More about refraction

If the angle of incidence is 900, the ray enters along the normal to the surface of the glass block. The light slows down but does not change direction. As it leaves, it speeds up but does not change direction. Descartes law states that the incident ray, refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence all lay on the same plane The refractive index of a material (medium) is related to how dense it is. Generally, the denser the material, the higher the refractive index.

increased beyond the critical angle, total internal reflection occurs.

Reflection may occur every time a ray of light is incident on a boundary between two media but total internal reflection can only occur when the incident angle is greater than the critical angle. Total internal reflection can be used in optical fibres. An optical fibre has a thin glass cylindrical core coated with a transparent material of lower refractive index (cladding).

(n is a constant for the material and has no unit) The relationship between the angle of incidence i and the angle of refraction r is given by:

Total internal reflection

Increasing the angle of incidence increases the angle of refraction.

The cladding has a lower refractive index than the core, i.e. it is less dense. This means that total internal reflection will occur for all rays of light that hit the boundary between the core and the cladding at an angle greater than the critical angle. Optical fibres can be used to communicate signals, for example telephone conversations, or in medical applications such as endoscopy.

When r = 900, the angle of incidence=the critical angle. If the angle of incidence is

Prisms
The critical angle of an ordinary glass is 420 and a ray falling normally on a prism hits at 450 . Total internal reflection occurs and the ray is turned trough 900.

This means that violet is bent through the largest angle and red through the smallest. The other colours of visible light appear in between and so a spectrum is seen on the screen. The refractive index of glass is higher for violet light than for red light. When light spreads out into the colours of the spectrum, this is called dispersion.

Lenses
A converging (convex) lens is thickest in the centre and bends light inwards. If it is used to produce an image on a screen, the image will be upside down. When the image is sharp and clear we say it is in focus.

Light can also be reflected through 1800 by a prism.

Dispersion of light
White light is made up of a range of different frequencies. We can say that white light is made of many different colours. This can be demonstrated experimentally using a triangular glass prism.

A diverging (concave) lens is thinnest in the centre and spreads light out. It always gives a diminished image.

When white light passes through a triangular glass prism, it refracts at each surface and is deviated through a large angle. Of all the colours that make white light, violet travels slowest in glass and red travels fastest in glass.

The centre of a lens is optical centre C and the line through C at right angles to the lens is the principal axis. When a beam of light parallel to principal axis passes through a converging lens it is refracted so as to converge to a point on the

axis called principal focus F. It is a real focus. A diverging lens has a virtual principal focus behind the lens, from which the refracted beam seems to diverge. Since light can fall on both faces of a lens it has two principal foci, one on each side, equidistant from C. The distance between the principal focus and the centre of the lens is called the focal length. The more curved the lens faces are, the smaller f is and the more powerful is the lens.

Object between F and 2F

Image is real (can be focused on a screen), inverted and magnified. The image distance is greater than 2F. This arrangement is used in a projector.

Ray diagrams
Each ray diagram should include three rays: 1 A ray parallel to the principal axis which is refracted through the principal focus F.

Object beyond 2F

2 A ray through the optical centre C which is undeviated for a thin lens.

The image is real, inverted and diminished (smaller than the object). The image distance is less than 2F. This arrangement is used in a camera.

Object between the centre of the lens and F

3 A ray through the principal focus F which is refracted parallel to the principal focus.

Where the three rays meet an image is formed. Each ray must have an arrow on it to indicate the direction of the travel of light.

Image is virtual (cannot be focused on a screen but can be seen by looking into the lens), magnified and upright (the same way up as the object). The image distance is greater than the object distance. This arrangement is used in a magnifying glass.

Object at 2F

Optical instruments
Camera
A conventional camera is a light-tight box in which a converging lens forms a real image on a film. The image is smaller than the object and nearer to the lens. The film contains chemicals that change on exposure of light; it is developed to give a negative. From the negative a photograph is mad by printing.

Image is real, inverted and the same size as the object. The image distance is equal to 2F.

Object at F

No image exists because the refracted rays are parallel.

Magnification
The linear magnification m is given by:

Spectacles
Short sight defect is corrected by a diverging spectacle lens which diverges the light before it enters the eye, to give an image on the retina. A converging spectacle lens corrects long sight defect.

It can be shown that in all cases

Power of a lens
The shorter the focal length of a lens, the stronger it is, i.e. the more it converges or diverges a beam of light. We define the power of lens P to be 1/focal length of the lens where the focal length is measured in metres.

Magnifying glass
A converging lens gives an enlarged, upright, virtual image of an object placed inside its principal focus F. The more curved a converging lens is, the shorter its focal length and the more it magnifies. Too much curvature however distorts the image.

Pitch and loudness

The faster the tuning fork vibrates, the higher the frequency of the sound wave and higher the pitch. If the tuning fork vibrates with greater amplitude, the sound is louder.

Semiconductors
Semiconductors (silicon, germanium) have a very high resistance and are insulators if they are very pure, especially at low temperatures. Their conductivity increases at higher temperatures. This is the opposite to the case of metals. The resistance of semiconductors decreases at higher temperatures. The conductivity of semiconductors can be increased by a process called doping.

LOGIC GATE
NOT

SYMBOL

TRUTH TABLE
INPUT OUTPUT 0 1 1 0

INPUT OUTPUT 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

AND

0 1 1

Digital electronics
A digital system consists of an input sensor and a processor circuit, which controls the voltage to an output device. The processor circuit consists of a series of logic gates which respond to small voltages, which are either on or off (digital signals). They do not respond to analogue signals. An analogue signal varies continuously in amplitude. OR

INPUT OUTPUT 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1

INPUT OUTPUT 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

NAND

0 1 1

INPUT OUTPUT 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0

A digital signal has only two states: high and low (or on and off, or 1 and 0).

NOR

0 1 1

Logic gates
Logic gates are circuits containing transistors and other components. They transform a digital input voltage into an output, which depends on the type of logic gate. The input and output voltages are given as 1 or 0 (on or off) and can be represented in a truth table.

A NOT gate gives an output that is the opposite of the input. An AND gate only gives an output if the input A and B are both 1. An OR gate gives an output if input A or input B is 1. Logic gates can be combined to perform different functions in electrical circuits.