Physics

Investigator
y
Project
Kamal Singh
12th A
K.V. 2 Colaba
Mumbai

TOTAL
INTERNAL
REFLECTION

Certificate
This is hereby to certify that the
original and genuine investigation
work has been carried out to
investigate about the subject matter
and the related data collection and
investigation has been completed
solely, sincerely and satisfactorily by
Kamal Singh a student of class 12th
A of Kendriya Vidyalaya 2 Colaba
Mumbai , regarding his project
titled
Total Internal Reflection

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TEACHER SIGNATURE

It would be my utmost
pleasure to express my
sincere thanks to my Physics
teacher

Mrs.Manju Rawat

mam in providing a helping

hand in this project. Her
valuable guidance, support and
supervision all through this
project are responsible for
attaining its present form. I
would also like to thank my
parents and friends as they
encouraged me to put forward
my project.

CONTENTS

 Introduction
Optical description
Critical angle
Phase shift upon total
internal reflection
Total internal reflection in
diamond
Applications of total internal
reflection
Examples in everyday life
Total Internal Reflection
using a Soda
Bottle{EXPERIMENT}

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

Total internal reflection is an optical phenomenon

that happens when a ray of light strikes a
medium boundary at an angle larger than a
particular critical angle with respect to the
normal to the surface. If the refractive index is
lower on the other side of the boundary and the
incident angle is greater than the critical angle,
no light can pass through and all of the light is
reflected. The critical angle is the angle of
incidence above which the total internal
reflectance occurs.
When a light beam crosses a boundary between
materials with different kinds of refractive
indices, the light beam will be partially refracted
at the boundary surface, and partially reflected.
However, if the angle of incidence is greater (i.e.
the ray is closer to being parallel to the
boundary) than the critical angle the angle of
incidence at which light is refracted such that it
travels along the boundary then the light will
stop crossing the boundary altogether and
instead be totally reflected back internally. This
can only occur where light travels from a medium
with a higher [n1=higher refractive index] to one
with a lower refractive index [n2=lower refractive
index]. For example, it will occur when passing
from glass to air, but not when passing from air
to glass.

OPTICAL DESCRIPTION

Total internal reflection can be demonstrated using a

semi-circular block of glass or plastic. A "ray box"
shines a narrow beam of light (a "ray") onto the
glass. The semi-circular shape ensures that a ray
pointing towards the centre of the flat face will hit
the curved surface at a right angle; this will prevent
refraction at the air/glass boundary of the curved
surface. At the glass/air boundary of the flat surface,
what happens will depend on the angle? Where is C
the critical angle measurement which is caused by
the sun or a light source (measured normal to the
surface):
If < C, the ray will split. Some of the ray will
reflect off the boundary, and some will refract as it
passes through. This is not total internal reflection.
If > C, the entire ray reflects from the
boundary. None passes through. This is called total
internal reflection.
This physical property makes optical fibres useful
and prismatic binoculars possible. It is also what
gives diamonds their distinctive sparkle, as diamond
has an unusually high refractive index.

CRITICAL ANGLE
The critical angle is the angle of incidence above
which total internal reflection occurs. The angle
of incidence is measured with respect to the
normal at the refractive boundary (see diagram
illustrating Snell's law). Consider a light ray
passing from glass into air. The light emanating
from the interface is bent towards the glass.
When the incident angle is increased sufficiently,
the transmitted angle (in air) reaches 90 degrees.
It is at this point no light is transmitted into air.
The critical angle is given by Snell's law.
n1 sin i=n2 sin t

Rearranging Snell's Law, we get incidence

sin i=

n2
sin t
n1

To find the critical angle, we find the value for

t =90

when

and thus

sin t =1

.The resulting

value of is equal to the critical angle .

Now, we can solve for , and we get the
equation for the critical angle:
c

c = i=sin

n2
n1

( )

If the incident ray is precisely at the critical

angle, the refracted ray is tangent to the
boundary at the point of incidence. If for
example, visible light were travelling through

acrylic glass (with an index of refraction of 1.50)

into air (with an index of refraction of 1.00), the
calculation would give the critical angle for light
from acrylic into air, which is
c =sin1

=41.8
( 1.00
1.50 )

PHASE SHIFT UPON

TOTAL INTERNAL
REFLECTION
A lesser-known aspect of total internal reflection
is that the reflected light has an angle dependent
phase shift between the reflected and incident
light. Mathematically this means that the Fresnel
reflection coefficient becomes a complex rather
than a real number. This phase shift is
polarization dependent and grows as the
incidence angle deviates further from the critical
angle toward grazing incidence.
The polarization dependent phase shift is long
known and was used by Fresnel to design the
Fresnel rhomb which allows transforming circular
polarization to linear polarization and vice versa
for a wide range of wavelengths (colours), in
contrast to the quarter wave plate. The
polarization dependent phase shift is also the
reason why TE and TM guided modes have
different dispersion relations.

TOTAL INTERNAL
REFLECTION IN
DIAMOND

From glass to air the critical angle is about 42o but it

varies from one medium to another. The material
that gives the smallest critical angle is diamond.
That is why they sparkle so much! Rays of light can
easily be made to 'bounce around inside them' by
careful cutting of the stone and the refraction at the
surfaces splits the light into a spectrum of colours!
Relatively speaking, the critical angle 24.4o for the
diamond-air boundary is extremely small. This
property of the diamond-air boundary plays an
important role in the brilliance of a diamond
gemstone. Having a small critical angle, light has the
tendency to become "trapped" inside of a diamond
once it enters. Most rays approach the diamond at
angles of incidence greater than the critical angle (as
it is so small) so a light ray will typically undergo TIR
several times before finally refracting out of the
diamond. This gives diamond a tendency to sparkle.
The effect can be enhanced by the cutting of a
diamond gemstone with a 'strategically' planned
shape.

APPLICATIONS OF
TOTAL INTERNAL
REFLECTION

Total internal reflection is the operating

principle of optical fibres, which are used in
endoscopes and telecommunications.
Total internal reflection is the operating
principle of automotive rain sensors, which
control automatic windscreen/windshield
wipers.
Another application of total internal reflection
is the spatial filtering of light.
Prismatic binoculars use the principle of total
internal reflections to get a very clear image.
Gonioscopy employs total internal reflection
to view the anatomical angle formed between
the eye's cornea and iris.
Optical fingerprinting devices use frustrated
total internal reflection in order to record an
image of a person's fingerprint without the
use of ink.
A Total internal reflection fluorescence
microscope uses the evanescent wave
produced by TIR to excite fluorophores close
to a surface. This is useful for the study of
surface properties of biological samples.

EXAMPLES IN
EVERYDAY LIFE
Total internal reflection can be observed while
swimming, when one opens one's eyes just under the
water's surface. If the water is calm, its surface
appears mirror-like.
One can demonstrate total internal reflection by
filling a sink or bath with water, taking a glass
tumbler, and placing it upside-down over the plug
hole (with the tumbler completely filled with water).
While water remains both in the upturned tumbler
and in the sink surrounding it, the plug hole and plug
are visible since the angle of refraction between
glass and water is not greater than the critical angle.
If the drain is opened and the tumbler is kept in
position over the hole, the water in the tumbler
drains out leaving the glass filled with air, and this
then acts as the plug. Viewing this from above, the
tumbler now appears mirrored because light reflects
off the air/glass interface.
This is different phenomenon from reflection and
refraction. Reflection occurs when light goes back in
same medium. Refraction occurs when light travels
from different mediums. Here both are not
happening. This is due to both and a mixture of
both.Another common example of total internal
reflection is a critically cut diamond. This is what
gives it maximum spark

Total Internal Reflection

using a Soda Bottle
Explanation
In this case, nair = 1.00 nwater = 1.33. Therefore:

In this demo light will continually reflect through the

stream of water creating total internal reflection
(TIR). The stream of water will 'carry' the light
though, to the end of the stream.

Total Internal Reflection is the principle behind fiber

optics.

Materials
empty soda pop bottle (2 liter)
tape
hand drill
drill bits
water
green laser
bucket
old books, etc for stands

Procedure

First set up
the
soda bottle by
drilling a hole
near the
bottom of the bottle. Begin
with a drill bit that has a
diameter which is slightly larger than
the diameter of the laser that will be used. We
used a 1/4 inch drill bit, however sizes as small as
7/32 inch worked as well.

 First tape the hole and then fill the bottle with
water. The cap will prevent leaking because it
creates a vacuum in the bottle.
Stand the soda bottle on top of a stack of books so
the hole is facing the bucket. The laser should be
placed in a binder clip so it stays on, and then set
on a stack of books and papers. The laser should
be lined up so that the laser light goes through
the soda bottle, and into the center of the hole.
See for details.
Carefully remove the tape and then unscrew the
top of the soda bottle. The light should reflect
within the stream of water so that you could see
at least a few points of reflection. The light should
be visible through the entire stream.
If the reflections of the light arent clear, it may be
necessary to expand the hole by drilling through
the existing hole with a larger drill bit. This
process may need to be repeated several times.

Notes
This is an messy experiment. Be ready to adjust
the bucket which catches the stream of water.
Also be aware that the stream's curvature will
change as the water level decreases. It will bend
closer to the bottle, and the bucket may need to
be adjusted again. When the water level is a little
above the hole there will be no total internal
reflection although the stream will continue.
Place the cap back on, or put the bottle inside of
the bucket.

 Make sure to have lots of paper towels! Towels or

rags could be useful too. However, this mess is
water, and therefore easy to clean up.
Some resources suggest putting a drop of food
coloring in the bottom of the bucket to match the
laser light, giving the appearance that the water
has permanently 'trapped'
the
colored light.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Following Books and websites were a source for
my project.

Wikipedia
NCERT Physics Textbook for class 12
Feynman Lectures on Physics
Google