• PHYSICS PROJECT FILE

Topic:- TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

Submitted by: Lakshay mohabhoi

Class: Xii-S2
Roll Number:
Teacher’s name: mrs. Shikha tyagi
 Acknowledgement
In the accomplishment of this project successfully,many people
have helped with their valuable suggestion, information and
guidance. I would like to thank them all.

I would like to thank my physics teacher Mrs Shikha tyagi for

motivation,moral encouragement and sympathetic attitude
towards the success of this subject.

I also want to thank the principal and institution for providing

necessary materials.I would also like to extend my gratitude
towards the lab attendant, my parents and everyone who has
helped me in completing this project.

-Lakshay mohabhoi
 Total internal reflection
 In physics, total internal reflection (TIR) is the
phenomenon in which waves arriving at the interface
(boundary) from one medium to another (e.g., from
water to air) are not refracted into the second
(“external”) medium, but completely reflected back into
the first (“internal”) medium. It occurs when the second
medium has a higher wave speed (i.e., lower refractive
index) than the first, and the waves are incident at a
sufficiently oblique angle on the interface. For example,
the water-to-air surface in a typical fish tank, when
viewed obliquely from below, reflects the underwater
scene like a mirror with no loss of brightness (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Underwater plants in a

fish tank, and their inverted
images (top) formed by total
internal reflection in the water–
air surface
 TIR occurs not only with electromagnetic waves such as light and microwaves, but
also with other types of waves, including sound and water waves. If the waves are
capable of forming a narrow beam (Fig. 2), the reflection tends to be described in
terms of “rays” rather than waves; in a medium whose properties are independent
of direction, such as air, water or glass, the “rays” are perpendicular to the
associated wavefronts.

Fig. 2: Repeated total internal reflection of a 405 nm laser beam between the front
and back surfaces of a glass pane. The color of the laser light itself is deep violet; but
its wavelength is short enough to cause fluorescence in the glass, which re-radiates
greenish light in all directions, rendering the zigzag beam visible.
 • Optical description

Fig. 3: Total internal reflection of light in a semicircular acrylicblock

Although total internal reflection can occur with any kind of wave that can be said to
have oblique incidence, including (e.g.) microwaves[1] and sound waves,[2] it is
most familiar in the case of light waves.

Total internal reflection of light can be demonstrated using a semicircular-cylindrical

block of common glass or acrylic glass. In Fig. 3, a “ray box” projects a narrow beam
of light (a “ray”) radially inward. The semicircular cross-section of the glass allows
the incoming ray to remain perpendicular to the curved portion of the air/glass
surface, and then hence to continue in a straight line towards the flat part of the
surface, although its angle with the flat part varies.
 Where the ray meets the flat glass-to-air interface, the angle between the
ray and the normal (perpendicular) to the interface is called the angle of
incidence.[3] If this angle is sufficiently small, the ray is partly reflected but
mostly transmitted, and the transmitted portion is refracted away from the
normal, so that the angle of refraction (between the refracted ray and the
normal to the interface) is greater than the angle of incidence. For the
moment, let us call the angle of incidence θi and the angle of refraction θt
(where t is for transmitted, reserving r for reflected). As θi increases and
approaches a certain “critical angle”, denoted by θc (or sometimes θcr), the
angle of refraction approaches 90° (that is, the refracted ray approaches a
tangent to the interface), and the refracted ray becomes fainter while the
reflected ray becomes brighter.[4] As θi increases beyond θc, the refracted
ray disappears and only the reflected ray remains, so that all of the energy of
the incident ray is reflected; this is total internal reflection (TIR). In brief
 If θi < θc, the incident ray is split, being partly reflected and partly
refracted;
 If θi > θc, the incident ray suffers total internal reflection (TIR); none of it is
transmitted.
 Critical angle
 The critical angle is the smallest angle of incidence that yields total
reflection, or equivalently the largest angle for which a refracted ray
exists.[5] For light waves incident from an “internal” medium with a single
refractive index n1, to an “external” medium with a single refractive index
n2, the critical angle is given and is defined if n2 ≤ n1. For some other types
of waves, it is more convenient to think in terms of propagation velocities
rather than refractive indices. The explanation of the critical angle in terms
of velocities is more general and will therefore be discussed first。

Fig. 4: Refraction of a wavefront (red) from medium 1, with lower normal velocity v1,
to medium 2, with higher normal velocity v2. The incident and refracted segments of
the wavefront meet in a common line L (seen "end-on"), which travels along the
interface at velocity u.
 This result has the form of “Snell’s law”, except that we have not yet said
that the ratio of velocities is constant, nor identified θ1 and θ2 with the
angles of incidence and refraction (called θi and θt above). However, if we
now suppose that the properties of the media are isotropic (independent of
direction), two further conclusions follow: first, the two velocities, and hence
their ratio, are independent of their directions; and second, the wave-normal
directions coincide with the ray directions, so that θ1 and θ2 coincide with
the angles of incidence and refraction as defined above.

 Fig. 5: Behavior of a ray incident from a medium of higher refractive index n1 to a medium of
lower refractive index n2 , at increasing angles of incidence.
 Everyday examples

 Fig. 6: Total internal reflection by the water's surface at the shallow end of a swimming pool. The broad
bubble-like apparition between the swimmer and her reflection is merely a disturbance of the reflecting
surface. Some of the space above the water level can be seen through "Snell's window" at the top of the
frame

 When standing beside an aquarium with one’s eyes below the water level, one is likely to see
fish or submerged objects reflected in the water-air surface (Fig. 1). The brightness of the
reflected image – just as bright as the “direct” view – can be startling.A similar effect can be
observed by opening one’s eyes while swimming just below the water’s surface. If the water is
calm, the surface outside the critical angle (measured from the vertical) appears mirror-like,
reflecting objects below. The region above the water cannot be seen except overhead, where
the hemispherical field of view is compressed into a conical field known as Snell’s window
 Fig.6, for example, is a photograph taken near the bottom of the shallow end
of a swimming pool. What looks like a broad horizontal stripe on the right-hand
wall consists of the lower edges of a row of orange tiles, and their reflections;
this marks the water level, which can then be traced across the other wall.
The swimmer has disturbed the surface above her, scrambling the lower half of
her reflection, and distorting the reflection of the ladder (to the right). But
most of the surface is still calm, giving a clear reflection of the tiled bottom of
the pool. The space above the water is not visible except at the top of the
frame, where the handles of the ladder are just discernible above the edge of
Snell’s window – within which the reflection of the bottom of the pool is only
partial, but still noticeable in the photograph. One can even discern the color-
fringing of the edge of Snell’s window, due to variation of the refractive index,
hence of the critical angle, with wavelength (see Dispersion).
 Fig. 7: A round "brilliant"-cut diamond

The critical angle influences the angles at which gemstones are cut. The round
"brilliant" cut, for example, is designed to refract light incident on the front facets,
reflect it twice by TIR off the back facets, and transmit it out again through the front
facets, so that the stone looks bright. Diamond (Fig. 7) is especially suitable for this
treatment, because its high refractive index (about 2.42) and consequently small
critical angle (about 24.5°) yield the desired behavior over a wide range of viewing
angles.[14] Cheaper materials that are similarly amenable to this treatment
include cubic zirconia (index ≈ 2.15) and moissanite (non-isotropic,
hence doubly refractive, with an index ranging from about 2.65 to 2.69,[Note
4] depending on direction and polarization); both of these are therefore popular

as diamond simulants.
 Applications
 Optical fibers exploit total internal reflection to carry signals over long
distances with little attenuation.[45] They are used in telecommunication
cables, and in image-forming fiberscopes such as colonoscopes.
 In the catadioptric Fresnel lens, invented by Augustin-Jean Fresnel for use in
lighthouses, the outer prisms use TIR to deflect light from the lamp through a
greater angle than would be possible with purely refractive prisms, but with
less absorption of light (and less risk of tarnishing) than with conventional
mirrors.

 Fig. 8: Porro prisms (labeled 2 & 3) in a pair of binoculars

 Other reflecting prisms that use TIR include the following (with some
overlap between the categories)
 Image-erecting prisms for binoculars and spotting scopes include paired
45°-90°-45° Porro prisms (Fig. 14), the Porro–Abbe prism, the inline
Koenig[49] and Abbe–Koenig prisms, and the compact inline Schmidt–
Pechan prism. (The last consists of two components, of which one is a kind
of Bauernfeind prism, which requires a reflective coating on one of its two
reflecting faces, due to a sub-critical angle of incidence.) These prisms
have the additional function of folding the optical path from the objective
lens to the prime focus, reducing the overall length for a given primary
focal length.
 A prismatic star diagonal for an astronomical telescope may consist of a
single Porro prism (configured for a single reflection, giving a mirror-
reversed image) or an Amici roof prism (which gives a non-reversed
image).
 Roof prisms use TIR at two faces meeting at a sharp 90° angle. This
category includes the Koenig, Abbe–Koenig, Schmidt–Pechan, and Amici
types (already mentioned), and the roof pentaprism used in SLR cameras;
the last of these requires a reflective coating on one non-TIR face.
 A prismatic corner reflector uses three total internal reflections to reverse
the direction of incoming light.
 The Dove prism gives an inline view with mirror-reversal.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. XII CLASS PHYSICS NCERT BOOK
2. iCBSE.com
3. XII CLASS PHYSICS PRACTICAL BOOK
4. PHOTOS FROM GOOGLE IMAGES
5. MORE INFORMATION FROM WIKIPEDIA