Physics Chapter 10: Light Reflection and Refraction

Study Notes

Refraction: bending of light as it passes from one medium to another with a different optical density
Lens: transparent object with curved surfaces that refract light
Types of Lenses:
- Convex Lens: thicker in the middle, converges light rays
- Concave Lens: thinner in the middle, diverges light rays
Lensmaker's Equation: relates the focal length of a lens to its radii of curvature and refractive indices of the lens material and surrounding medium
Image Formation: object distance, image distance, and focal length are related by the lens equation (1/do + 1/di = 1/f)

Reflection: change in direction of light when it bounces off a surface
Types of Mirrors:
- Plane Mirror: flat mirror, image is virtual and upright
- Spherical Mirror: curved mirror, image can be real or virtual, upright or inverted
Mirror Equation: relates the object distance, image distance, and radius of curvature of a spherical mirror
Sign Conventions:
- New Cartesian Sign Convention: used for spherical mirrors, sign of distance and radius of curvature depends on direction from mirror
- Mirror Formula: 1/do + 1/di = 2/r, where r is the radius of curvature

Total Internal Reflection (TIR): phenomenon where light is completely reflected back into the medium when it reaches a boundary at a shallow angle
Conditions for TIR:
- Light must travel from a denser medium to a less dense medium
- Angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle
Critical Angle: angle of incidence above which TIR occurs, dependent on refractive indices of the two media
Applications of TIR:
- Optical Fibers: TIR helps confine light within the fiber, enabling high-speed data transmission
- Prism-based Instruments: TIR is used to redirect light in instruments like binoculars and telescopes

Refraction occurs when light passes from one medium to another with a different optical density.
Lenses are transparent objects with curved surfaces that refract light.
Convex lenses are thicker in the middle, converge light rays, and form real and inverted images.
Concave lenses are thinner in the middle, diverge light rays, and form virtual and upright images.
The Lensmaker's Equation relates the focal length of a lens to its radii of curvature and refractive indices of the lens material and surrounding medium.
The lens equation (1/do + 1/di = 1/f) relates object distance, image distance, and focal length.

Reflection occurs when light bounces off a surface, changing its direction.
Plane mirrors are flat, producing virtual and upright images.
Spherical mirrors are curved, producing real or virtual images that can be upright or inverted.
The Mirror Equation relates object distance, image distance, and radius of curvature of a spherical mirror.
The New Cartesian Sign Convention is used for spherical mirrors, where the sign of distance and radius of curvature depends on the direction from the mirror.
The Mirror Formula is 1/do + 1/di = 2/r, where r is the radius of curvature.

Total Internal Reflection (TIR) occurs when light is completely reflected back into the medium when it reaches a boundary at a shallow angle.
TIR requires light to travel from a denser medium to a less dense medium, and the angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle.
The critical angle is the angle of incidence above which TIR occurs, dependent on the refractive indices of the two media.
TIR is used in optical fibers to confine light within the fiber, enabling high-speed data transmission.
TIR is also used in prism-based instruments, such as binoculars and telescopes, to redirect light.