REFRACTION AT PLANE SURFACES

Light is an electromagnetic radiation which can pass through any transparent medium. Light is a form of
energy.
Properties of light:
1. In a homogeneous medium, light travels in a straight line. This property is called as rectilinear
propagation of light.
2. When a ray of light travelling in a medium is incident on a surface, it gets rebounded back into
the same medium. This property of light is called as “Reflection of light”.
3. When light passes from one medium into another medium of different optical densities, it
changes the direction of path of light. This property of light is called as “Refraction of light”.
Refraction of light:

The change in the direction of light, when it passes from one transparent medium to another
transparent medium, is called refraction. The refraction of light is essentially a surface phenomenon.

When a ray of light travels from a rarer medium to a rarer medium, it bends towards the normal.

Rarer medium

Denser medium

When a ray of light travels from a denser medium to a rarer medium, it bends away from the normal.

Denser medium

Rarer medium
The ray of light which incident normally on the surface separating the two media, passes undeviated

Medium 1

Medium 2

Cause of refraction:

When a ray of light passes from one medium to another, its direction changes [except when the angle of
incidence is 0°] because of change in its speed.

Laws of Refraction [Snell’s Laws]:

1. The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence, all lie in the same plane.
2. The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is constant for the
pair of given media. This constant is called the refractive index of the second medium with respect to
the first medium. It is generally represented by the Greek letter ‘µ’[mew].

Therefore, the refractive index of the second medium with reference to the first medium is the ratio of
Sine of angle of incidence in the first medium to the Sine of angle of refraction in the second medium
when light travels from the first medium to the second. 1µ2 is read as “refractive index of second
medium with reference to the first” [light travels from 1st medium to the 2nd medium].
The refractive index has no unit as it is the ratio of two similar quantities.

In general refractive index of second medium with reference to the first is given by:

The refractive index of a medium is:

Factors affecting the refractive index:

1. Nature of material.
2. Colour or wavelength of light
Refractive index is inversely proportional to the wavelength. Refractive index is more for violet
colour than refractive index of red colour as wavelength of violet colour is less than that of red.
3. Temperature.

Principle of reversibility:

“Principle of reversibility states that the path of a ray of light is reversible”.

According to this principle, if a ray of light travels from A to C as shown in the figure, it follows the same
path while travelling from C to A.
When light travels from medium 1 to medium 2 its refractive index is 1µ2. When light travels from
medium 2 to medium 1, its refractive index is 2µ1. According the principle of reversibility,

1µ2 X 2µ1 = 1
Refraction through a glass block:

Take a rectangular glass block and place it on a white sheet of paper fixed on a drawing board. Draw its
boundary PQRS as shown in the figure. Remove the glass slab and draw an incident ray AB and on this
incident ray AB, fix two pins P1 and P2. Replace the glass slab on its boundary. Looking through the
other side of the glass block for the images of pins P1 and P2, fix two more pins P3 and P4 such that they
are in line with the images of pins P1 and P2 . Join P3 and P4 and produce it to meet the surface RS at C.
Join BC. In the figure, AB is the incident ray, is tBChe refracted ray and CD is the emergent ray. Measure
the angles of incidence and emergence with the normal at the points of incidence and emergence
respectively. It will be found that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of emergence. i.e, i =
e.
If the incident ray is produced forward, it is always found that it is always parallel to the emergent ray.
However, there is a shift in the path of incident ray. This shift is called as Lateral displacement or lateral
shift.

The perpendicular distance between the path of incident ray and path of refracted ray is called as lateral
displacement or lateral shift. In the figure, ‘d’ is the lateral shift or lateral displacement,

The lateral displacement depends on:

i). the refractive index of medium

ii). angle of incidence

iii). thickness of the medium and

iv). the wavelength or colour of light.

Multiple images in a thick plane mirror:

If a ray of white light is incident on a glass block, or a thick plane mirror [with one silvered surface], the
ray is partly reflected and partly refracted. The combined effect is that a number of images are formed.
Out of all images, the second image is the brightest.

The second image is the brightest because, it is formed due to light suffering strong reflection at the
slivered surface.
Prism:

A prism is a transparent refracting medium bounded by two plane surfaces inclined at some angle.

Two plane surfaces refracts light when light rays incident on them and these surfaces are called
refracting edges.

An angle between two refracting surfaces is known as the Angle of the prism [A]. The line of
intersection of the two surfaces is called the refracting edge of the prism. The plane surface at the
bottom is called the base of the prism.

A section of the prism normal to the prism is called as the principle section of the prism.

Allow a ray of light KL to be incident on the refracting surface AB at an angle ‘i1’.

As the ray of light travels from rarer [air] medium to denser [glass] medium it is refracted along LM.
At point ‘M’ the ray of light travels from a denser medium to a rarer medium. It bends away from the
normal and emerges at surface AC along the path MN at angle ‘i2’. If the prism were not present then
the incident ray ‘KL’ would travel along the path KLPQ as light travels in a straight line. The prism
deviates the light along MN. Thus, due to the prism, deviation or refraction of light takes place. If the
incident ray KL is produced forward [KLPQ] and the emergent MNis produced [NMP] backwards, they
meet at point ‘P’ as shown in the figure. The angle between the incident ray produced forward and the
emergent ray produced backward is called the “angle of deviation”. It is denoted by the Greek letter ‘’
[delta].

Relationship between the angle of deviation, angle of the prism and angles of incidence & emergence:

A +  = i1 + i2

Where ‘A’ is the angle of the prism, ‘’ is the angle of deviation, i1 and i2 are the angles of incidence and
emergence respectively.
The angle of deviation depends upon the following four factors:

i). The angle of incidence:

As the angle of incidence increases, first the angle of deviation decreases and reaches to a minimum
value for a certain angle of incidence. This position of prism at which the incident ray suffers minimum
deviation is called the position of minimum deviation with respect to the incident ray. On further
increasing the angle of incidence, the angle of deviation is found to increase. This ingle is called as angle
of minimum deviation [min]. The variation of angle of deviation with the angle of incidence is shown in
the graph below:

Usually the direction of incident ray is kept fixed and the prism is rotated to change the angle of
incidence. It can be shown that in the position of minimum deviation [min] of prism, the angle of
incidence is equal to the angle of emergence. i.e., i1 = i2 and r1 = r2.

In the position of minimum deviation, the refracted ray inside the prism travels parallel to its base if the
prism is equilateral or the principal section of prism forms an isosceles triangle.

ii). Material or refractive index of the prism:

For a given angle of incidence, the prism with a higher refractive index produces a greater deviation
than the prism which has a lower refractive index.

iii). Angle of the prism:

The angle of deviation increases with the increase in the angle of the prism [A]

iv). Colour or wavelength of light:

The refractive index of a given transparent medium is different for the light of different colours. It
decreases with the increase in the wavelength of light. Thus the prism deviates the violet light most and
the red light least.
Real depth and Apparent depth:
An object placed in a denser medium when viewed from a rarer medium, appears to b e at a depth less
than its real depth. This is because of refraction of light. This apparent shift in position of the object
from its initial position is called as ‘normal shift’. The shift increases with the increase in the refractive
index of the medium and also the increase in the thickness of the denser medium, but the shift
decreases with the increase in the wavelength of light used.

aµm =

Apparent bending of a stick under water:

A straight stick or pencil under waters appears to be bent or shortened and raised up. This apparent
bending of stick is due to refraction of light passing from water to air.

Some Consequences of refraction of light:

1. Illusion of twinkling of stars is due to refraction of light. Stars actually do not twinkle. But due to
the refraction of light in different layers of atmosphere of varying densities, the apparent position of
stars keep changing which given an illusion of twinkling of stars.
2. Early sun rise or late sun set is due to refraction of light. The sun is seen a few minutes before it
rises above the horizon in the morning and in the evening few minutes longer after it sets.
3. A coin kept in a vessel containing water appears to have raised.
4. A print appears to be raised when a glass block is placed over it.
5. A tank or swimming pools appears to be shallow than its actual depth.
6. A person’s legs appear to be short when standing in a tank.

Critical angle:
Critical angle is the angle of incidence in the denser medium corresponding to which the angle of
refraction in the rarer medium is 90°.

When a ray of light travels from a denser medium to a rarer medium, it bends away from the normal
and the angle of refraction increases with the increase in angle of incidence. At a particular angle of
incidence in the denser medium, the angle of refraction becomes 90°. This angle of incidence in the
denser medium for which the angle of refraction is 90° is known as the Critical angle for the given pair of
media.

Consider a ray of light travelling from a denser medium ‘m’ to air.

gµa =

But sin 90° = 1

gµa = Sin ic
But gµa =

aµg = c
Factors affecting the Critical angle
The critical angle for a given pair of media depends on the following two factors:

1. The colour or wavelength of light:

Critical angle increases with increase in wavelength of light

2. Effect of temperature:
With increase in temperature of medium, critical angle increases.

Total internal reflection:

“When a ray of light travelling from a denser medium into a rarer medium is incident such that
the angle of incidence is more than the critical angle for the pair of media, the ray is reflected
back into the denser medium. This phenomenon is called the total internal reflection”.

Essential conditions for the total internal reflection:

1. The light must travel from a denser to a rarer medium.

2. The angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle for the pair of media.

Total internal reflection Reflection from a plane mirror

1. It takes place only when light passes from a It takes place when light is incident on a plane
denser medium to a rarer medium at an angle mirror from any medium at any angle of incidence.
of incidence greater than the critical angle for
that pair of media.
Only a part of light is reflected when rest is
2. The entire light is reflected. refracted and absorbed.

3. There is no loss of energy. The energy of There is a loss of energy. The energy of reflected
reflected ray is same as that of incident ray ray is less than that of the incident ray.

4. The image is much brighter. The image is less bright.

*** Total internal reflection in prism is worked in worksheets.

Consequences of Total internal reflection:
1. On a hot sunny day, a driver may get an illusion of a pool of water on the road before him.
Also the phenomenon of mirage i.e., the illusion of the presence of a water body due to shining
of the surface as seen from a far distance in deserts if due to Total internal reflection.
2. An empty test tube placed in water in a beaker with mouth outside the water surface, shines
like a mirror.
3. A crack in a glass vessel, often shines like a mirror.
4. A piece of diamond sparkles when viewed from a certain direction.
5. An optical fibre is used to transmit a light or electromagnetic signal over a long distance with
negligible loss of energy.
6. An object ordinarily out of view, like a boat below the horizon, will be apparently lifted into
the sky. This phenomenon is called looming. This in cold countries near water bodies is due
to Total internal reflection.

Images of Mirages and Looming:

Looming:
 REFRACTION AT SPHERICAL SURFACES [LENSES]

A lens is a portion of a transparent medium bounded by two non parallel curved surface or one
plane surface and one curved surface. It is used to change the path and direction of light.
In general any curved refracting medium is a lens.

Converging or Convex lens: These are thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges. A
biconvex lens has both the curved refracting surfaces bulged.

Diverging lens or Concave lens: These are thinner in the middle and thicker at the edges. A
biconcave lens has both the curved refracting surfaces hollow.

Common terms used in the study of biconvex and biconcave lenses:

Aperture:

The diameter of the boundary of the lens on which is exposed to light rays.
The area of the lens suitable for refraction is called aperture. The aperture of the lens is the
effective diameter of its light-transmitting area.

Centres of Curvature:

The centres of the spherical surfaces of which the lens is a part of it are called as centres of
curvature.

Principal axis:
The imaginary line joining the centres of curvature of the two surfaces of a lens is called
principal axis.

Optical Centre:

The point on the principal axis of the lens through rays of light pass through without suffering
any deviation is known as optical centre.
First focus of a convex lens:

The first focus of a convex lens is the point on the principal axis so that the rays starting from it
after refraction travel parallel to the principal axis. It is denoted by F1.

First focus of concave lens:

The principal focus of a concave lens may be defined as that point on the principal axis so that
the ray appearing to meet at it go parallel to the principal axis after refraction from the lens.
It is denoted by F1.

The vertical plane passing through the first focal point is called the first focal plane.

Second focus of a convex lens:

Second focal point of a convex lens is the point on its principal axis such that a parallel beam of
light coming parallel to the principal axis converge at that point after refraction through the
lens. It is denoted by F2.
Second focus of a concave lens:

The second focus of a concave lens is point on the principal axis of the lens such that a parallel
beam of light incident parallel to the principal axis appear to have diverged from that point after
refraction through the lens. It is denoted by F2.

The vertical plane passing through the second focus called the second focal plane.

Focal length:

The distance between the principal focus and the lens is known as the focal length of a lens
denoted by ‘f’.

Lens formula to find the focal length of a lens:

1 1 1
 
f v u

Note: Convex and the concave lenses may be regarded as made up of a series of small prisms
with a small rectangular glass block at the centre.

Power of a lens:

It is defined as the amount of deviation produced by a lens when a ray of light is focused on it.

Unit of power of a lens is ‘dioptre’ denoted by ‘D’.

Power in dioptre [D] =

Magnification:

It is defined as the ratio of the size of the image to the size of the object. It is denoted by ‘m’. As
it is a ratio of the quantities of the same kind, it has no unit.
 Magnification, m =

I v
m 
O u

Sign convention:

1. For a convex lens ‘u’ is always negative, ‘f’ is always positive, ‘v’ is positive for the real image
and negative for the virtual image.
2. For a concave lens ‘u’, ‘v’ and ‘f’ are all negative and the numerical value of ‘u’ is always
greater than ‘v’.
3. For the real image [which is inverted], the magnification ‘m’ is negative, while for the virtual
image [which is erect], the magnification ‘m’ is positive. Thus a convex lens can have the value
of ‘m’ positive as well as negative , while a concave lens always has the value of ‘m’ positive.
[Link] numerical value of ‘m’ is greater than 1 if the image is magnified, is 1 for the size same as
of the object and less than 1 for diminished image. Thus the numerical value of ‘m’ is always
less than 1 for a concave lens, while it can be greater than, equal to or less than 1 for a convex
lens depending on the position of the object.

********* Determination of focal length read lab manual and text book*********