1.

Reflection
angle of incidence = angle of reflection
For a PLANE (flat) mirror

NORMAL is an imaginary line that is 900 to the surface of the mirror

When we measure the Angle of Incidence (the angle that the light ray is coming into the mirror) we measure it FROM THE NORMAL When we measure the Angle of Reflection (the angle that the light ray is coming off the mirror) we measure it FROM THE NORMAL

2.

Refraction

Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one substance into another eg air to glass. Light bends because it changes speed.

Which way does the light bend when it is REFRACTED??

If the light is entering a medium that causes it to slow down, it will bend TOWARDS the normal line. If the light is entering a medium that causes it to speed up, it will bend AWAY from the normal line.

The speed of the light in a substance depends on the optical density or Refractive Index. The higher the optical density and Refractive Index, the more the light will SLOW down and the more it will bend towards the normal.

3.

Total Internal Reflection

Sometimes the light cant escape a substance and it is reflected inside it. This is called TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION and happens inside Optical Fibres.

We use OPTICAL FIBRES in:

Endoscopy (Keyhole Surgery) Data Transfer (Internet) Decorations (Christmas Trees etc)

4.
Lenses

Lenses and Curved Mirrors

There are two types of lenses: CONVEX These bulge in the middle CONCAVE These curve inwards in the middle like a cave

When light rays come together after passing through a lens they are said to be CONVERGING. If the light rays cross they form a REAL IMAGE. These types of images can be projected onto a screen.

When light rays dont come together after passing through a lens they are said to be DIVERGING. If the light rays dont cross they form a VIRTUAL IMAGE. These types of images cannot be projected onto a screen.

Sometimes the images are the right way up. We call these UPRIGHT. Sometimes they are upside down. We call these INVERTED. If they are bigger, we call them ENLARGED.

If they are smaller, we call them DIMINISHED.

The point where the light rays meet and cross in a Convex lens we call the FOCUS. The distance between the FOCUS and the lens is the FOCAL LENGTH.

The stronger the lens, the shorter the focal length.

5.

Ray Tracing Diagrams

We use Ray Tracing Diagrams to predict where an image may form, whether it will be upright or inverted, enlarged or diminished or whether it will be real or virtual.

CONVEX LENSES
Convex Lenses can produce different types of images depending on where the object and the lens are.

CONCAVE LENSES

Concave lenses can produce only upright, diminished and virtual images.

6.

Curved Mirrors

Apart from plane (flat) mirrors, there are two other types of mirrors. These are curved outwards (CONVEX MIRRORS) or curved inwards (CONCAVE MIRRORS).

CONCAVE mirrors produce an enlarged virtual image of an object placed close to the mirror. These are useful in applications like: Shaving mirrors

CONVEX mirrors produce a wider view by creating a virtual, diminished image that looks like it is coming from behind the mirror. These are useful in applications that need a wide view such as: Rear view mirrors in cars Shoplifting mirrors in shops Safety mirrors around blind bends in roads or driveways

7.

Colour

Light from the sun or a light bulb is called WHITE LIGHT. It is actually made up of all colours that are added together. We can split white light using a prism. When we split up the white light we form a spectrum of colours (like in a rainbow). The spectrum is made up of the colours:

O Y

G B

These are:

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

The process of splitting up the white light into its colours is called DISPERSION.

Rainbows occur when the sun shines through raindrops. The raindrops behave like tiny little prisms and split the light up into the spectrum of colours (ROYGBIV). We can then see a rainbow.

Blue Skies and Red Sunsets

The sky is blue and sunsets may be reddish because of another phenomenon called SCATTERING. Light from the sun travels through the atmosphere and hits molecules of gas or dust particles. Blue light is scattered more than the other colours so we see the sky as blue. At sunset (or sunrise) almost all the blue light is scattered because the suns light has to travel through more atmosphere to get to us. We therefore see the sky in a red or orange/yellow colour.

Colour Mixing
It is possible to mix certain colours of light together and get a completely different coloured light. The three primary colours RED, GREEN and BLUE can be mixed to form all the other colours of light that we can see. These three are called PRIMARY COLOURS and the colours that they form when they are mixed are called SECONDARY COLOURS.

You can see from the diagram that mixing: RED and GREEN = YELLOW RED and BLUE = MAGENTA BLUE and GREEN = CYAN RED + BLUE + GREEN = WHITE

If we have a SECONDARY COLOUR and we add the missing PRIMARY COLOUR, then we can get WHITE light e.g. YELLOW + BLUE = WHITE