UNIT 6

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE AND

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS
INTRODUCTION
The existence of electromagnetic waves depends on two facts.
1. a time varying magnetic field acts as a source of an electric field, as
implied by Faraday’s law of induction.
2. a time-varying electric field acts as a source of a magnetic field , as
we’ll discuss later.
What is a wave?
 a wave is a disturbance that travels through a medium or in
vacuum from one location to another.
a wave is the motion of a disturbance that transfer from one
place to another only energy but not matter.
 A wave is a repeating disturbance that transfers energy
through matter or space.
 wave can be classified into
 mechanical and electromagnetic waves
 longitudinal and transversal wave.
:

.
2. : are waves in which wave motion/propagation
and material oscillation are parallel.
 these waves are characterized by their compression and
rarefactions. Eg. Sound wave, pressure wave, primary wave(p-
wave). Ave on spring oscillating back and forth….
These waves are demonstrated by using slinky spring as given in diagram
below.
3. Transversal waves: are waves where material oscillation and wave
motion/propagation are perpendicular.
 These waves are characterized by the crust(peak) and trough.
Eg. -Water wave,
- Secondary wave(S-wave)
-All electromagnetic waves i.e
 radio wave
 micro wave
 x-ray
 visible light
 infrared wave
UV -wave……
 6.1 Electromagnetic Waves
Electromagnetic waves: are transverse wave that can travel through
vacuum and material medium.
 these waves are produced by right angle oscillations of electric field
and magnetic waves.
 the source of electromagnetic wave is charges that accelerate in
magnetic and electric field.
Examples:
• visible light,
• Micro waves
• Radio wave
• X- ray
• Infrared wave
• UV-wave
Representations of wave
Any wave can be represented by using wave diagram and the following
terms.
• Wavelength(λ) - distance between two Successive crest or trough.
• Amplitude(A) – the maximum height of the wave from the
equilibrium/undisturbed point
• Period (T)- the amount of time required for one wavelength/to make
one complete cycles.
• Frequency(F) - the number of waves/complete cycles made by wave in
one second/ passing in a given amount of time. It is measure dy SI unit
called Hertz(Hz)
1Hz =1/sec=cycles/sec

• Notice from the definitions we can relate the properties of a wave

to one another
 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒
=
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠
Example; Exercise
1. A series of periodic transverse
wave has frequency of 20Hz
and wave length of 4m.
Calculate its period and speed.
2. Calculate the frequency of a
wave its speed is 10m/s and its
wavelength is 200mm.
3. What is the period of a wave if
the speed and wavelength of a
wave are 30cm/s and 10nm?
nm=10−9 𝑚
4. Calculate the speed of a wave
whose frequency is 20Hz and
wave length is 50µm?
Electromagnetic spectrum
It is the entire range the frequency of electro magnetic wave emitted
by sun. sun emits an electromagnetic wave with different frequency
and wavelength as given in diagram below.
 in vacuum all electromagnetic wave travel with the speed of light
C=3𝑥108 m/s
 what does it mean when we say that a wave has wave length of
20cm and period 2sec? ANSWER:
.
6.2 Reflection of light
• In this lesson we are going to talk about
 what reflection is
 the difference between specular and diffuse reflection of light.
 We will also be applying the law of reflection for flat mirrors and
 explain and describe images formed by
Reflection
-Reflection is a turning back of the light rays when it
face an obstacle along its path.
-It is when a ray of light strikes a plane mirror, the
light ray reflects off the mirror.
-Light travels in rectilinear/sraight line/ propagation in
space/air with speed of light.
 there are two types of reflection, specular reflection and diffusion
reflection.
1. Specular reflection is defined as light reflected from a smooth
surface at a defined angle.
• This is an example of specular reflection.
2. Diffuse reflection is reflection off of rough surfaces such as
clothing, paper, and the asphalt roadway.
• Diffuse reflection originates from a combination of internal
scattering of light.
• Diffuse reflection allows us to see most things around us.
o Example: Light is diffusely reflected from a paper in many
directions.
• You can see that the the reflection of the light hitting the
rough surface causes it to scatter in many different
directions
Law of reflection
1. The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal line lie on the same
plane.
2. The Law of Reflection states that- " the angle of incidence
(incoming ray) equals the angle of reflection (outgoing
ray)"
3. The angle of incident and angle of reflection are always measured
from the normal.

the incident angle i is equal to the reflected angle r

i=r
Terms used in mirror
: it is the point at which all light rays
incident parallel to the principal axis in curved mirrors are
converges.
 the focal point of plane mirror is at infinity
2. : is a line that passes through the
vertex/pole of the mirror.
3.
5.
Law of reflection of light rays in mirror.
1. Light rays incident parallel to the principal axis for concave mirror
converges to the principal focus.
2. Light rays incident through the principal focus reflects parallel
to the principal axis
3. The light rays incident through the center of curvature return back
with the same path.
4. The light rays incident to the pole/vertex of the mirror reflect
according to the law of reflection i=r
 Image formed by mirrors and their properties
1. Image formed by plane mirrors. the image formed by plane
mirror have the following property.
2. Image formed by convex/ diverging mirror: the image formed by
convex mirror has the following properties.

3. Image formed by concave/converging mirror:
by placing the object at different position in front of the concave
mirror, the image formed by concave mirror has the following
properties.
a. when the object is placed at infinity
the image is

 b. when object is placed behind the center of curvature:
the image is


C. when the object is placed at the center of curvature

the image is
 d. when the object is placed between C and F
the image is
f. when the object is place between focal point and pole of mirror
the image is
Equations of mirror
The equation of mirror is the same as equation of lenses we will discuss. It
relates
 distance of object (do) from mirror 1 1 1
 distance of image (di) from mirror  
 focal length (f) from mirror as follows f di do
 all do , di and f are measured from the pole of the mirror.
 di is positive for real image and negative for virtual image
 do is positive for concave mirror and negative if object place behind the
mirror
 f is positive for concave mirror and negative for convex mirror.
Magnification of mirror (M)
Magnification is given by the equation as follows.

𝑆𝑖
=
𝑆𝑜
Example 1; Example 2;

i
o
Exercise
1. A concave mirror has radius of curvature 4cm. If a 5cm object is
placed at a distance of 3cm in front of the mirror. Calculate
a. distance of the image b. magnification c. height of the image
2. How far must a girl stand in front of a converging mirror of focal
length 30cm in order to see her inverted face two times her natural
face.
3. A candle is placed 10cm away from a concave mirror. A virtual image
is formed at a distance of 50/3cm away from the mirror. Find the
focal length of the mirror.
6.3 Refraction of light
Refraction; is the change in direction of light when it passes from
one medium to an other medium.
 when light refracted the wave length and speed of light changes but
frequency of light remains constant. The change in speed made the
light to bend as shown in real object given below.
When light air passes from air to glass of water it change direction
and makes object seen as broken object.
Law of refraction
1. When light pass from denser to less denser medium it refract away
from the normal.
 speed and wave length increases.
 frequency is constant
 r>i
2. when light passes from less denser to denser medium it refracts
towards the normal.
 its speed and wave length decreases
 its frequency still constant
Index of refraction (n)
: is the measure of the extent at which a material
refract light.
Speed of light in vacuum = 3 x 108 m/s
Light is found to move slower in optically denser
mediums. (eg. glass and water)
The index of refraction for a material is the ratio of the velocity of
light in a vacuum (3 x 108 m/s) to the velocity through the
material.
Index of refraction c

c c
n n
v v
v
Examples: Air n= 1; glass n = 1.5; Water n = 1.33
 Snell’s Law

Medium 1 The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence q1

q1 to the sine of the angle of refraction q2 is equal
to the ratio of the incident velocity v1 to the
refracted velocity v2 .
q2

Medium 2
Snell’s Law: sin q1  v1
sin q 2 v2
Snell’s Law and Refractive Index
Example 3.
.

qɛ = 500
Same as entrance angle!
Forms of Snell's law
Refraction is affected by the index of refraction, the velocity, and the
wavelength. In general it is written as

Snell’s Law: sin q1 n2 v1 1

  
sin q 2 n1 v2 2

All the ratios are equal. It is helpful to recognize that only the index
n differs in the ratio order.
Example 5 Example 6: what is the sped of
light in water? n=1.33
Solution
n=c/v ,v=c/n=3 x 108 m/s/1.33
v=2.26𝑥108 m/s
Example 7. the speed of light in
one type of glass is 2𝑥108 m/s.
what is the index of refraction of
glass?
Solution;
n=c/v =3 x 108 m/s/2𝑥108 m/s
n=1.5
From the diagram given below

ɵ1 = ɵ4
Ɵ2=ɵ3

ɵ1
ɵ2
ɵ3
ɵ4
 Real and Lateral displacement
If an object or any object is placed n a container containing water, the object
seems it rises up when observed from top because of refraction of light that
comes from water as shown below.

apparent depth
real depth

The index of refraction (n) is calculated as

𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ
n=
𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ
 Total internal reflection
Light ray is unable to exit a medium.
Occurs when a ray of light passes from a denser to a less dense
medium
Angle of incidence in the denser medium is greater than the
critical angle.
When light passes at an angle from a medium of higher index to
one of lower index, the emerging ray bends away from the normal.
When the angle reaches a certain
maximum, it will be reflected
internally.
The critical angle qc is
the limiting angle of
incidence in a denser
medium that results in
an angle of refraction
equal to 900.
ɵ
Example 7. What is critical angle for light travelling from glass (n=1.5) to
a). Air n=1? b). Water n=1.33?
solution.
a). From glass (n1=1.5) to air(n2=1)
n2
Sinɵc= =1/1.5=0.67
n1

ɵc=41.80
b).from glass (n =1.5) to water (n =1.33)
1 2

n2
Sinɵc= =1.33/1.5=0.0.886
n1

ɵc=62.50
Uses of total internal refraction
Total internal reflection uses for
1. To convey messages using light wave
2. Fiber optics : it is a plastic cable use for

endoscpe; a device used by doctors to see the inside body.

eg. Stomach
It has two cables that extend from throat up to stomach
Fiber optics can also used to make decorative lightening such as lamp
as given below.
Image formed by concave and convex lenses
Lenses are transparent glass.
It is an optical system with two refracting surfaces.
Lenses are commonly used to form image by refraction in optical
instrument such as cameras, telescope, microscope.
There are two types of lenses.
 convex lens: it is a converging lens
- it is thicker at the middle and thinner at its
edge
- the property and nature of image formed by
this lens is the same as that of concave mirror except
 Concave lens: it is diverging lens
- it is thinner at the middle and
thicker at its edge
- it forms virtual image

Converging/ convex lens

concave/diverging lens
“It is a converging lens “It is a diverging lens such
such that a beam of that a parallel beam of
light passing through it light passing through it is
is brought to a point or caused to diverge or
focus”. spread out”.
converging lens- converges the diverging lens- diverge the light
light rays to the focal point rays incident to the lens parallel
incident to the lens parallel to the to the principal axis so they
principal axis converge to the focal point by
back ward extension of refracted
rays
Image formed by concave lens; concave lens form a virtual image.
-erect
Position and nature of image formed by convex lens
 Image formed by combinations of lenses
.
 telescope uses two lenses called the objective lens and eyepiece lens.
 objective lens:
.
 Eyepiece lens:
.
1. Simple Microscope
It is a magnifying glass: object placed between focal point F and lens
a virtual enlarged image is formed.

simple microscope
2. Telescope
• Telescope is designed for seeing more detail in an object that if long
distance away.

Intermediate
image
Fo

Final magnified, virtual

image is formed at
infinity because these
rays meet at infinity
The total length of the telescope will be the focal length of the
objective lens(Fo) which is very large added to the focal length of the
eye lens(Fe).
It is possible to workout the angular magnification of the telescope
using the formula
𝐹𝑜
magnification=
𝐹𝑒
3. Camera
• Camera is formed by inclosing a lens and a screen in light –tight box
as shown in figure below. The image is formed on the focal plane.
• Film is a device consists of light sensitive chemicals.
• In digital camera film is replaced by image capture surface that
converts the image in to a capture file.
• We can control the quality and size of the image by rotating the lens
0r sliding the lens backward or forward.
The eye works like a camera.
4. Human Eye
• The human eye is very similar to a camera. In both, the eye and a camera, an upside-down image
is produced.
• Light rays enter the eye through the cornea, the clear front “window” of the eye. The cornea’s
refractive power bends the light rays in such a way that they pass freely through the pupil-the
opening in the center of the iris through which light enters the eye.
• The Iris works like a shutter in a camera. It has the ability to enlarge and shrink, depending on
how much light is entering the eye.
• After passing through the iris, the light rays pass through the eye’s natural crystalline lens. This
clear, flexible structure works like the lens in a camera, shortening and lengthening its width in
order to focus light rays properly.
• Light rays pass through a dense, transparent gel-like substance, called the vitreous that fills the
globe of the eyeball and helps the eye hold its spherical shape.
• In a normal eye, the light rays come to a sharp focusing point on the Retina. The retina functions
much like the film in a camera. It is responsible for capturing all of the light rays, processing them
into light impulses through millions of tiny nerve endings, then sending these light impulses
through over a million nerve fibers to the optic nerve.
• The ability of the eye to focus on object at a various distance
Defects of the eye and their correction with lenses
Imperfection in the focusing power of the eye are called refractive
errors. There are different types of refractive errors.
 short sightedness (Myopia)
 long/far sightedness (Hypermetropia)
 old sightedness (presbyopia)
 Astigmatism
 Shortsightedness(Myopia): is the ability to clearly see from
short(close) distances. It usually happens when the lens is too strong
(round) for the eye. It can also be caused due to the eyeball being
too long for the lens. When looking at distant objects, the lens does
not flatten so the image is formed in front of the retina- not on it- so
the image is blurred.
To correct this defect, a diverging lens must be used. A diverging
(Concave) lens will diverge the parallel rays coming from distant
objects as if they were coming from close objects.
 Far/long sightedness(Hypermetropia): is the ability to see from
far distances clearly. It usually happens when the lens is too weak
(flat) for the eye. When looking at close objects, the lens does not
round so the image is formed behind the retina- not on it- so the
image is blurred.
To correct this defect, a converging lens must be used. A
converging (Convex) lens will converge the diverged rays coming
from close objects as if they were coming from further objects.
 Old Sight(Presbyopia): it is loss of reading vision. Presbyopia
occurs with age as the lens of the eye gradually loses its elasticity
(ability to spring back into shape). This reduces the ability of the
lens to focus for near vision. The first indication of presbyopia
usually is difficulty with reading. Large print appears clearly, but
small print is difficult to read except at arm’s length. Eventually,
the lenses of the eyes have little or no focusing ability.
Simple reading eyeglasses with convex lenses correct
most cases of presbyopia. Eyeglass prescriptions may need
adjusting over the course of 10 to 20 years to correct the
progressive nature of the disorder.
 Astigmatism: is a defect in the outer curvature on the surface of
the eye that causes distorted vision. In the normal eye, light rays
coming from a single point are bent, or refracted, toward each
other by the cornea. As the rays pass through the inner parts of
the eye, the lens bends the rays still further, focusing them to a
point on the retina. In a patient with an astigmatism, the cornea
or sometimes the lens of the eye is curved abnormally. This causes
light rays to refract unevenly inside the eye. While some light rays
focus on the retina, other light rays focus in front of or behind the
retina, resulting in blurred vision.
To correct the defect, we use spectacles fitted with
cylindrical lenses, whose surfaces are parts of a cylinder-
not spherical.
 Diffraction = It is apparent bending of light waves around the obstacle in its
path.
It is the mechanism of splitting white light into seven colors according to
their wavelength by refracting it with prisms and produce spectrum.
As we move from red color to violet color the wave length decreases but
frequency increases or vice versa. This means
 red color has longer wavelength and lower frequency while violet has
higher frequency and short wavelength.
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
………………………………The End………………………………….

prepared by
Getnet Begashaw