

Therefore, 1 D = 1 m−1

A convex lens has power in positive and a concave lens has power in negative.

Power of optical instruments having multiple lenses:

If there is more than one lens used, then total power of lenses is equal to the sum of power of all individual lenses.

Example: If there are three lenses used in an optical device having powers equal to 1 D, 2D and 3D respectively,

Therefore, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 = 1𝐷 + 2𝐷 + 3𝐷 = 6𝐷

Some common phenomena of Refraction:

 Bending of pencil when placed in a glass with water: When a pencil or stick is kept in a beaker or a glass
filled with water, the stick appears slightly bent. This happens because the light; entering from air (rarer

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 medium) into water (denser medium); bends towards normal to the incident which makes the appearance of
pencil or stick as bent.
 Position of fish in the water of pond: The ray coming from fish in the pond bends away from the normal to
the incident. We see the emergent ray which makes the appearance of fish slightly above its position.
 Formation of rainbow: Rainbow is formed just after the rain. When ray of light travels from droplets of rain, it is
scattered into its constituent seven colours and forms a rainbow in the sky.
 Visibility of sun slightly before the time of sunrise: When the rays coming from the sun enter into
atmosphere (which is denser medium than vacuum), they bend away from normal to the incidence because of
refraction. Since we see the refracted rays coming from the sun, that’s why the sun becomes visible slightly ahead
of the time of sunrise.

Extra questions

1. A concave lens has focal length of 20 cm. At what distance from the lens a 5 cm tall object be placed so that it forms an
image at 15 cm from the lens? Also calculate the size of the image formed. [Delhi]
2. An object 50 cm tall is placed on the principal axis of a convex lens. Its 20 cm tall image is formed on the screen placed
at a distance of 10 cm from the lens. Calculate the focal length of the lens. [All India]
3. Draw the ray diagram in each case to show the position and nature of the image formed when the object is placed:
(i) at the centre of curvature of a concave mirror
(ii) between the pole P and focus F of a concave mirror
(iii) in front of a convex mirror
(iv) at 2F of a convex lens
(v) in front of a concave lens
4. If a light ray IM is incident on the surface AB as shown, identify the correct emergent ray.
5. The refractive indices of four media A, B, C and D are given in the following table:

If light, travels from one medium to another, in which case the change in speed will be (i) minimum, (ii) maximum?
[Delhi(C)]
6. “The refractive index of diamond is 2.42”. What is the meaning of this statement in relation to speed of light? [Delhi]
7. Redraw the given diagram and show the path of the refracted ray: [All India(C)]

8. Draw the following diagram in your answer book and show the formation of image of the object AB with the help of
suitable rays. [All India]

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9. An object 2 cm in size is placed 30 cm in front of a concave mirror of focal length 15 cm. At what distance from the
mirror should a screen be placed in order to obtain a sharp image? What will be the nature and the size of the image
formed? Draw a ray diagram to show the formation of the image in this case. [Delhi(C)]
10. An object 2 cm high is placed at a distance of 64 cm from a white screen. On placing a convex lens at a distance of 32
cm from the object it is found that a distinct image of the object is formed on the screen. What is the focal length of the
convex lens and size of the image formed on the screen? Draw a ray diagram to show the formation of the image in this
position of the object with respect to the lens. [Delhi(C)]
11. A convex lens has a focal length of 10 cm. At what distance from the lens should the object be placed so that it forms a
real and inverted image 20 cm away from the lens? What would be the size of the image formed if the object is 2 cm
high? With the help of a ray diagram show the formation of the image by the lens in this case. [All India (C)]
12. (a) It is desired to obtain an erect image of an object, using a concave mirror of focal length 20 cm.
(i) What should be the range of distance of the object from the mirror?
(ii) Will the image be bigger or smaller than the object?
(iii) Draw a ray diagram to show the image formation in this case.
(b) One half a convex lens of focal length 20 cm is covered with a black paper.
(i)Will the lens produce a complete image of the object?
(ii)Show the formation of image of an object placed at 2F1 of such covered lens with the help
of a ray diagram.
(iii)How will the intensity of the image formed by half-covered lens compare with non-covered lens?
13. The refractive index of water is 1.33 and the speed of light in air is 3 x 108 ms-1. Calculate the speed of light in water.
[Foreign]
14. In an experiment with a rectangular glass slab, a student observed that a ray of light incident at an angle of 55° with the
normal on one face of the slab, after refraction strikes the opposite face of the slab before emerging out into air making
an angle of 40° with the normal. Draw a labelled diagram to show the path of this ray. What value would you assign to
the angle of refraction and angle of emergence? [All India]
15. At what distance should an object be placed from a convex lens of focal length 18 cm to obtain an image at 24 cm from
it on the other side. What will be the magnification produced in this case? [Delhi]
16. How far should an object be placed from a .convex lens of focal length 20 cm to obtain its image at a distance of 30 cm
from the lens? What will be the height of the image if the object is 6 cm tall? [All India]
17. The image of an object placed at 60 cm in front of a lens is obtained on a screen at a distance of 120 cm from it. Find
the focal length of the lens. What would be the height of the image if the object is 5 cm high? [Foreign]
18. A ray of light travelling in air enters obliquely into water. Does the light ray bend towards or away from the normal ?
Why? Draw a ray diagram to show the refraction of light in this situation. [Delhi]
19. (a) “The refractive index of diamond is 2.42”. What is the meaning of this statement?
(b) Name a liquid whose mass density is less than that of water but it is optically denser than water. [Delhi]
20. What is the principle of reversibility of light?
Answer. The final path of the ray of light after reflections or refractions is reversed; the ray retraces its entire path. This
principle is called reversibility of light.

21. What is understood by lateral displacement of light? Illustrate it with the help of a
diagram. List any two factors on which the lateral displacement of a particular
substance depends. [Foreign]

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 Answer. Lateral displacement is the perpendicular distance between the incident ray produced and the emergent ray.
Lateral displacement in the diagram is BL. The lateral displacement depends on the thickness of the slab, the incident
and refraction angles.

22. (a) If the image formed by a lens is diminished in size and erect, for all positions of the object, what type of lens is it?
(b) Name the point on the lens through which a ray of light passes undeviated.
(c) An object is placed perpendicular to the principal axis of a convex lens of focal length 20 cm. The distance of the
object from the lens is 30 cm. Find (i) the position (ii) the magnification and (iii) the nature of the image formed. [Delhi
23. (a) What is meant by ‘power of a lens’?
(b) State and define the S.I. unit of power of a lens.
(c) A convex lens of focal length 25 cm and a concave lens of focal length 10 cm are placed in close contact with each
other. Calculate the lens power of this combination. [All India]
24. Draw a ray diagram to show the formation of image of an object placed between infinity and the optical centre of a
concave lens.
(b) A concave lens of focal length 15 cm forms an image 10 cm from the lens. Calculate
(i) the distance of the object from the lens.
(ii) the magnification for the image formed.
(iii) the nature of the image formed. [All India]
25. A 4 cm tall object is placed perpendicular to the principal axis of a convex lens of focal length 24 cm. The distance of
the object from the lens is 16 cm. Find the position, size and nature of the image formed, using the lens formula. [All
India]
26. State the law of refraction of light that defines the refractive index of a medium with respect to the other. Express it
mathematically. How is refractive index of any medium ‘A’ with respect to a medium ‘B’ related to the speed of
propagation of light in two media A and B? State the name of this constant when one medium is vacuum or air.
The refractive indices of glass and water with respect to vacuum are 3/2 and 4/3 respectively. If the speed of light in
glass is 2 x 108 m/s, find the speed of light in (i) vacuum, (ii) water. [Delhi]
27. To construct a ray diagram, we use two light rays which are so chosen that it is easy to know their directions after
reflection from the mirror. List these two rays and state the path of these rays after reflection. Use these rays to locate
the image of an object placed between centre of curvature and focus of a concave mirror. [All India]
28. List the sign conventions that are followed in case of refraction of light through spherical lenses. Draw a diagram and
apply these conventions in determining the nature and focal length of a spherical lens which forms three times
magnified real image of an object placed 16 cm from the lens. [Foreign]

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