REFRACTION OF LIGHT

Light will not change its path until it strikes with any obstructions or it travels into other
medium. When a light ray passes obliquely from one medium to another is bends at the
interface. The phenomenon due to which light deviates from its initial path, while travelling
from one optical medium to other optical medium is called refraction.


Absolute refractive index ( )
The absolute refractive index of a medium is the ratio of velocity of light in vacuum to
velocity of light in that medium. i.e., =
o
m
c
c

Where co is velocity of light in vacuum and cm is velocity of light in medium.
1. for vacuum is 1 and for air is 1.0003 ( 1)
2. When light passes from one medium to the other, the frequency of light does not change.
3.
( )
o o o o
m o
m m m m
c n
n n
c n

= = = =

Where
o
is wavelength of light in vacuum,
m
is wavelength
of light in medium, no is frequency of light in vacuum and nm is frequency of light in medium.
4. For a given light, refractive index of medium depends on nature of the material of the
medium.
5. For a given medium, refractive index of medium depends on wavelength of light.
6. Velocity of light is same for all wave lengths in vacuum but it is different for different
wavelengths in a medium (other than vacuum).

Relative refractive index :
Refractive index of one medium with respect to another medium is known as relative refractive
index
1 1 1
2 2 2
, c , medium 1
, c , medium 2



Refractive index of medium 2 w.r.t medium 1 is
2 1 1
1 2
1 2 2
c
c

= = =


Refractive index of medium 1 w.r.t medium 2 is
1 2 2
2 1
2 1 1
c
c

= = =


Laws of refraction :
1. The incident ray, the normal to the refracting surface at the point of incidence and the refracted
ray, all lie in the same plane.
2. For a given pair of media and for light of a given wavelength, the ratio of the sine of the angle
of incidence in medium 1 to the sine of the angle of refraction in medium 2 is a constant.
This law is called Snells law of refraction. According to this law,
sini
sin r
= constant. This
constant is equal to
refractive index of medium 2 with respective to refractive index of medium 1.
If light passes from a medium of refractive index ( )
1
two medium of refractive index ( )
2

then
1 2
2
1
sini sini
sin r sin r

= =

For plane and parallel interfaces, snells law can be written as sin u = constant
Where is refractive index of the medium and u angle of incidence at the interface.
Note : i) If velocity of light in medium 1 is more than velocity of light in medium 2 then medium 2
is said to be optically denser than medium 1.
ii) Refractive index is more for denser medium.
Important points :
1. If a ray of light passes from optically rarer medium to
optically denser medium then it always bends towards
normal drawn at the point of incidence.
In this case r < i and angle of deviation is (i r)


2. If a ray of light passes from optically denser medium to optically
rarer medium then it always bends away from the normal
drawn at the point of incidence.
In this case r > i and angle of deviation is (r i)


3. If a ray of light is incident normally at a surface separating
two media then it does not deviate from its original path. The
angle of refraction is also zero.

Optical path :
The distance travelled by light in vacuum in the same time in which it travels a given path
length in a medium is known as optical path.
If light travels a path length d in a medium at speed v, the time taken by it will be (d/v), So
optical path length is
( )
d
L c d
v
(
= =
(


c
v
(
=
(



Principle of reversibility of path of light :
If a ray of light is incident in first medium at angle I, it will refract into second medium at an
angle r. According to the principle of reversibility of light, if the ray of light in second medium
is incident at an angle r, then it will refract into first medium at an angle i.
Thus for two media 1 and 2, we have
1 2
sini
sin r
= _________ (i)
Also
2 1
sin r
sini
= __________ (ii)
Thus,
1 2 2 1
sini sin r
1
sin r sini
= = ,
r
i
1
2
Or
1 2
2 1
1
=

_____________ (6)

Refraction through many media :
Consider a number of mediums placed parallel to one another. If first and the last medium is
same, the angle of emergence will be equal to angle of incidence in the first medium. proof

1
1 2
1
sini
sin r
= ( 1 ),
1
2 3
2
sin r
sin r
= ( 2 ),

2
3 1
sin r
sini
= ( 3 )

3 2 1
1 2 2 3 3 1
1 2 3
1



= =

1 1 2
1 2 2
sin sin sin
sin sin sin
i r r
r r i
= 1 sin i1 = sin i2 i1 = i2
Lateral Shift :
When a ray of light travels through a glass slab with parallel
sides the emergent ray is parallel to the incident ray, but the
light ray suffers lateral shift. The perpendicular distance
between the incident ray and the emergent ray is known as
lateral shift.

From the diagram
BF t
cos r
BC BC
= = ----- (1)

( )
CD x
sin i r
BC BC
= = ------ (2)
From equations (1) and (2), we get
Lateral shift (x) =
( ) t sin i r
cos r

If i is small then x =
1
ti 1
(

Real and apparent depth :
The actual depth at which the object is situated is called real
depth and the depth at which image is formed is called
apparent depth

Case I : When an object in a denser medium is viewed normally
from a rarer medium, the object appears nearer to the observer.

From the diagram
r d
sin r
sini
= (1),
AB
tani
OA
= (2), and
AB
tan r
IA
= (3)
For small value of i, tan i sin i and tan r sin r, then from equations (1), (2), and (3)

r d
OA
IA
= =
real depth
apparent depth
apparent depth =
r d
real depth

i
i1
r
1
r
2
r
1
r
2
i
2
apparent shift = real depth apparent depth =
r d
1
real depth 1
(

If the rarer medium is air then apparent shift =
1
real depth 1
(

Note : If the denser medium consists of no. of layers having thickness x1, x2, x3 .. and refractive
indices

1 2 3
, , ----- respectively then the apparent depth will be
3 1 2
1 2 3
........ + + +
x x x


Case II : When an object in the rarer medium is observed from a denser medium, the object appears
father away.
From snells law,
r d
=
sin
sin
i
r

For small value of i, sin i = tan i and sin r = tan r
From the diagram
tani AI apparent height
tan r AO real height
= =

r d
tani apparent height
tan r real height
= =
Apparent height =
r d
real height
If the rarer medium is air then apparent height = real height

Shift produced by a slab :
Case I When a slab of thickness t and refractive index is placed in the
path of a beam of divergent light, then the point of divergence shifts towards the glass slab by
an amount
1
x t 1
| |
A =
|

\ .

Case II When a slab of thickness t and refractive index is placed in
the path of a beam of convergent light, then the point of
convergence shifts away by an amount
1
x t 1
| |
A =
|

\ .

Note : When a slab of thickness t and refractive index is placed between a projector and screen,
the screen should be moved away through a distance
1
t 1
| |

\ .
in order to get a sharp image
again.


Critical angle :
When a light ray travels from denser to rarer medium it bends away from the normal.
As the angle of incidence increases the angle of refraction also increases. At a particular angle
of incidence the angle of refraction becomes 90
o
.
The angle of incidence in the denser medium for which the angle of refraction is 90
o
is called
crictical angle. It is denoted by C.

Total internal reflection :
When angle of incidence in denser medium is increased to a value greater than the critical
angle, there is no refracted ray. This is because the whole of the incident light is now totally
internally reflected. The surface of separation of the two media behaves like a mirror.
The phenomenon of complete reflection of light back into the same medium for angles of
incidence greater than the critical angle is called total internal reflection.


Conditions for TIR :
1) The light ray must travel from denser medium to rarer medium.
2) The angle of incidence in denser medium should be greater than the critical angle for the pair
of media in contact.

Applications of TIR :
1) The sparkling of a diamond is due to total internal reflection.
2) An air bubble in water appears silvery white due to total internal reflection.
3) Mirage and looming are due TIR
4) The rainbow in the sky is due to dispersion of light and total internal reflection.

Relation between critical angle and refractive index.
In case of propagation of light from denser to rarer medium through a plane boundary, critical
angle is the angle of incidence for which angle of refraction is 90
o
. So from Snells law,

1 2
sini sinr =
o
d r
sinc sin90 =

r
d
sinc

=

=
d d
r r
v
v

=

For a given pair of media, critical angle depends on wavelength of light.
For a given light, critical angle depends on nature of pair of media.

Applications of critical angle
1.Optical fiber : An optical fiber is a thin and flexible
( )
1
made fiber. It has a thin core of refractive index
of transparent medium like glass or plastic. The core is
index ( )
2
surrounded by a cladding, whose refractive
is lower than the core. Because of cladding, the light
rays inside the core get totally reflected at different points of the fiber and emerge from the
other end.
It is used in communication network, medical equipments and as sensors in industry.


2.Field of view of a fish : A fish inside water sees the outside world in a cone of vertex angle
2C = 98
o
.
If h is the depth of the fish, r is the radius of the cone and c is the critical angle for water - air
interface.

2 2 2 2
r 1 r
sinC
h r h r
= =

+ +


2
h
r
1
=



Note : A bulb is placed at a depth h in a liquid of refractive index and a floating opaque disc is
placed over the bulb so that the bulb is not visible from the surface. The minimum radius of
the disc is
2
h
1


EXERCISE I
1. When light passes through a boundary, refraction will not take place if
1) Light is incident normally on the boundary 2)The index of refraction of the two media is
same
3) Angle of incidence is less than angle of refraction and angle of incidence is greater than
critical angle
4) All the above
2. Speed of red light is C
r
and speed of violet light is C
v
in vacuum then
1) C
r
> C
v
2) C
r
= C
v
3) C
r
< C
v
4) None
3. The refractive index of glass is
3
2
. The time taken by a monochromatic light rays to travel a
distance d in air is 4s. The time taken by the light ray to travel the same distance in glass is
1) 4s 2) 6s 3)
8
3
s 4) 3s
4. The distance traveled by a ray of light in two media, in the same time are in the ratio 2 : 3.
Refractive index of first medium with respect second medium is
1) 3 : 2 2) 2 : 3 3) 4 : 9 4) 9 : 8
5. A ray of light is incident on the surface of a medium at an angle 45
0
and is refracted in the
medium at an angle 30
0
. What is the velocity of light in the medium?
1) 1.96x10
8
ms
-1
2) 2.12X10
8
ms
-1
3) 3.18X10
8
ms
-1
4) 3.33X10
8
ms
-1

6. The speed of light in glass of refractive index 1.5 is 2X10
8
ms
-1
. In a certain liquid the speed of
light is 2.5 X10
8
ms
-1
. The refractive index of the liquid is
1) 0.64 2) 0.80 3) 1.20 4) 1.44
7. The refractive index of glass and water respect to air are 3/2 and 4/3 respectively. The
refractive index of glass with respect to water is ..
1) 8/9 2) 9/8 3) 1/12 4) 2
8. A light ray is incident at an angle of 45
0
with the normal to a 2 cm thick plate. (= 2 ). The
distance travelled by light inside the slab is
1)
2
3
cm 2)
4
3
cm 3)
8
3
cm 4)
10
3
cm
9. A ray of light suffers refraction at the air glass interface of a parallel faced slab of thickness 10
cm. The angle of incidence and refraction are 60
0
and 30
0
respectively. The lateral shift of the
light ray is
1)
10
3
cm 2)
5
3
cm 3)
10
2
cm 4)
5
2
cm
10. A ray of light enters a rectangular glass of slab of refractive index 3 at an angle of incidence
60
0
. It travels a distance of 5 cm inside the slab and emerges out of the slab. The perpendicular
distance between the incident and emergent ray is
1)
5
3
cm 2)
5
2
cm 3)
3
5
2
cm 4) 5 3 cm
11. A bird looking down vertically into a pond from 12 cm above the surface sees a fish
apparently 18 cm below the surface. What is the apparent height of bird as seen by fish ? [W =
4/3]
1) 12 cm 2) 18 cm 3) 16 cm 4) 40 cm
12. A fish 40 cm beneath the surface of a pond sees a bird directly over head. If the bird is actually
15 cm above the water surface, the same appears to be seen by the fish above the water surface
is
4
3

| |
=
|
\ .

1) 10 cm 2) 20 cm 3) 25 cm 4) 30 cm

13. The base of a tank is horizontal glass plate 8 cm thick ( = 1.6). Above this is a layer of liquid
of thickness 4.5 cm ( = 1.5) and upon this floats a layer of water 12 cm thick
4
3

| |
=
|
\ .
. Looking
from the above, the apparent position of the spot on the bottom of the tank is
1) 17 cm 2) 19 cm 3) 21 cm 4) 35 cm
14. A layer of oil 3 cm thick is floating on a layer of coloured water 5 cm thick. The refractive index
of the coloured water is
5
3
and the apparent depth of the two liquids is
27
5
cm. Then refractive
index of the oil is
1)
7
4
2)
5
4
3)
7
5
4)
5
3

15. A beaker contains Water and Benzene of refractive indices
4
3
and
3
2
respectively one above
the other. If depth of each is 12 cm, apparent depth of the bottom of the beaker is
1) 16 cm 2) 17 cm 3) 18 cm 4) 19 cm
16. A layer of benzene ( = 1.50) 6 cm deep floats on water ( = 1.33) 4 cm deep. When viewed
vertically through air, the apparent distance of the bottom of the vessel below the free surface
of benzene is
1) 7 cm 2) 9 cm 3) 11 cm 4) 12.5 cm

17. If the critical angle for total internal reflection from medium to vacuum is 45
0
. If C is velocity
of light in vacuum, then velocity of light in that medium is
1) 2 C 2)
2
C
3) 2C 4)
2
C

18. A luminous point source at the bottom of liquid pond
5
4

| |
=
|
\ .
and 30 cm depth emits rays
upward in all directions. A circle of light is formed at the surface of the liquid by rays which
are refracted into air. Then radius of the circle is
1) 20 cm 2) 25 cm 3) 30 cm 4) 40 cm
19.

The image of point P when viewed from top of the
slabs will be
1) 2.0 cm above P 2) 1.5 cm above P
3) 2.0 cm below P 4) 1 cm above P

20.
If the radius of curvature of the mirror is H, then the
distance of the image of the fish in the mirror
from the fish is
1)
3H
2
2)
4H
3

3)
5H
3
4) None of these




KEY
EXERCISE : I
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4 2 2 1 2 3 2 2 1 1
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
4 2 1 2 2 1 4 4 1 2