Fermat’s Principle

Reflection and Refraction

Dr. Churchill Saoke PhD

 Geometrical Optics:Study of reflection and refraction of light from surfaces

The ray approximation states that light travels in straight lines

until it is reflected or refracted and then travels in straight lines again.
The wavelength of light must be small compared to the size of
the objects or else diffractive effects occur.
 Fermat’s Principle
Using Fermat’s Principle you can prove the
Reflection law. It states that the path taken
by light when traveling from one point to
another is the path that takes the shortest
time compared to nearby paths.
Fermat’s Principle, Revisited

A ray of light in going from point S to point P

will travel an optical path (OPL) that minimizes
the OPL. That is, it is stationary with respect to
variations in the OPL.
Fermat’s Principle

The path a beam of light takes between two

points is the one which is traversed in the
least time.
A B Isotropic medium:
constant velocity.
Minimum time =
minimum path length.
•Law of Reflection
•Dispersion
•Snell’s Law
•Brewsters Angle
Rules for Reflection

1. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of

reflection
2. The incident ray, the normal ray and the reflected ray
lie on the same plane and at the point of incidence
Drawing Normals
 Refraction
Refraction is the bending of light when it passes
through medium of different optical densities

The magnitude of the bending angle (angle of

refraction) is determined by the optical density of
the material
• light rays change direction
(are “refracted”) when they
move from one medium to
another

• refraction takes place because

light travels with different
speeds in different media
• in medium, light moves at speed v, slower than in vacuum
• index of refraction of a material is defined by

c
n = If you study light in advanced classes,
you’ll find it is more complex than this.
v

• recall: wave speed v = f

• speed and wavelength change when light passes from

one medium to another, frequency stays the same

c 
v= and  n = .
n n
Refractive index
 Because light never travels faster than c, n  1.* For
water, n = 1.33 and for glass, n 1.5. Indices of refraction
for several materials are listed in your text.

Example: calculate the speed of light in diamond (n = 2.42).

c
v =
n

3×10 8 m/s
v =
2.42

v = 1.24×10 8 m/s

*Actually, not true but don’t worry about it unless you take advanced courses in optics.
 Snell’s Law
• quantitative description of refracted (bent) ray

a: angle of incidence, b: angle of refraction

in re
cid f ra
en ct
t ed
ra
y a ra b
air (na) y air (nb)
water (nb) water (na)
b a

inci
refr

den
acte

t
ray
d ra

nb>na na>nb
y

na sin θa  = nb sin θb 

Java Applet”
 Light passing from air (n  1) into water (n  1.33).

Light “bends” towards the normal to the surface as it slows

down in water.

in
cid
en
t ra
y a
air (na)
(1) sin θa  = (1.33) sin θb 
water (nb)
θ a > θb
b
refr
acte
d ra

nb>na
y

na sin θa  = nb sin θb 

 Light passing from water (n  1.33) into air (n  1).

Light “bends” away from the normal to the surface as it

speeds up in air.

re
f ra
ct
(1.33) sin θa  = (1) sin θb 
ed
ra b
y air (nb)
water (na)
θ a < θb
a

inci
den
t
ray
na>nb

na sin θa  = nb sin θb 

Rule of refraction
Fermat’s: Refraction
normal
AO OB
A t 
vi vt

b 2  c  x 
2
a i a2  x2
n1 t 
O vi vt
n2 x
dt x cx
t  
b dx vi 2
a x 2
vt b 2  c  x 
2

c B dt sin  i  sin  t 
  0
dx vi vt

ni sin  i   nt sin  t 
Rules of Refraction

n1 sin 1 = n2 sin 2
Snell’s Law

Where n1 and n2 are the refractive

indices of medium 1 and 2
respectively
Fig 35-19, p.1109
Example: a 45-45-90 glass (n=1.50) prism is surrounded by
water (n=1.33). Light is incident at a 23 angle, as shown in
the diagram. What angle does the light make when it exits the
prism?

45

ng=1.50

45

nw=1.33
i
Fig 35-31, p.1115
 Optical Path Length (OPL)
n=1 n>1
L L

vac vac

n
For n = 1.5,
S P
OPL is
P
OPL   n( x)dx 50% larger
S
than L

When n constant, OPL = n  geometric length.

 Dispersion

R
There is a spectrum
V
on the screen: screen

Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet

ROY G BIV
 Dispersion

We’ve treated index of refraction of a material as if it had a

single value for all wavelengths.

In fact, speed of light in a substance depends on wavelength,

so the index of refraction depends on wavelength (or
color).

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/Lesson-4/Dispersion-of-Light-by-Prisms
What is the real difference
between red and violet light ?
4 mm
10 000 wavelength

violet

red

7 mm
10 000
Fig 35-25, p.1111
 Snells Law Example
In the figure, a 2.00-m-long vertical pole extends from the bottom of a
swimming pool to a point 50.0 cm above the water. What is the length
of the shadow of the pole on the level bottom of the pool?

1
air l1
water
2
l2

shadow

L x
How does a Rainbow work?
Fig 35-23, p.1110
Fig 35-24, p.1110
 What causes a Mirage

sky eye

1.09 1.09
1.08 1.08
1.07 1.07
Index of refraction
1.06
Hot road causes gradient in the index of refraction that increases
as you increase the distance from the road
Total Internal Reflection

Fig 35-27, p.1113

 Total Internal Reflection; Fiber Optics

n1 sin θ1  = n2 sin θ2 

n2
sin θ1  = sin θ2 
n1

Suppose n2<n1
•largest possible value of sin(2) is 1 (when 2 = 90)
•therefore, largest possible value of sin(1) is
n2
sin θ1,max  = sin(θc ) = . For 1 larger than c , Snell’s
n1 Law cannot be satisfied!

• for 1 > C: no refracted ray, light is totally reflected

 C is called the critical angle of total internal reflection
 n2

 n1>n2
Ray incident normal to surface is not “bent.” Some is reflected,
Ray incident normal to surface is not “bent.”
Ray incident normal to surface is not “bent.” Some is reflected,
some is transmitted.
 n2

 n1>n2

Increasing angle of incidence…

 n2

 n1>n2

Increasing angle of incidence…more…

 n2

 n1>n2

Increasing angle of incidence…more…critical angle reached…

some of incident energy is reflected, some is “transmitted
along the boundary layer.
 n2

 n1>n2

Light incident at any angle beyond C is totally internally

reflected.
 1 < C 1 close to C

1 1

1 > C

1
 Total
Internal
Reflection
Why is light totally reflected inside a fiber
optics cable? Internal reflection

n1 sin 1  n 2 sin  2
(1.33)sin 1  (1.00)sin 90  1.00
 application: swimming underwater

If you are looking up from underwater, if your angle of sight

(relative to the normal to the surface) is too large, you see an
underwater reflection instead of what’s above the water.
Corner Reflector
Fiber Cable

Same here
p.1114
p.1114
Fig 35-30, p.1114
Fig 35-29, p.1114
application: perfect mirrors

(used in binoculars)

application: diamonds
Example: determine the incident angle i for which light strikes
the inner surface of a fiber optic cable at the critical angle.

Light is incident at f
an angle i on a i
transparent fiber. nf>1
ni=1 (air)