Unit 1: LigHT and Sight in Focus Monday 3 March 2025

Statement of Inquiry Key concept Related concepts

Visual impairment and EQUITY,
CHANGE CONSEQUENCES
blindness have enormous
consequences for quality of life
Global Context
and equal opportunities for
their treatment globally FAIRNESS & DEVELOPMENT

Learning Objectives:
• To be able to understand the Laws of Refraction
• Use the terminology for the angle of incidence i and angle of refraction r and
describe the passage of light through parallel-sided transparent material

Focus How does light travel?

question: How does the eye work?
How do glasses address vision problems?
 Light Energy

Ray of Light – A straight line with an arrow that shows the

direction in which light energy travels.
 Beam of light- Collection of rays
A convergent beam of light: Light rays comes together
(converges) after reflection and refraction at a single point known
as the focus.
Divergent beam of light : Light rays from a point source of
light travel in all directions, moving away with time. Such a beam
of light is called a divergent beam of light.
Parallel beam of light: A parallel beam of light is light that is
parallel to each other when coming from the source of light.
 Reflection of Waves

Light waves and the rules of reflection

When you see an object, light is bouncing off that object
into your eye. Rough and smooth surfaces look different
because of the way light bounces off them.
 Reflection of Light
When light hits a mirror it bounces back to the same medium. This is called
reflection. The ray of light hitting the mirror is called the incident ray. The ray of
light bouncing off is called the reflected ray.

The angle of incidence is always the same size as the angle of reflection.
(Angle A = Angle B)( This is called law of reflection)
All angles are measured from the normal . The normal is a line at right angles
to the mirror at the point of incidence.
 Normal Incidence

Angle of Incidence = 0 Angle of Reflection = 0

 Characteristics of Image formed by Plane Mirror
Image formed is
1. Virtual
2. Upright
3. Same size
4. Image distance = Object distance
5. Laterally Inverted
The distance between object and image is 6 m in case of plane mirror.
How far is the object from the plane mirror?

The size of the image formed by a plane mirror is 2m. What is the size
of the object?
 Curved Mirrors

C- centre of curvature
F – focus/focal point
P- pole
FP = f = focal length
CP = Radius(R)
f = R/2
 Ray Diagrams - Concave Mirrors
To draw these diagrams, we will have to use the two rules of
reflection for concave mirrors:
1) Any incident ray traveling parallel to the principal axis on the
way to the mirror will pass through the focal point upon
reflection.
2) Any incident ray passing through the center of curvature on the way to the mirror
will travel back in the same direction.
The following Characteristics of Image we need to look for in the
Image formed by spherical mirrors(concave/convex) by drawing
Ray diagrams

Image is
1. Real/Virtual
2. Upright/Inverted
3. Diminished/same size/Magnified
4. Position of image
 When the object is between infinity and C

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet to give image) A B – Object
2. Inverted(head of arrow down) Al B l - Image
3. Diminished(smaller than object)
4. Formed at F
 When the object is between infinity and C

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet to give image) A B – Object
2. Inverted(head of arrow down) Al B l - Image
3. Diminished(smaller than object)
4. Formed between C and F
 When the object is at C

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet to give image) A B – Object
2. Inverted(head of arrow down) Al B l - Image
3. Same size as object
4. Formed at C
 When the object is between C and F

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet to give image) A B – Object
2. Inverted(head of arrow down) Al B l - Image
3. Magnified (bigger than object)
4. Formed beyond C
 When the object is at F

Bl

Al
Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet at infinity) A B – Object
2. Inverted(head of arrow down) Al B l - Image
3. Magnified (bigger than object)
4. Formed at infinity
 When the object is between F and P

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Virtual(extended rays meet to give image) A B – Object
2. Upright(head up) Al B l - Image
3. Highly Magnified (bigger than object)
4. Formed inside the mirror
 Uses of concave mirrors

In telescopes

The viewer looks through the

lens on the eyepiece of the
telescope and sees the
reflection on the mirror,
allowing a view of stars that
the naked eye is unable to
see.
 Uses of concave mirrors

For shaving /makeups

The property of
concave mirror
utilised in makeup
mirror is that when
the object is kept
between the focus
and mirror a virtual
and magnified image
is formed.
 Uses of concave mirrors

In torches/flashlight/headlights

By dentist
Image Formation in convex mirror
When the object is at infinity

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Virtual
2. Diminished to a point
3. Formed at F
 When the object is between infinity and P

Characteristics of Image-
Image is
A B – Object
1. Virtual
2. Upright Al B l - Image
3. Diminished
4. Formed between F and P
 Uses of convex mirrors mirrors

As rear-view mirrors in cars

In street lights
 Refraction of Light

Bending / change in speed of waves as it enters another medium.

It is a boundary phenomenon
 When light travels through air it
travels at about 300 million m/s.
When it travels through glass,
water or any other transparent
material it has to slow down. It's
like running down the beach
into the sea. When you hit the
water you are slowed down.

Light bends or changes speed as it

passes from one medium to another.
This is called refraction.
As the light wave goes into the block
it slows down and bends towards
the normal line, so angle A is always
bigger than angle B. As the ray
comes out of the block the light
wave speeds up again and bends
away from the normal line, so
angle B is always smaller than angle
C.
The only time light waves do not bend
when changing speed, is if they are
travelling along the normal line, at right
angles to the boundary.
As the light wave has slowed down its wavelength gets
smaller. (The frequency does not change.) This fits with the
relationship between speed, frequency and wavelength.
 Refractive index(n)

Refractive index of a material is a

measure of the change in speed of
light as it passes from a vacuum (or 𝒄
𝒏=
air as an approximation) into the 𝒗
material.

In the equation above, c is the speed of light in a vacuum (3 x m/s) The

bigger the refractive index the slower the light travels in that material -
i.e. the smaller v is.

n of glass is 1.5 , speed of light in glass is 2 x m/s

n of water is 1.33 speed of light in water is 2.3 x m/s
Light of frequency 4.6 × 1014 Hz travels in diamond at a speed of
1.24 × 108 m s-1. Calculate the refractive index of diamond for this
colour of light.
 Snell’s law

The refractive index (n) of the

medium is given by-

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/bending-light/latest/bending-light_en.html
Normal Incidence

No bending for normal

incidence
 Refractive Index- Real and Apparent Depth

Why does this make swimming

pools look shallower than they
really are? Again it is the brain
that sees a virtual image, that
doesn't really exist.

n =

https://www.geogebra.org/m/KbRChqVc
 Refraction of light through Prism
When a ray of light passes through a prism it bends towards the
base of the prism. This is called deviation of light and the angle of
deviation can be measured as d
A
Δ ABC is a prism
N𝟏
N 𝟐 i – angle of incidence
d r – angle of refraction
i r e e- angle of emergence
O P d -angle of deviation
A is the angle of prism

B C
 Deviation of Light through a prism
Deviation of Light depends on

(i) Refractive index of prism material(n)(directly proportional)

(ii) Angle of incidence/ Angle of emergence(increases and then
decreases)
(iii) Wavelength of light (inversely proportional)
(iv) Angle of prism
 Dispersion of light
Splitting of white light into
its constituents colours.

Red has a longer

wavelength so is only
bent a little. Violet has a
shorter wavelength so is
bent more.
 Total internal reflection (TIR)
As the angle of incidence
increases the angle of refraction
increases until it gets to 90
degrees. At this point the angle
of incidence is at the critical
angle. If the angle of refraction
gets any bigger the wave
bounces off the surface of the
block and reflects back into the
block. This is called total
internal reflection.
These fibers are called optical fibers. They are used in medicine, in
endoscopes, to see inside patients. Optical fibers are also used for
communications; information is carried as pulses of light along the
cables.
 Refraction through lens
Lens as a combination of prism and slab
Rules for refraction through convex lens
Image formation in convex lens

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet at F)
2. Diminished to a point
3. Formed at F
 Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet)
2. Inverted
3. Diminished
4. Formed between 2F and F
A B – Object
Al B l - Image
 Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet)
2. Inverted
3. Same size
4. Formed at 2F
A B – Object
Al B l - Image
 Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet)
2. Inverted
3. Magnified
4. Formed beyond 2F
A B – Object
Al B l - Image
 Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Real(real rays meet)
2. Inverted
3. Magnified
4. Formed at infinity
A B – Object
Al B l - Image
 Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Virtual (extended rays meet)
2. Upright
3. Highly Magnified
4. Formed on the same side
A B – Object
Al B l - Image
Image formation in concave lens

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Virtual (extended rays meet)
2. Diminished to a point
3. Formed at F
Case (i) when the object is between infinity and F

Characteristics of Image-

Image is
1. Virtual (extended rays meet)
2. Upright
3. Diminished
4. Formed at between O and F
A B – Object
Al B l - Image
• When waves encounter an object or pass through a gap, a
process called diffraction occurs.
•
• Diffraction is defined as a phenomenon in which waves either
bend behind a barrier or the wavefront is broken up into many
small sources.
Waves like the ones we see in water can
bend around obstacles and create some
interesting effects.

This is the process of diffraction, and here's

a video (1:31) to explain how it works.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgfKdVFfM28
As the gap size is decreased,
the diffraction increases.

Maximum diffraction occurs when

the gap size equals the wavelength.
INTERFERENCE

• So far, you have been learning about a single

wave and its properties.

• But have you thought about what happens if

there is more than one wave?

• What happens if there are 2 sources of waves,

such as 2 speakers?

• How will the 2 waves interact with each other?

Superposition refers to the process
that happens when two waves meet.
• The waves pass through each other.
• As they do so, their amplitudes are combined.
• If the waves match, such as both having crests, or both having
troughs, the amplitudes add together. This is known
as constructive interference.
• If the waves do not match, and have a crest and a trough, the
amplitudes are added, but one is negative, so in effect they are
subtracted. The overall amplitude decreases. This is known
as destructive interference.
Interference
Superposition – constructive interference
Wave superposition is simply the addition of two or more waves
passing simultaneously through a medium.
Superposition is also called interference and can be constructive or
destructive, or anything in between.
Consider two in-phase (here crest) pulses coming from each end of a
taut rope.
The amplitudes x0 of the two pulses add together, producing a
momentary pulse of amplitude 2x0.
2x0
x0 constructive
interference
0
Interference
Superposition – destructive interference
Wave superposition is simply the addition of two or more
waves passing simultaneously through a medium.
Superposition is also called interference and can be
constructive or destructive, or anything in between.
Consider two 180° out-of-phase (one crest and one trough) pulses
coming from each end of a taut rope.
The amplitudes x0 of the two pulses cancel, producing a momentary
pulse of amplitude 0.
x0
0 destructive
- x0 interference
Summary
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfYCnOvNnFU&t=359s