GRADE 10, SCIENCE

LIGHT-REFLECTION AND REFRACTION

1 Why do we see our image in a shining spoon?
The shining surface of the spoon behaves like a curved mirror hence we can see our image in it.

2 A ray of light moving along the principal axis is falling on a concave mirror. In which
direction is it reflected?
The ray is reflected back along the principal axis of the mirror because it strikes the mirror
normally.

3 Due to which property of light, sharp shadows of opaque objects are obtained?
Since light travels in a straight line, any obstacle obstructing the path will cast its sharp shadow.

4 When a mirror is held close to the face by a person, a diminished and erect image of the face is
seen, what type of mirror is this?
A convex mirror.

5 At what position can the object be placed in front of a concave mirror to form a real image of
the same size?
At the center of curvature (or at 2F).

6 What is the minimum distance between an object and its real image in case of a concave
mirror?
Zero.

7 Which metal is the best reflector of light?

Silver.

8 Which type of image is formed on a cinema screen?

Real image.

9 A man standing in front of a spherical mirror, finds his image having a very small head, a fat
body and legs of normal size. What type of mirror are used in their three parts?
A very small head: Convex mirror.
A fat body: Concave mirror.
Legs of normal size : Plane mirror.

10 Which surface of a plane mirror reflects most of the light incident on it: The front smooth
surface or the back silvered surface?
The back silvered surface of a mirror reflects most of the light incident on it.

11 Define the term angle of incidence.

The angle between an incident ray and the normal at the point of incidence is called angle of
incidence.

12 Define the term angle of reflection.

The angle between the reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence is called angle of
reflection.

13 Name the mirror that has: i) a real focus ii) a virtual focus
i) A concave mirror has a real focus.
ii) A convex mirror has a virtual focus.
14 What kind of mirror is used in the headlight of a motor car and why?
Concave mirror. Here the bulb is placed at the focus. Light coming from the focus is reflected as a
parallel beam of light which can travel a longer distance by illuminating the street.

15 What are the values of angle of incidence and angle of reflection for normal incidence of light
on a plane mirror?

16 Which type of mirror is used to watch the activities of customer in big shopping stores and
why?
Convex mirror, as it forms virtual, erect and diminished images thereby covering a large area.

17 A ray of light is incident normally to the surface of a glass slab placed in air. Find the angle of
incidence and angle of refraction in this case.

18 If on applying cartesian sign convention for spherical lenses, the image distance obtained is
negative, stating the significance of the negative sign.
Negative sign shows that
i) Image is virtual and erect
ii) It is formed on the same side where the object is present.

19 At which position of object will the magnification be -1 in case of a) convex lens b) concave
mirror.
a) When an object is placed at 2F1.
b) When the object is placed at the center of curvature C.

20 Discuss the case in which a convex lens behaves as a diverging lens.

When n2<n1.
i.e. the refractive index of material of lens is less than the refractive index of surroundings.

21 A concave mirror of focal length ‘f’ can form a magnified, erect as well as inverted image of
an object placed in front of it. State the position of the object with respect to the mirror in
each case.
When the object is placed between F and C, magnified and inverted image is formed on the same
side in front of mirror.
When the object is placed between P and F, magnified and erect image is formed behind the mirror.
22 How will the following be affected on cutting a converging lens into two equal halves along the
principal axis? I) focal length ii) intensity of the image formed by half lens.
i) Focal length remains the same
ii) Intensity will reduce to half.

23 a) How can you distinguish between a plane mirror, convex mirror and a concave mirror,
just by looking at the images formed by them?
Image formed by a plane mirror is virtual, erect, of the same size and object distance is equal to
image distance.
Image formed by a convex mirror is virtual, erect and diminished.
Image formed by a concave mirror is virtual, erect and enlarged when the object is placed
between P and F.
b) The lens prescribed by the doctor has a power of +2D. What does it mean?
The lens is a convex lens and its focal length is +0.5m.
24 A boy in a mirror laughing finds his face appearing highly magnified, the lower position of his
body of the same size but laterally inverted and the middle position of the body highly
diminished in size. Can you guess the design of the mirror?
The upper part of the mirror is concave.
The lower part of the mirror is plane.
The middle part is a convex mirror.

25 It is desired to obtain an erect image of an object using a concave mirror of focal length 20 cm.
i) What can be the range of distance of the object from the mirror?
Objects can be placed between pole and focus i.e., 0 cm to 20 cm.
ii) Will the image be bigger or smaller than the object?
Image will be of bigger size.

26 The magnification produced by a spherical mirror is -3. List three information you can obtain
from this statement about the mirror/image.
Image is real and inverted.
Mirror is concave.
The image is three times bigger than the object.

27 If the image formed by a lens for all positions of an object placed in front of it is always erect
and diminished, what is the nature of the lens?
The lens is a concave lens.

28 If the image formed by a mirror for all positions of the object placed in front of it is always
diminished, erect and virtual, state the type of mirror and write one use of such mirrors and
why.
It is a convex mirror.
It is used as a rear- view mirror in vehicles because it forms a virtual, erect and diminished image
between pole and focus and has a wide field of view.

29 List four characteristics of the image formed by a convex lens of focal length 20 cm when the
object is placed in front of it at a distance of 10 cm from its optical center.
i) Image is virtual ii) image is erect iii) image is enlarged iv) image is formed on the same side
of the lens where the object is placed.

30 For the same angle of incidence of 450, the refraction angle in two transparent media P and Q
is 200 and 300 respectively. Which of the two is optically denser and why?
‘P’ has greater optical density than ‘Q’ because the angle of refraction is less in ‘P’ showing that
more bending of light has taken place in medium ‘P’.

31 How do you draw a normal at a point on a spherical mirror?

Radius is perpendicular to a point on the sphere. Therefore, the normal can be drawn by joining the
point with the center of curvature.

32 A ray of light passing through the center of curvature of a concave mirror retraces its path.
Explain.
This is according to the law of reflection. When a ray of light passes through the center of curvature
it strikes the mirror normally. Therefore, angle of incidence is zero and angle of reflection is also
zero.

33 Can a concave mirror form a virtual image equal to the size of the object?
No, because the virtual image formed by a concave mirror is enlarged.
34 Can a convex mirror form an image with magnification greater than 1?
No, in the case of a convex mirror m < 1.

35 If you are given a part of hollow spherical glass, how will you convert it into a concave
mirror?
By coating the outer surface with silver.

36 What is the difference between the virtual image produced by i) plane mirror, ii) concave
mirror iii) convex mirror?
i) Virtual images formed by a plane mirror are of the same size.
ii) Virtual image formed by a concave mirror is enlarged.
iii) Virtual image formed by a convex mirror is diminished.

37 A point source S is placed in water. Name the type of beam of light it emits. This beam of light
after coming out from water converges or diverges. Why?
A point source always emits a diverging beam of light. When this beam of light comes out of water
it diverges. This is because the refracted rays move away from normal.

38 What is the magnification of the images formed by plane mirrors and why?
The magnification of the images formed by plane mirrors is +1, because image distance is equal to
object distance and image formed is erect.

39 Why does the ray of light bend when it travels from one medium to another?
The ray of light bends at the time of changing of medium because of its change in velocity in the
other medium.

40 List four specific characteristics of the images of the object formed by convex mirrors.
i) It is always formed behind the mirror, between the pole and its focus.
ii) The image is always virtual and erect
iii) The size of image is always smaller than the object
iv) Magnification is always positive.

41 “Vehicles in this mirror are closer than they appear”. Why is this warning printed on the side
view mirror of most vehicles?
The phrase “vehicles in this mirror are closer than they appear” is a safety warning printed out on
the side view mirror of most vehicles. It is present because the side view mirror is a convex mirror
and it gives a virtual image of a wide field behind the vehicle and the objects appear smaller and
farther away than they actually are.

42 Why does the emergent ray shift sidewards in a glass slab?

The emergent ray shift sidewards slightly because of
i) Angle of incidence
ii) Thickness of glass slab

43 What is understood by lateral displacement of light? List any two factors on which the lateral
displacement of a particular substance depends.
Lateral displacement is the perpendicular distance between the incident ray produced and
emergent ray.
The lateral displacement depends on the thickness of the slab, the incident angle and the refractive
index of the material.

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