LIGHT ,REFLECTION AND

REFRACTION
CHAPTER 10

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LIGHT
• Light is a form of energy that enables us to see things .
• Light is an Electromagnet ray that travels in a straight line.
• An object reflects light that falls on it. This reflected light when
received by our eyes enables us to see things.
• Maxwell predicted that magnetic and electric fields travel in the
form of waves, and these waves move at the speed of light.
• This led Maxwell to predict that light itself was carried by
electromagnetic waves, which means that light is a form of
electromagnetic radiation.
REFLECTION AND REFRACTION OF
LIGHT
• Reflection is the phenomenon of bouncing back of light rays
when it strikes an opaque surface.
• We can say that reflection is the phenomenon of change in
the path of light without any change in the medium.
• It is the phenomenon of change in the path of light when it
goes from one medium to another.
• The cause of refraction is the change in the speed of light
when it goes from one medium to another.
SPHERICAL MIRRORS
TERMS USED TO EXPLAIN SPHERICAL
MIRRORS
• Concave mirror: A spherical mirror ,whose reflecting surface is curved
inwards I,e faces towards the Centre of the sphere is called concave
mirror.
• Convex mirror: A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface
curved outwards is called a convex mirror.
• Pole: The Centre of the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is a point
called the pole(P).
• 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(C) of the spherical mirror.
• Radius of curvature: The radius of the sphere of which the reflecting
surface of a spherical mirror forms a part, is called the radius(R) of
curvature of the mirror.
• Principal axis: Imagine a straight line passing through the pole and
Centre of curvature of a spherical mirror. This line is called the principal
axis.
• Remember that principal axis is normal to the mirror at its pole.
• Rarer medium: A medium in which light travels faster is called an
optically rarer medium.
• Denser medium: A medium in which light travels slower is called an
optically denser medium.
I MP OR TAN T
TERMS
• Incident ray: the ray of light falling on the reflecting surface PQ is called the
incident ray.
• Reflected ray - the light ray bouncing back in the same medium as incident
ray, after striking the reflecting surface is called as reflected ray.
• Angle of incidence - the angle between the incident ray and the normal is
the angle of incidence.
• Angle of reflection - the angle between the normal and the reflected ray is
called angle of reflection.
• Normal - it is an imaginary line, perpendicular to the reflecting surface at the
point of incidence.
• Object : It is the thing or person that forms an image on the screen.
• Image : It is the reflection of the object on the screen.
• Real and virtual image: A real image can be caught on a screen whereas
a virtual image cannot be caught on a screen.
• A real image is always inverted whereas a virtual image is always erect.
• A real image is formed when the rays of light after reflection or refraction
actually meet at some point whereas a virtual image is formed when the
rays of light after reflection or refraction appear to meet at a point.
• A real image can be formed in a screen but a virtual image can be only
seen in the mirror.
LAWS OF REFLECTION
• Light Incident on the Surface
Separating Two Media
• When light travels from one medium to
another medium it either:
• gets absorbed (absorption)
• bounces back (reflection)
• passes through or bends (refraction)
• When light is incident on a plane mirror,
most of it gets reflected, and some of it
gets absorbed in the medium.
 LAWS OF
REFLECTION OF
LIGHT ARE

• The incident ray, reflected ray and the

normal all lie in the same plane.
• Angle of incidence = Angle of
reflection
[∠i=∠r]
CHARACTERISTICS OF IMAGES

• Images can be real or virtual, erect or inverted, magnified or diminished.

• A real image is formed by the actual convergence of light rays.
• A virtual image is an apparent convergence of diverging light rays.
• If an image formed is upside down, then it is called inverted or else it is an
erect image.
• If the image formed is bigger than the object, then it is called magnified.
• If the image formed is smaller than the object, then it is diminished.
I MAGE FOR MATI O N B Y
SPHERICAL MIRRORS
• Principal focus: A number of rays
parallel to the principal axis are falling
on a concave mirror. Observe the
reflected rays. They are all
meeting/intersecting at a point on the
principal axis of the mirror. This point is
called the principal focus of the
concave mirror
• The principal focus is represented by the
letter F.
• . Similarly, observe Fig. How are the rays
parallel to the principal axis, reflected by a
convex mirror? The reflected rays appear to
come from a point on the principal axis.
This point is called the principal focus of
the convex mirror.
• The principal focus is represented by the
letter F.
• 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.
• The diameter of the reflecting surface of spherical mirror is called
its aperture.
• In Fig. distance MN represents the aperture.
• Is there a relationship between the radius of curvature R, and
focal length f, of a spherical mirror?
• For spherical mirrors of small apertures, the radius of curvature
is found to be equal to twice the focal length. We put this as R =
2f .
• This implies that the principal focus of a spherical mirror lies
midway between the pole and centre of curvature.
IM AGE F ORM ATION B Y A CON CAVE M IRROR
FOR DIFFERENT POSITIONS OF THE OBJECT
 • (i) A ray parallel to the principal axis, after
RE P RE SE N TAT I O N O F reflection, will pass through the principal focus
IMAGES FORMED BY in case of a concave mirror or appear to
SPHERICAL MIRRORS
U S I N G R A Y D I A G R A M S diverge from the principal focus in case of a
convex mirror. This is illustrated in Fig.10.3 (a)
and (b).
• (ii) 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. This is illustrated in
Fig.10.4 (a) and (b).
• (iii) 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. This is illustrated in Fig.10.5
(a) and (b). The light rays come back along the same path because the
incident rays fall on the mirror along the normal to the reflecting surface.
• (iv) A ray incident obliquely to the principal axis, towards a point P (pole of the
mirror), on the concave mirror [Fig. 10.6 (a)] or a convex mirror [Fig. 10.6 (b)], 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.
 IMAGE
FORMATION
BY CONCAVE
MIRROR
• Object at Infinity
• A real and inverted
image is formed at the
focus when the object
is placed at infinity. The
size of the image is
significantly smaller
than that of the object.
 OBJECT
BEYOND THE
CENTRE OF
CURVATURE

• When the object is

positioned beyond the
centre of curvature, a
real image is formed
between the centre of
curvature and the focus.
• The image formed is
real, inverted and
diminished.
 O B J EC T AT T HE
CENTRE OF
C U R VAT U R E O R
FOCUS

• When the object is

placed at the centre of
curvature, or the focus,
a real image is formed
at the centre of
curvature.
• The size of the image
remains the same and
inverted as that of the
object.
 OBJECT
BETWEEN THE
CENTRE OF
CURVAT U RE
AND FOCUS
• If the object is located
between the centre of
curvature and the focus,
a real image is formed
behind the centre of
curvature. The size of the
image is magnified, real
and inverted compared
to that of the object.
• When the object
is positioned
exactly at the
focus, a real and
inverted image is
formed at infinity.
The size of the
image is much
larger than that of
the object.
O B J E C T AT T H E F O C U S
• Placing the object between
the focus and the pole
results in the formation of a
virtual and erect image. The
size of the image is larger
compared to that of the
object.

OBJECT BETWEEN THE FOCUS AND THE POLE

I M A G E F O R M AT I O N
BY CONVEX MIRROR

• Object at Infinity
• When the object is positioned at infinity, a
virtual image is formed at the focus of the
convex mirror. The size of the image is
significantly smaller than that of the
object.
• When an object is placed at
a finite distance from the
mirror, a virtual image is
formed between the pole
and the focus of the convex
mirror. The size of the
image is smaller than
compared to that of the
object.

O B J E C T AT A F I N I T E D I STA N C E
SIGN CONVENTION FOR REFLECTION BY
SPHERICAL MIRRORS
• While dealing with the reflection of light by spherical mirrors, we shall
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 (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.
• (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.
 MIRROR
FORMULA AND
M AG NIFICAT ION
• In a spherical mirror, the distance of the object from its pole is called the
object distance (u).
• The distance of the image from the pole of the mirror is called the image
distance (v).
• the distance of the principal focus from the pole is called the focal length (f).
• There is a relationship between these three quantities given by the mirror
formula which is expressed as
M A G N I F I C AT I O N
• If h is the height of the object and h′ is the height of the image, then the
magnification m produced by a spherical mirror is given by
W H AT N E X T. . ?
• REFRACTION