Ray Optics

Extra D C Pandey

• Light: Energy form

• Optics: Branch of physics - Study of nature of light, its properties, effects and propagation”

• Two main branches—Ray optics and wave optics

• Ray or geometrical optics: Deals with propagation of light in terms of rays which are
valid, if sizes of obstacles >> wavelength of light (in nm range).
• Image formation, reflection, refraction and dispersion of light by geometrical
methods.
• Wave or physical optics: Wave phenomenon like interference, diffraction and
polarization.
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• Light source – categorized

• Luminous sources: Produce light

• Non-luminous sources: Can’t produce but return light from a luminous source, e.g. moon, glass, etc.

• Properties of light

• Invisible but in its presence we can see objects due to scattering of light

• EMW - no medium for its propagation

• Speed in vacuum is 3 X 108 m/s (wavelength 400-700 nm)

• Can be considered to propagate from one point to another, along a straight line joining them, and the path is called a ray
of light
• Can pass through transparent mediums like glass, air, etc but cannot pass through non-transparent mediums like wood,
iron, etc.
• Speed of light is different in different mediums

• Reflect from polished surfaces

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Pandey

• Image

• Light rays emerging from an object (or a point) after reflection or refraction meets or
appears to meet at a point is called image of object (or first point)

• Real image: Rays really meets at a point and can be obtained on a screen

• Virtual image: Rays appear to meet at a point, can’t be obtained on screen

• Mirror: One reflecting surface and one polished surface

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• Light: EMW spectrum to which human eye is sensitive

• Wavelength: 400-700nm Or 4000-7000 Armstrong

• Frequency 4-7 x 10 (power 14)

• Speed – Finite, highest in vacuum 2.99792458 × 108 m s–1

• Wavelength of light << Size of ordinary objects (cm)

• Ray of light: Path that light travel

• Light wave can be considered to travel from one point to another, along a straight line
joining them.

• Beam of light: Bundle of rays

REFLECTION OF LIGHT BY SPHERICAL
MIRRORS
Law 1: angle of incidence = angle of reflection I = r
Law 2: Incident ray – reflecting ray – normal to point
of incidence lie in same plane “coplanar”
Applies to all type of surfaces – Plane or curved
Normal is normal (perpendicular) to the tangent to
surface at the point of incidence
For spherical surfaces: Normal is along the radius, the
line joining the centre of curvature of the mirror to
the point of incidence.
Coplanar
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 Terminologies
• Pole: Geometric centre of a spherical mirror

• Optical centre: Geometric centre of a spherical lens

• Principal Axis:

• Spherical Mirror: Line joining the pole and the centre of curvature

• Spherical Lens: Line joining the optical centre with its principal focus
 Sign Convention - Cartesian sign
convention
• Why needed ?

• Measure distance

• To derive the relevant formulae for reflection

by spherical mirrors and refraction by
spherical lenses

• All distances are measured - Pole (Mirror) or the optical centre (lens)

• Positive distance: Measured in the same direction as the incident light

• Negative: Measured in the direction opposite to the direction of

incident light

• Positive: Heights measured upwards with respect to x-axis and normal

to principal axis

•
Focal length of spherical mirrors

Focus of a concave and convex mirror

 Focal length of spherical mirrors
• Paraxial rays: Rays incident at points close to the pole P of the mirror and make small
angles with the principal axis.

• Principal Focus: Point where a parallel beam of light after reflection converge (concave
mirror) or diverge (convex mirror) and lies on its principal axis

• Focal Plane: Plane perpendicular to principal axis at point F where a parallel paraxial beam
of light, making some angle with the principal axis, after reflection would converge (or
appear to diverge)
 Focal length of spherical mirrors
• Focal Length: Distance between the focus F and the pole P of the mirror “f”

• f = R/2, “R is the radius of curvature of the mirror”

• Consider a ray parallel to the principal axis striking the mirror at M

• CM will be perpendicular to the mirror at M

• Theta - the angle of incidence, and MD be the perpendicular from M

on the principal axis.
 The Mirror Equation
• If rays emanating from a point actually meet at another
1
point after reflection and/or refraction, that point is
called the Image of the first point.

• Real Image: Reflected Rays – actually converge to the

2
point 4
3
• Virtual Image: Reflected rays do not meet but appear to
diverge from the point when produced backwards.

• An image is thus a point-to-point correspondence with

the object established through reflection and/or
Anrefraction.
infinite number of rays emanate from any source, in all directions.
Thus, point A’ is image point of A if every ray originating at point A
and falling on the concave mirror after reflection passes through the
point A’.
 The Mirror Equation
• In principle, we can take any two rays emanating from a point on an object, trace their
paths, find their point of intersection and thus, obtain the image of the point due to
reflection at a spherical mirror.

• [Link] from the point which is parallel to the principal axis, after reflection it goes

through the focus of the mirror

• 2. Ray passing through the centre of curvature of a concave mirror or appearing to pass

through it for a convex mirror. The reflected ray simply retraces the path
 The Mirror Equation

• 3. Ray passing through (or directed towards) the focus of the concave mirror or appearing to

pass through (or directed towards) the focus of a convex mirror. The reflected ray is parallel

to the principal axis.

• 4. Ray incident at any angle at the pole

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 Refraction
• At the interface of two medium, a part of light gets reflected back into the first medium
while the rest enters the other.

• The direction of propagation of an obliquely incident (0°< i < 90°) ray of light that enters the
other medium, changes at the interface of the two media.

• Phenomenon is called refraction of light.

 Snell experimentally obtained the following
laws of refraction
• Snell’s law of refraction:

• The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of angle of refraction is
constant.
• Sin I / Sin r = n21 (constant, refractive index – 2nd medium w.r.t. 1st medium)

• Refractive Index: Depend upon the

• Pair of media

• Wavelength

• Is independent of the angle of incidence

 Snell’s law of refraction

• If n21 > 1, r < i, i.e., the refracted ray bends towards the normal

• Medium 2 - Optically denser

• If n21 <1, I < r, medium is rarer

• Optical density (OD) should not be confused with mass density (M/V)

• OD: Ratio of speed of light in the two medium

• Mass density and OD does not show any correlation

• OD: Turpentine > Water, Mass density: Water > Turpentine

 Snell’s law of refraction
• n21 = 1 / n12; n32 = n31 x n12

• Rectangular slab, refraction takes place

at two interfaces (air-glass
and glass-air)

• r-2 = i-1, i-2 = r-1

• I.e., the emergent ray is parallel to the

incident ray

• No deviation

• Does suffer lateral displacement/shift

with respect to the incident
ray.
 Snell’s law of
refraction
• Bottom of a tank filled with water appears to be
raised

• Apparent depth (h1 ) = Real depth (h2 ) /

Refractive index of the medium (water)

• Or RI of medium with object µ = h2/h1

• µ “RI of object medium w.r.t medium of observer

 TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
• At each interface, reflection-refraction do happen in
different proportion

• Reflection is called Internal Reflection

• Ray of light, “Denser to medium = Bend away from the

normal” and vice-versa

• Incident ray AO1 is partially reflected (O1C) and partially

transmitted (O1B) or refracted

• R > I , as the angle of incidence increases, so does the angle

of refraction
 TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
• Till for the ray AO3, the angle of refraction is π/2

• Refracted ray - Grazes the surface at the interface between

the two media

• Further increasing i (ray AO4 ), refraction is not possible, and

the incident ray is totally reflected

• Called as total internal reflection

• Some part of light always get transmitted

• Reflected ray < always less intense (Incident ray)

• However, in TIR, no transmission of light takes place

 TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
• Critical Angle: Angle of incidence where angle of refraction is 90° (AO3) –

• Specific for the given pair of media

• If the relative “RI” of the refracting medium is < 1

• We know the maximum value of sin r is unity (sin 90 = 1)

• Upper limit to the value of sin i for which the law can be satisfied

• That is, i = ic such that sin ic = n21

• Condition – i > ic, Snell’s law of refraction cannot be satisfied, and hence no refraction is possible.

• RI of denser medium 1 w.r.t rarer medium 2 will be n12 = 1/Sin ic

Glass beaker - Clear water + Few drops of milk or any other suspension – Stir – Little turbid
1. Laser pointer and shine its beam through the turbid water – path in the water will shines brightly
2. Shine - from below the beaker, so it strikes at the upper water surface at the other end
Partial reflection (spot on the table below) and partial refraction [spot on the roof)
3. Direct - One side - strikes the upper surface of water more obliquely
Adjust the direction - until you find the angle for which the refraction above the water surface is
totally absent and the beam is totally reflected back to water. This is total internal reflection
4. Shine from top - Adjust the direction for TIR every time it strikes the walls of the tube alike optical
fibres
 Total internal reflection in nature and
its technological applications
• Prism: Designed to bend light by 90 90° or 180°

• Principle of TIR

• Also invert images without changing their size

• In the first two cases, the critical angle ic <45

• Crown Glass, Dense flint glass, Diamond

 Total internal reflection in nature and
its technological applications
• Optical fibres:

• Transmitting audio and video signals through

long distances
• Fabricated with high quality composite
glass/quartz fibres.
• Each fibre consists of a core and cladding.

• Refractive Index: Core > Cladding

Total internal reflection in nature and its
technological applications
• After projection of signal in form of light at suitable angle at one of fibre

• Undergoes repeated TIR along the whole length with no loss of intensity of light signal

• Angle of incidence > critical angle

• Even if the fibre is bent, light can easily travel along its length

• Optical fibre -> Used as an optical pipe

• Electrical signals are converted to light by suitable transducers

• Transmission of optical signals, “light pipe’

• Facilitate visual examination of internal organs like esophagus, stomach and intestines
Total internal reflection in nature and its
technological applications
• Decorative lamp with fine plastic fibres with their free ends forming a fountain like structure

• Light travels from the bottom of each fibre and appears at the tip of its free end as a dot of
light

• The fibres in such decorative lamps are optical fibres.

• Little light loss – quartz

• In silica glass fibres, >95% of the light over a fibre length of 1 km

 REFRACTION AT SPHERICAL SURFACES AND BY
LENSES
• An infinitesimal part of a spherical surface can be regarded as planar and the same laws of
refraction can be applied at every point on the surface.

• The normal at the point of incidence is perpendicular to the tangent plane to the spherical
surface at that point and, therefore, passes through its centre of curvature.

• Thin Lens: Transparent optical medium bounded by two surfaces; at least one of which
should be spherical.

• Applying the formula for image formation by a single spherical surface successively at the
two surfaces of a lens, we shall obtain the lens maker’s formula and then the lens formula.
Refraction at a spherical surface
Medium RI n 1

Medium RI n 2
Refraction at a spherical surface
Medium RI n 1

Medium RI n 2