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F4 Physics
C6 Light and Optics
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Cards (44)
Refraction of light:
Direction and speed of light
change
when crossing the boundary between two
materials
with different
densities
Example: light going from
air
to a
glass block
Refraction involves changes in
speed
and
direction
of light
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Diagram of light ray passing through a glass block:
Incident
ray: from point A to point O (same medium)
Refracted
ray: from point O to point B (different medium)
Normal line
(ON) must be
perpendicular
to the boundary
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Definition of incident angle and angle of refraction:
Incident angle
(i): angle between incident ray and normal line
Angle of refraction
(r): angle between refracted ray and normal line
Incident angle
is always
greater
than angle of refraction
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Light ray traveling from less dense to denser medium:
Bends
away
from the normal
Incident angle is
greater
than angle of refraction
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Light ray traveling from denser to less dense medium:
Bends
towards
the normal
Angle of refraction is
greater
than incident angle
View source
Law of
refraction
:
Incident ray, refracted ray, and normal line all meet at the
same
point
Snell's
Law: n = sin(i) / sin(r)
Incident angle (i) must be in
vacuum
for calculations
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Characteristics of refractive index:
Refractive index (n) is
higher
for denser mediums
Must be equal to or greater than
1
Has
no
unit
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Calculation of refractive index:
Example: Calculate refractive index of liquid X using Snell's Law
Formula: n = sin(i) / sin(r)
Answer should be a
constant number
without
units
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Drawing light ray diagrams:
Show direction of light when traveling from
less
dense to
denser
medium
Label
incident
and
refracted
angles
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Reversing calculations for refractive index:
If calculated value is less than
1
, reverse incident and refracted angles
Recalculate using
Snell's
Law to get a value greater than
1
View source
Experiment to determine refractive index of glass:
Describe the direction of light when traveling from
air
to
glass
State relationship between
incident
and
refracted
angles
Sketch a
graph
and name the
gradient value
Deduce
Snell's
Law based on the graph
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The relationship between the angle of incident and the angle of refraction is described by
Snell's
Law
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The
refractive index
is a value that indicates how much the speed of light is
reduced
when it passes through a medium
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The relationship between the incident angle and the refracted angle is found to be
directly proportional
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In a scenario where light passes from a less dense medium to a denser medium, the light ray bends
towards
the normal line
View source
To find the
refractive index
(n), use the formula n =
real depth
/
apparent depth
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Real depth
is the depth of the object in the water
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Apparent depth
is how deep the object appears to be due to refraction
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When light travels from a
denser
medium (water) to a
less
dense medium (air), it bends
away
from the normal
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The
virtual
image of an object appears above the
actual
object when viewed from above the
water
surface
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In an experiment to investigate the relationship between real depth and apparent depth, the hypothesis is that apparent depth
increases
as real depth
increases
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Explanation for shorter appearance in water:
Light ray
refracts away
from normal line, creating a
shallower
image
View source
Explanation for shooting failure:
Light
refracts
away from normal, creating a
shallower
image of the fish
View source
Methods to hit the fish:
Aim slightly
lower
or
perpendicular
to the fish to hit the actual object
View source
Applications of
light refraction
:
Eyeglasses, magnifying glass, binoculars, camera, telescope, and microscope utilize light refraction
View source
Total Internal Refraction
Critical
angle: angle of
incidence
in optically more dense medium which angle of refraction in optically less dense medium is
90
⁰.
Relationship between critical angle, c and refractive index, n for a medium is n =
1/sin(θ)
i =
0
no
bending
no
refraction
i < c, where c is
critical angle
reflect
away
from normal
refraction
less
than 90⁰
weak
reflected ray
angle of incidence
same
as angle of reflection
i = c
reflect
away
from normal
refraction
equal
to 90⁰
strong
reflected ray
angle of incidence
same
as angle of reflection
i > c
reflects
internally
in the glass block
no refraction
total
internal reflection
angle of incidence = angle of
reflection
Total
Internal Reflection
more
dense to
less
dense medium
angle of
incidence
more than
critical
angle
i = r
all incident light reflected within
denser
medium
all ray and point of incidence lie in the
same
plane and meet at the
same
point
Mirage
: a natural
phenomenon
in which light rays produce a
displaced
image of distant objects through
refraction
and
total internal reflection.
Mirage is caused by:
layers of
air
at different
heights
different
temperatures
and
optical densities
the
higher
the layer of air, the
colder
and more
optically dense
the layer of air
Rainbow is caused by:
water
droplet is
refracted
and
dispersed
into
seven
different colours when light from Sun enters water droplet
experience
total internal reflection
within water droplet
seven colours are
refracted
and dispersed again when emerging from water
droplet
to
air
Convex
lens
converging
lense
focal point is
real
focal length is
positive
Concave
lens
diverging
lense
focal point is
virtual
focal length is
negative
Convex Lens
Object at
infinity
(RID) ;
Real
,
Inverted
,
Diminished
Object beyond 2F (RID) ;
Real
,
Inverted
,
Diminished
Object at
2F
(RIS) ;
Real
,
Inverted
, Same size
Object between
F
and
2F
(RIM) ;
Real
, Inverted,
Magnified
Object at F (VUM) ;
Virtual
,
Upright
,
Magnified
Object between F and
optical centre
(VUM) ;
Virtual
,
Upright
,
Magnified
Concave
lens
Object
beyond
optical centre (VUD) ;
Virtual
,
Upright
,
Diminished
Linear Magnification
, m
=
Image
height, hi /
Object
height, ho
=
Image
distance, v /
object
distance, u
See all 44 cards
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