Optics

Mirrors and Lenses

 Light and Sound
In this unit:

1) Properties of light
2) Reflection
3) Colours
4) Refraction
5) Properties of sound
6) Hearing
Part 1 – Properties of Light

Light travels in straight lines:

Laser
 Facts about Light
The speed of light, c, is constant in a vacuum.
Light can be:
• REFLECTED
• ABSORBED
• REFRACTED

Light is an electromagnetic wave in that it

has wave like properties which can be
influenced by electric and magnetic fields.
 Light travels VERY FAST – around
300,000 kilometres per second.

At this speed it can

go around the world 8
times in one second.
Light travels much faster than sound. For example:

1) Thunder and lightning

start at the same time,
but we will see the
lightning first.

2) When a starting pistol

is fired we see the
smoke first and then
hear the bang.
We see things because they
reflect light into our eyes:

Homework
 Luminous and non-luminous objects

A luminous object is one that produces light.

A non-luminous object is one that reflects light.

Luminous objects Reflectors

 Shadows
Shadows are places where light is “blocked”:

Rays of light
Properties of Light summary

1) Light travels in straight lines

2) Light travels much faster than sound
3) We see things because they reflect light
into our eyes
4) Shadows are formed when light is blocked
by an object
 Part 2 - Reflection
Reflection from a mirror:

Normal

Incident ray Reflected ray

Angle of Angle of
incidence reflection

Mirror
 The Law of “REFLECTION”
The Law of Reflection states that- " the angle
of incidence (incoming ray) equals the angle
of reflection (outgoing ray)"
The law works
for FLAT,
PLANE
surfaces only.

The angles are

measured from a
perpendicular line
NORMAL to the surface
called a
NORMAL.
 The Law of Reflection

Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection

In other words, light gets reflected from a surface at

____ _____ angle it hits it.

The
same !!!
 Clear vs. Diffuse Reflection

Smooth, shiny surfaces

have a clear reflection:

Rough, dull surfaces have

a diffuse reflection.

Diffuse reflection is when

light is scattered in
different directions
 Using mirrors
Two examples:

2) A car headlight

1) A periscope
 Colour
White light is not a single colour; it is made
up of a mixture of the seven colours of the
rainbow.

We can demonstrate this by

splitting white light with a
prism:

This is how rainbows are

formed: sunlight is “split up”
by raindrops.
Plane Mirror
Suppose we had a flat , plane mirror mounted vertically. A candle is
placed 10 cm in front of the mirror. WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF
THE CANDLE LOCATED?
mirror

On the surface of the mirror?

Behind the mirror?

Object Distance, Do = 10 cm

Same side as the object?

Plane Mirror
Suppose we had a flat , plane mirror mounted vertically. A candle is
placed 10 cm in front of the mirror. WHERE IS THE IMAGE OF
THE CANDLE LOCATED?
mirror Virtual Image

Object Distance, Do = 10 cm Image Distance, Di = 10 cm

Do=Di, and the heights are equal as well

 Virtual Images
Virtual Images are basically images which cannot be
visually projected on a screen.
If this box gave off
light, we could project
an image of this box
on to a screen
provided the screen
was on the SAME
SIDE as the box.

You would not be able to project the image of the

vase or your face in a mirror on a screen, therefore
it is a virtual image.

CONCLUSION: VIRTUAL IMAGES are ALWAYS on the OPPOSITE side of

the mirror relative to the object.
Real Image
Real Images are ones you can project on to a screen.

For MIRRORS they always appear on the SAME SIDE of the mirror as the object.

The characteristics of the

image, however, may be
different from the original object.
These characteristics are:
object • SIZE (reduced,enlarged,same
size)
• POSITION (same side,
opposite side)
• ORIENTATION (right side up,
image inverted)

What if the mirror isn’t flat?

Spherical Mirrors – Concave & Convex

Also called DIVERGING mirror Also called CONVERGING mirror

Converging (Concave) Mirror
A converging mirror is one that is spherical in nature
by which it can FOCUS parallel light rays to a point
directly in front of its surface. Every spherical mirror
can do this and this special point is at a “fixed”
position for every mirror. We call this point the
FOCAL POINT. To find this point you MUST use
light from “infinity”

Light from an “infinite”

distance, most likely the
sun.
Converging (Concave) Mirror
Since the mirror is
spherical it technically
has a CENTER OF
CURVATURE, C. The
focal point happens to
be HALF this distance.

C
f 
2
C 2f
We also draw a line through the
center of the mirror and call it the
PRINCIPAL AXIS.
 Ray Diagram
A ray diagram is a pictorial representation of how the
light travels to form an image and can tell you the
characteristics of the image.

object C f
Principal axis

Rule One: Draw a ray, starting from the top of the object, parallel to the
principal axis and then through “f” after reflection.
Ray Diagrams

object C f
Principal axis

Rule Two: Draw a ray, starting from the top of the object, through the focal
point, then parallel to the principal axis after reflection.
Ray Diagrams

object C f
Principal axis

Rule Three: Draw a ray, starting from the top of the object, through C, then
back upon itself.

What do you notice about the three lines? THEY INTERSECT

The intersection is the location of the image.
 Ray Diagram – Image Characteristics

object C f
Principal axis

After getting the intersection, draw an arrow down from the principal axis to
the point of intersection. Then ask yourself these questions:

1) Is the image on the SAME or OPPOSITE side of the mirror as the object?
Same, therefore it is a REAL IMAGE.
2) Is the image ENLARGED or REDUCED?
3) Is the image INVERTED or RIGHT SIDE UP?
 The Mirror/Lens Equation
Is there any OTHER way to predict image characteristics besides
the ray diagram? YES!

One way is to use the MIRROR/LENS equation to

CALCULATE the position of the image.

1 1 1
 
f do di
Mirror/Lens Equation
Assume that a certain concave spherical mirror has a
focal length of 10.0 cm. Locate the image for an
object distance of 25 cm and describe the image’s
characteristics.
1 1 1 1 1 1
    
f do di 10 25 d i
di  16.67 cm

What does this tell us? First we know the image is BETWEEN “C” & “f”. Since the
image distance is POSITIVE the image is a REAL IMAGE.
Real image = positive image distance
Virtual image = negative image distance

What about the size and orientation?

Magnification Equation
To calculate the orientation and size of the image we
use the MAGNIFICATION EQUATION.
Here is how this works:
d i hi
M  
• If we get a POSITIVE magnification, the image is
UPRIGHT.
d o ho • If we get a NEGATIVE magnification, the image is
INVERTED
• If the magnification value is GREATER than 1, the
image is ENLARGED.
16.67 • If the magnification value is LESS than 1, the
M  image is REDUCED.
25 • If the magnification value is EQUAL to 1, the
image is the SAME SIZE as the object.
M  0.67 x
Using our previous data we see that our image was INVERTED, and REDUCED.
Example
Assume that a certain concave spherical mirror has a focal
length of 10.0 cm. Locate the image for an object distance of
5 cm and describe the image’s characteristics.

1 1 1 1 1 1
    
f do di 10 5 d i
d i  -10 cm
Characteristics?

• VIRTUAL (opposite side)

di • Enlarged
M   2x • Upright
5
 Reflection Vocabulary
 Real Image –
 Image is made from “real” light rays
that converge at a real focal point so
the image is REAL
 Can be projected onto a screen
because light actually passes
through the point where the image
appears
 Always inverted
 Reflection Vocabulary

 Virtual
Image–
 “Not Real” because it cannot be

projected
 Image only seems to be there!
                                
Virtual Images in Plane Mirrors
 
 
Rays seem to come from behind
the mirror, but, of course, they
don't.  It is virtually as if the rays
were coming from behind the
mirror.

"Virtually":  the same as if

As far as the eye-brain system is

concerned, the effect is the same
If light energy doesn't flow from the
as would occur if the mirror were
image, the image is "virtual".
absent and the chess piece were
actually located at the spot labeled
"virtual image".
 Hall Mirror
 Useful to think in terms of images

“real” you

mirror only “image” you

needs to be half as
high as you are tall. Your
image will be twice as far from you
as the mirror.
LEFT- RIGHT REVERSAL

AMBULANCE
Curved mirrors
 What if the mirror isn’t flat?
 light still follows the same rules, with local
surface normal
 Parabolic mirrors have exact focus
 used in telescopes, backyard satellite dishes,
etc.
 also forms virtual image
0
82a425d79

Concave Mirrors
 Curves inward
 May be real or virtual image
For a real object between f and the mirror, a virtual
image is formed behind the mirror. The image is
upright and larger than the object.
For a real object between C and f, a real
image is formed outside of C. The image is
inverted and larger than the object.
For a real object at C, the real image is
formed at C. The image is inverted and
the same size as the object.
For a real object close to the mirror but
outside of the center of curvature, the real
image is formed between C and f. The image is
inverted and smaller than the object.
What size image is formed if the
real object is placed at the focal
point f?

For a real object at f, no image is formed.

The reflected rays are parallel and never
converge.