Chapter 13

Geometrical Optics

Level 1 line XMX¢ (perpendicular to AOM). Find the length of his

path along XMX¢ in which he can see the image of the object.
Q. 1: A man of height 1.8 m is standing in front of a wall. Given AO = d = 1 m and AM = 2d.
The sun is exactly behind him. His shadow has a length
Q. 4: Two large plane mirrors OM and ON are arranged at
1.5 m on the ground and 0.75 m on the wall. Find the length
150° as shown in the figure. P is a point object and SS¢ is
of his shadow on the ground if the wall is removed.
a long line perpendicular to the line OP. Find the length of
Q. 2: Light travels in a straight line. This principle is the part of the line SS¢ on which two images of the point
illustrated in a pinhole camera. In this simple device the object P can be seen.
image of an object is formed on a photographic plate by
light passing through a small hole.

In one experiment, 5 cm high image of a tree was obtained

Q. 5: I is a ray incident on a plane mirror. Keeping the
on a photo plate placed at a distance of 15 cm from the pin
incident ray fixed, the mirror is rotated by an angle q about
hole. Actual height of the tree is 20 m.
an axis passing through A perpendicular to the plane of the
(a) Find the distance of the pinhole from the tree. Fig. show that the refracted ray rotates through an angle 2q.
(b) How is the size of Does your answer differ if the mirror is rotated about an axis
image affected if passing through B?
the photo plate is
moved away from the
pinhole?
(c) What will happen if a
large hole is made in
place of a pin hole?
Q. 3: A point object O is kept
in front of a plane mirror AB
having length L = 2 m. The Q. 6: The Fig. shows a device used to measure small twist
line AOM makes an angle q in a thread. A plane mirror is suspended from a twist free
= 60° with the mirror. An thread. A light ray striking the mirror is reflected on to a
observer is walking along the screen placed at a distance D = 1 m from the mirror.
 Geometrical Optics 401

1
Q. 11: Plot the graphs of ​ ​ __|| || 1
__
v ​  ​ vs ​ ​ u ​  ​ where v is image
distance and u is object distance for the conditions given
below:
(a) for concave mirror when image is real
(b) for concave mirror when image is virtual
(c) for convex mirror when image is virtual
(d) for convex mirror when image is real.
Q. 12: A point object O is placed at a distance of 60 cm
from a concave mirror of radius of curvature 80 cm.
(a) At what distance from the concave mirror should a
As the thread is twisted by an angle q (so that mirror plane mirror be kept so that rays converge at O itself
rotates by q ), the light spot on the screen moves from A to after getting reflected from the concave mirror and
B such that AB = 0.5 cm. Find q. then from the plane mirror?
Q. 7: While looking at her face in a mirror, Hema notes that (b) Will the position of the point where the rays meet
her face is highly magnified when she is close to the mirror. change if they are first reflected from the plane
As she backs away from the mirror, her image first gets mirror?
blurry, then disappears when she is at a distance of 45 cm Q. 13: A point object (O) is placed at the centre of curvature
from the mirror. Explain the happenings? What will happen of a concave mirror. The mirror is rotated by a small angle
if she moves beyond 45 cm distance from the mirror? q about its plole (P). Find the approximate distance between
Q. 8: We know that parallel light rays which are inclined the object and its image. Focal length of the mirror is f.
to the principal axis of a spherical mirror, after reflection
converge at a point in the focal plane of the mirror. With
this knowledge explain how you will trace the reflected ray
for incident ray PQ shown in the Fig. F is focus and C is
centre of curvature of the mirror.

Q. 14: A one eyed demon has a circular face of radius

a0 = 10 cm. The eye is located at the centre of the face. At
what distance from his face he must hold a convex mirror
of 5 cm aperture diameter so as to see his complete face?
Focal length of the mirror is 10 cm.
Q. 15: A small insect starts walking away from a concave
mirror along its principal axis. At a point (P) 20 cm from
Q. 9: The inner surface of the wall of a sphere is perfectly
the mirror the image flips upside down.
reflecting. Radius of the sphere is R. A point source S is
placed at a distance R/2 from the centre of the sphere. (a) What can you say about the size of the image at the
Consider the reflection of light from the farthest wall instant it flips upside down – it is very large, very
followed by reflection from the nearest wall. Where is the small or of the size similar to the insect?
image of the source? Consider paraxial rays only. (b) Find the distance of the insect from point (P) where
its image is thrice as large as the insect.
Q. 10: A concave mirror forms a real image, on a screen
of thrice the linear dimension of a real object placed on Q. 16: A piece of metal is cut from a hollow metal sphere
its principal axis. The mirror is moved by 10 cm along its of radius R and is polished on both sides. A boy looks
principal axis and once again a sharp image of the object is at the metal piece and finds his image 13 cm behind the
obtained on the screen. This time the image is twice as large metal piece. His friend flips the mirror, keeping its position
as the object. Find the focal length of the mirror. unchanged and now the boy finds his image to be 52 cm
behind the mirror. Find R.
402 Problems in Physics for JEE Advanced

Q. 17: The aperture diameter of a spherical mirror is D = hR Q. 23: Two transparent plastic sheets of
where h is a positive number less than 2 and R is radius of red and blue colour overlap as shown in
curvature of the mirror. Consider a wide parallel beam of the Fig. An observer looks at a clear sky
light incident on the mirror parallel to its principal axis. through the sheets. What can you say about
(a) Find minimum value of h for which marginal rays the colour and brightness of light coming through sections
start getting reflected twice. 1, 2 and 3 (see Fig.)
(b) Find minimum value of h for which marginal rays Q. 24: A wooden stick of length 100 cm is
undergo three reflections. floating in water while remaining vertical.
Q. 18: A source of laser (S), a receiver (R) and a fixed mir- The relative density of the wood is 0.7.
ror (F) – all lie on an arc of a circle of radius R = 0.5 km. Calculate the apparent length of the stick
The distance between the source and the receiver is d = 0.5 when viewed from top (close to the vertical line along the
4
m. At the centre of the circle there is a small mirror M which stick) Refractive index of water = __
​   ​.
is rotating with angular speed w (see figure). Find smallest 3
value of w is if it is seen that the source shoots a laser pulse Q. 25: A glass cube is cut symmetrically into two halves
which gets reflected at M, then gets reflected at F and finally and the two parts are kept at a small separation between
gets reflected at M to be received by the receiver. them. Calculate the angular deviation suffered by a light ray
incident normally on one of the faces of the cube.

Q. 26: A glass block of refractive index m = 1.5 has an L

cross section with both arms identical. A light ray enters the
block from left at an angle of incidence of 45°, as shown
in the figure. If the block was absent the ray would pass
Q. 19: A real object is kept at a distance a from the focus through the point P. Calculate the angle at which the ray
of a concave mirror on the principal axis. A real image is will emerge from the bottom face after refraction through
formed at a distance b from the focus. Plot the variation of the block.
b with a. If b versus a graph is given to you, how will you
find the focal length of the mirror? Explain.
Q. 20: A light ray enters horizontally
into a vertical cylinder through a small
hole at A. The ray is initially travelling
along a chord (AB) whose length is​
__

(​ ______
2 )
​÷5 ​ + 1
 ​  ​ R where R is the radius of the

cylinder. After how many reflections on the inner wall of the

cylinder the light ray will be incident at point A?
__ Q. 27: A ray of light passes through a rectangular glass
[ ​÷5 ​ + 1
​ Given cos 36° = ​ ______
4
 ​  ​] block placed in air. Which diagram shows a possible path
of a ray?
Q. 21: A ship has a green light (l = 510 nm) on its mast.
What colour would be observed for this light by a diver deep
4
inside water. Refractive index for water is m = __
​   ​.
3
Q. 22: A vertical rod is partially submerged in an aquarium.
You look at the aquarium from some distance. Does the
underwater part of the rod appear to be closer than, farther
than or the same distance as the top of the rod.