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OpticsForDummiesCheatSheetForDummies

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OpticsForDummies
FromOpticsForDummiesbyGalenC.Duree,Jr.
Opticscoversthestudyoflight.Threephenomenareflection,refraction,anddiffractionhelpyoupredictwherea
rayorraysoflightwillgo.Otherimportantopticstopicsincludeinterference,polarization,andfiberoptics.

ReflectionandRefractionEquationsforPredicting
Light'sDirection
Reflectionandrefractionaretwoprocessesthatchangethedirectionlight
travels.Usingtheequationsforcalculatingreflectionandrefraction,youcan
predictwhereraysencounteringasurfacewillgowhethertheyreflector
refract(bounceoffthesurfaceorbendthroughit)whichisanimportant
conceptinthestudyofoptics.Thefollowingequationshelpyoudetermine
reflectionandrefractionangles:
Thelawofreflection:Thelawofreflectionshowstherelationshipbetween
theincidentangleandthereflectedangleforarayoflightincidentona
surface.Theanglesaremeasuredrelativetothesurfacenormal(alinethatis
perpendiculartothesurface),notrelativetothesurfaceitself.Here'sthe
formula:

Theindexofrefraction:Thisquantitydescribestheeffectofatomsand
moleculesonthelightasittravelsthroughatransparentmaterial.Usethis
basicformulafortheindexofrefraction:

Snell'slaworthelawofrefraction:Snell'slawshowstherelationship
betweentheincidentangleandthetransmittedangle(refractedangle)fora
rayoflightincidentonasurfaceofatransparentmaterial.Youcanseehow
Snell'slawworksinthefollowingformula:
Thecriticalanglefortotalinternalreflection:Totalinternalreflectionisthe
situationwherelighthitsandreflectsoffthesurfaceofatransparentmaterial
withouttransmittingthroughthesurface.Itutilizesthecriticalangle(the
minimumangleofincidencewheretotalinternalreflectiontakesplace.).For
totalinternalreflectiontooccur,thelightmuststartinthematerialwiththe
higherindex.Here'stheformula:

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EquationsforOpticalImaging
Imagingisakeyfunctionofoptics.Specificopticsequationscanhelpyou
determinethebasiccharacteristicsofanimageandpredictwhereitwillform.
Usethefollowingopticsequationsforyourimagingneeds:
Lateralmagnification:Lateralmagnificationisonewayyoucandescribe
howbigtheimageiscomparedtotheoriginalobject.Herearetheequations:

Locatingimagesformedbymirrors:Anobjectplacedacertaindistance
awayfromamirrorwillproduceanimageatacertaindistancefromthemirror.
Insomecaseswherethemirrorsarecurved,youmaybegiventhefocallength
ofamirror.Usetheseequations:

Locationofimagesformedbyarefractingsurface:Anobjectplaceda
certaindistanceawayfromarefractingsurfacewillproduceanimageata
certaindistancefromthesurface.Theequationforthisis

Thelensmaker'sformula:Thisequationallowsyoutocalculatethefocal
lengthofalensifallyouknowisthecurvatureofthetwosurfaces.Here'sthe
lensmaker'sformula:

Thethinlensequation:Anobjectplacedacertaindistanceawayfroma
lenswillproduceanimageatacertaindistancefromthelens,andthethin
lensequationrelatestheimagelocationtotheobjectdistanceandfocal
length.Thefollowingisthethinlensequation:

OpticalPolarizationEquations
Opticalpolarizationistheorientationoftheplanesofoscillationoftheelectric
fieldvectorsformanylightwaves.Opticalpolarizationisoftenamajor
considerationintheconstructionofmanyopticalsystems,soequationsfor
workingwithpolarizationcomeinhandy.Thefollowingequationshighlightsome
importantpolarizationconcepts.Theequationslistedhereallowyoutocalculate
howtomakepolarizedlightbyreflectionandtodeterminehowmuchlight
passesthroughmultiplepolarizers:
PolarizingangleorBrewster'sangle:Thisangleistheangleofincidence
wherethereflectedlightislinearlypolarized.Here'stheequation:

Malus'law:Thisequationallowsyoutocalculatehowmuchpolarizedlight
passesthroughalinearpolarizer.TheequationforMalus'lawis
Phaseretardationinabirefringentmaterial:Abirefringentmaterialhas
twoindexesofrefraction.Whenyousendpolarizedlightintoabirefringent
material,thetwocomponentstravelthroughthematerialwithdifferentspeeds.
Thisdiscrepancycanresultinachangeinthepolarizationstateorsimply
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rotatethepolarizationstate.Usethisequation:

OpticalInterferenceEquations
Opticalinterferenceisjusttheinteractionoftwoormorelightwaves.Optical
interferenceisusefulinmanyapplications,soyouneedtounderstandsome
basicequationsrelatedtothisopticalphenomenon.Thefollowingequations
allowyoutocalculatevariousquantitiesrelatedtoopticalinterferenceinthetwo
mostcommoninterferencearrangements.
ThelocationofthebrightanddarkfringesinYoung'stwoslit
interferencearrangement:Thefollowingequationsallowyoutocalculatethe
locationofthebrightfringes(whereconstructiveinterferenceoccurs)anddark
fringes(wheredestructiveinterferenceoccurs):

Thephaseshiftduetothefilmthicknessinthinfilminterference:When
lightisincidentstraightontoathinfilm(suchasanoilslickonthesurfaceofa
poolofwater),lightraysreflectingfromthetopandthebottomofthefilm
interfere(eitherconstructivelyordestructivelydependingonthefilmthickness
andthewavelengthofthelight).Thefollowingequationsdetermine
constructiveordestructiveinterferencedependingonwhetherthephaseshift
producedbyreflectionneedstobeshiftedbyhalfthewavelength(thefirst
equation)ormaintained(thesecondequation):

OpticalDiffractionEquations
Diffractionislight'sresponsetohavingsomethingmesswithitspath,so
diffractionoccursonlywhensomethingblockspartofthewavefront.Diffractionis
thephenomenonwherelightbendsaroundanobstacle(thisbendingisnotdue
torefraction,becausethematerialdoesn'tchangeasrefractionrequires).The
followingequationscoverthemostcommonsituationsinvolvingdiffraction,
includingresolution.
Resolution:Resolutionistheminimumangularseparationbetweentwo
objectssuchthatyoucantellthattherearetwodistinctobjects.Here'sthe
equationfordeterminingresolution:

Thelocationofthedarkfringesproducedbydiffractionthrougha
singleslit:Becauseaslithasawidthlargerthanthewavelength,lightrays
fromdifferentpartsoftheslitinterferewitheachother,creatingafringepattern.
Youcanrelativelyeasilylocatethepointswherethelightdestructively
interferesbyusingthefollowingequation:

Thelocationofthedifferentdiffractionordersfromadiffraction
grating:Adiffractiongratinghasaverylargenumberofslitsspacedclosely
together,suchthatthelightfromeachoftheseslitsinterfereswiththelightfrom
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theothers.Youcanprettyeasilyidentifywherethelightconstructivelyinterferes
byusingthefollowingequation:

EquationsfortheCharacteristicsofFiberOpticFibers
Besidesimaging,fiberopticnetworksareprobablythelargestapplicationof
optics.Fiberopticsareverylong,thinglassfibersthattransferinformation
bearinglightfromoneplacetoanother,butthatmaynotbeindirectsightofeach
other.Youneedtobeawareofafewcharacteristicsoftheparticularfiberyou're
usingsothatyoucanensuretheinformationisaccuratelytransmittedfromone
endofthefibertotheother.Thefollowingequationscoverthreeofthebasic
parametersnecessaryforproperuseofopticalfibers.
Themaximumacceptanceangleforafiber:Thisangleisthelargestangle
ofincidenceatwhichlightcanentertheendofthefiberandbetotallyinternally
reflectedinsidethefiber.Anglesofincidencelargerthanthisanglewill
transmitthroughthesidesofthefiberandnotmakeittotheotherend.The
equationforthisangleis

Thenumericalapertureforafiber:Thenumericalapertureisameasureof
thelightgatheringpowerofthefiber.Ithasamaximumvalueof1(allthelight
remainstrappedinsidethefiber)andaminimumvalueof0(onlylightincident
atanangleof0degreesontheendofthefiberremainstrappedinthefiber).
Usethisequation:

Intermodaldispersioninafiber:Thischaracteristicmeasuresthe
differenceintimethatdifferentfibermodestaketoreachtheendofthefiber.
Thelargerthistimedifference,theshorterthefiberhastobesothatthe
informationonthislightdoesn'tturnintojunk.Here'stheequation:

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