Light

It is a radiation or radiant energy capable of exciting vision. Light is a transverse, electromagnetic wave that can be
seen by humans. The sense of sight is extremely important to us, for it provides us with a large part of our information about
the world.

Some Sources of light:

1. Thermal sources such as fire or carbon arcs.
2. Gas discharges such as neon lights.
3. Luminescent sources such as some rosaries and toys

Light is produced by one of two methods:

o Incandescence is the emission of light from “hot” matter (T > 800 K)
o Luminescence is the emission of light when bound electrons fall to a lower energy levels.

Speed of Light
Like all electromagnetic waves, light can travel through a vacuum. Light travels extremely fast. In one second, it can go
around the world around 7 times. Though it may not seem like it, light tales time to get from one place to another. The light
we see from the stars at night was emitted from the star a very long time ago. In fact, the star might have burned out by the
time its rays reach us, but we can’t see it because it takes time to reach our solar system.

The speed of light depends upon the medium through which it travels.
o The speed of light in vacuum (designated as c) is a universal constant in all reference frames.
o The speed of light in vacuum is fixed at 299,792,458 m/s by the current definition of the meter.
o All electromagnetic waves propagate at the speed of light in a vacuum.
o The speed of light in a medium is always slower the speed of light in vacuum. (the difference is usually negligible
when the medium is air) e. g. In water, the speed of light slows to 140,000 miles/second; is 124,000 miles/second
in glass; through a diamond the speed is 77,500 miles/second.
o The speed of anything with mass is always less than the speed of light in a vacuum. (The speed of light in a vacuum
is the universal speed limit; Albert Einstein proved that light is the fastest moving particle in a vacuum).
When measuring large distances, such as distances between stars or galaxies, we can use the unit called LIGHTYEAR
(LY). This is the distance that light can travel in one year and has the following value 1LY = 9.46 x 10 15 m.
The distance that light can travel in one minute can be as LIGHTMINUTE. The sun is about 8 lightminutes away.

Electromagnetic Spectrum
o Is the whole range of electromagnetic waves. Arranged in decreasing frequency (or increasing wavelength) are
these electromagnetic waves.

The Color of Light. Because the wavelength of light changes in different media, color is ascribed to the frequency of the
light. The phenomenon of dispersion allows the component colors of light sources to be separated according to their
wavelengths. The range of colors into which the light is separated is called the spectrum.

Color wavelength (m) frequency (Hz)

Red 6.60 x 10 -7 4.54 x 10 14
Orange 6.10 x 10 -7 4.92 x 10 14
Yellow 5.80 x 10 -7 5.17 x 10 14
Green 5.40 x 10 -7 5.56 x 10 14
Blue 4.70 x 10 -7 6.38 x 10 14
Indigo 4.40 x 10 -7 6.82 x 10 14
Violet 4.10 x 10 -7 7.32 x 10 14
The frequency of a light is related to its color.
o Monochromatic light can be described by only one frequency.
o Laser light is very nearly monochromatic.
o Polychromatic light is composed of multiple frequencies.
o Every light source is essentially polychromatic.
o White light is very polychromatic.

 Visible light waves are the only electromagnetic waves we can see. We see this waves as the colors of the rainbow.
 Each color has a different wavelength. Red has the longest wavelength and violet has the shortest wavelength. When
all the waves are seen together, they make white light.
 The relationship of wavelength and frequency of the different colors of light (including the other electromagnetic waves)
is given by the formula v = λf
 When white light shines through a prism, the white light is broken apart into the colors of the visible light spectrum.
Water vapor in the atmosphere can also break apart wavelengths creating a rainbow.

 The colors of objects.

o Color is the thing we perhaps notice most about light in the world around us. But why we see colors the way we do
all has to do with light.
o The reason something appears to be the color that it does is that the object is absorbing all the other colors of light
except the ones we see, which are reflected back to our eyes.
o If something absorbs all the colors, it appears black, if it reflects everything, it appears white.
 Colors come from the visible spectrum of light; all of its major colors and everything in between. What color we see
depends on the wavelength of the light we absorb into our eyes.
 The sensation of color depends primarily on the composition of light which is a mixture of white light and colored light.

Optics
o It deals with the interaction of light with matter. Our earliest ideas about light helped us understand how see things
and how lenses and mirrors work. This is covered by geometric optics and deals with light as rays which undergo
reflection and refraction to produce either real or virtual images. Physical optics deals with light in terms of waves
and how this produces interference, diffraction, polarization, color, etc.

Physical Optics is a branch of optics which deals with wave behavior of light. These are optical effects that depend on the
wave nature of light.

Geometric Optics is a branch of optics for which ray description is adequate. The key role played by geometry in the
analysis is the reason for the name. To understand the images and the image formation, ray model of light, the law of
reflection and refraction, some simple geometry and trigonometry are needed.

Reflection occurs when the waves encounter a surface or other boundary that does not absorb the energy of the radiation
and bounces the waves away from the surface.

Types of Reflection.
1. Specular/Regular Reflection – the reflected rays travel in one direction because the irregularities of the surface are
smaller than the wavelength of the incident wave.
 2. Diffuse Reflection – the reflected rays travel in different directions because the irregularities are about the size or
larger than the wavelength of the incident wave.

Specular reflection Diffuse reflection

Laws of Reflection
For Specular reflection, the laws of reflection are as follows:
1. The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal to the reflection surface at the point of the incidence lie in the
same plane.
2. The angle which the incident ray makes with the normal is equal to the angle which the reflected ray makes to the
same normal. θi = θr

Refraction –is the bending of the path of light wave passes from one material to another material. The refraction occurs at
the boundary and is caused by a change in the speed of the light wave upon crossing the boundary.

 The incident ray, the reflected ray, the refracted ray, and the normal all lie on the same plane.
 The angle of refraction, θ2, depends on the properties of the medium.

 The Law of Refraction

sin 1 v1
 o Index of refraction
sin  2 v2 The index of refraction defines the velocity of light in the optically denser medium  c/n.

c
n where: n = index of refraction, c = speed of light in vacuum, v = speed of light in a medium
v
 Plane Mirror: it has even surfaces; the normal is perpendicular to all points of a plane mirror. The image seen in a plane
mirror seems to be behind the mirror (virtual image), is also right-side up, but reversed from right to left.

 Spherical Mirrors: Reflecting surface is curved rather than plane; as with all mirrors, the angle of incidence of a ray of
light is equal to the angle of reflection with respect to a normal on the surface but the normal changes with the curvature.
a. Concave or converging – kind of mirror where the reflected surface is the inner surface of a sphere of which it
is a part and where a parallel beam of light becomes convergent beam whose rays intersect in the focus of the
mirror. Ex. Magnifying mirror
b. Convex or diverging – one where the reflected surface is the outer surface of the sphere of which it is a part.
For convex mirrors, parallel beam becomes divergent, with the rays appearing to diverge from a common
intersection “behind” the mirror. Ex. The rear-view mirror of a jeep
  Analytic method to determine the image formed by spherical mirrors:

The Mirror Equation

1 1 1 where: ƒ = focal length

 
f di do do = object distance
di = image distance

 When using the mirror equation, we have the following sign convention:
 f: + sign for concave (converging) mirror,
- sign for convex (diverging) mirror,
 di: + when the image is on the same side as the object
- when the image is on the opposite side

Magnification Equation
h  di where: m = magnification
m i  hi = image height
ho do ho = object height

 If height is negative the image is upside down

 if the magnification is negative the image is inverted (upside down)

Images formed by spherical mirrors:

Examples:
1. Find the position of the image of a 3 cm high object placed 20 cm in front of a convex spherical mirror whose radius
of curvature is 15 cm. Describe the image.
2. a) What type of mirror is required to form an image, on a wall 3 m from the mirror of the filament of a headlight
lamp10cm in front of the mirror? b) What is the height of the image if the height of the object is 5 mm?
3. A 1-cm object is placed 5 cm in front of a concave mirror a radius of 25 c. Locate and characterize/describe the
image.
4. An object is placed 8 cm from a convex mirror which has a radius of curvature of 15 cm. Find the position of the
image.
5. A 4 cm object is placed 50 cm from a converging mirror whose focal length is 20 cm. Find the position and size of
the image.
6. Where an object should be placed, with reference to a concave spherical mirror of radius 180 cm, to form a real
image having half its linear dimensions?
7. How far must a girl stand in front of a concave spherical mirror of radius 120 cm to see an erect image of her face
four times its natural size?

Lenses
 The first telescope, designed and built by Galileo, used lenses to focus light from faraway objects, into Galileo’s
eye. His telescope consisted of a concave lens and a convex lens.
 Light rays are always refracted (bent) towards the thickest part of the lens.

Concave Lenses
 Concave lenses are thin in the middle and make light rays diverge (spread out).
 Each light ray entering a diverging (concave) lens refracts
outwards as it enters the lens and outwards again as it leaves.
 These refractions cause parallel light rays to spread out,
travelling directly away from an imaginary focal point.
 If the rays of light are traced back (dotted sight lines), they all
intersect at the focal point (F) behind the lens.
 The light rays behave the same way if we ignore the thickness
of the lens.
 Light rays that come in parallel to the optical axis still diverge from
the focal point.

Convex Lenses
 Convex lenses are thicker in the middle and focus light rays to a focal point in front of the lens.
 Each light ray entering a converging (convex) lens refracts
inwards as it enters the lens and inwards again as it leaves.
These refractions cause parallel light rays to spread out,
travelling directly away from an imaginary focal point.
 The focal length of the lens is the distance between the
center of the lens and the point where the light rays are
focused.
 Light rays that come in parallel to the optical axis converge
at the focal point.
Image formed in lenses

Sample Problems:
1. A concave spherical mirror has a radius of curvature of 24 cm. Draw ray diagrams to locate the image (if one is
formed) for an object at a distance of (a) 55 cm, (b) 24 cm, (c) 12 cm, and (d) 8 cm from the mirror. Describe the
image form in each.
2. An object 1.2 cm high is placed 4 cm from a double convex lens with a focal length of 12 cm. Find the image
distance, and find its height. Describe the image formed.