Delhi Public School, Sonepat

CLASS-10
SUBJECT-PHYSICS (SCIENCE)
Chapter 10: LIGHT- REFLECTION and REFRACTION
Light: A form of energy that causes a sensation of sight.

Nature of Light:
1. It does not require any material medium to propagate.
2. Light travels in a straight line. ( Rectilinear Propagation of Light)
3. It shows dual nature/ behavior – wave as well as particle.

When light falls on an object some of it is transmitted (passes through), some reflected
and the rest absorbed.

We can see things when light falls on an object and gets reflected. When this reflected
light enters the eyes then we can see the object.

Important phenomena related to light:

1. Reflection Based on rectilinear propagation of light
2. Refraction

3. Interference Based on wave nature of light

4. Diffraction

Diffraction: Bending of light around the edges of a small opaque object is called
diffraction.

Reflection: The bouncing back of light in the same medium after striking a surface
(usually polished).

Two types of Mirror are:

Plane mirrors and Curved mirrors

Curved mirrors are of three types:

1. Spherical mirrors 2. Cylindrical mirrors 3. Parabolic mirrors

Two types of Image:

Real image Virtual image

Images formed by actual intersection of Images formed by the apparent intersection
light rays are called real images. of light rays are called virtual images.
They are always inverted. They are always erect.
They can be obtained on the screen. They cannot be obtained on the screen.

Incident Ray: Ray of light which falls on a polished surface is called incident ray.
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Reflected Ray: The ray of light which goes back to the same medium after striking the
polished surface is called reflected ray.

Point of Incidence: The point on the reflecting surface where the light falls is called the
point of incidence.

Normal: The imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the reflecting surface at the point of
incidence is called normal.

Angle of Incidence: The angle formed between incident ray and normal is known as
angle of incidence.

Angle of Reflection: The angle formed between reflected ray and normal is known as
angle of reflection.

Laws of Reflection:
1. Angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection.
2. Incident ray, reflected ray and normal to the surface at the point of incidence all
lie in the same plane.
These laws are applicable for all types of mirrors.
Ques. If angle of incidence of a ray getting reflected from a spherical mirror is 62° then
what will be the value of angle of reflection?
Ans. Angle of reflection = 62° ( as ∟i = ∟r)

Ques. If a ray of light is incident on a mirror as shown in the figure, then what
will be the angle of incidence and angle of reflection? Also trace the path of
ray which will be followed after reflection.
Ans. ∟i = 0° and ∟r = 0° (as ∟i = ∟r). The reflected ray will follow the same
path as incident ray when it is incident normally/perpendicularly on the mirror.

Properties of Image formed by Plane mirror:

1. Image formed is virtual and erect.
2. Size of image is equal to that of object.
3. Image formed by the plane mirror is always at the same distance from the mirror
as the object is in front of it.
4. Image is laterally inverted.

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Ques. If a person is standing 23 cm from a plane mirror with a painting in his hand, what
will be the distance between the image of the painting and
a) the mirror b) the person ?
Ans. a) The distance between the image and the mirror is 23 cm.
b) The distance between the image and the person is 46 cm.

Lateral Inversion: The phenomenon of left of the object appearing as the right of the
image and the right of the object appearing as left of the image is called lateral inversion.
It takes place in all types of mirrors.

Spherical Mirror: A mirror whose reflecting surface forms the part of a sphere is called
a spherical mirror.
Two types of Spherical Mirror:

Concave Mirror Convex Mirror

A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface
is curved inwards and faces towards the is curved outwards and faces away from
centre of sphere. the centre of sphere.
It is also called converging mirror. It is called diverging mirror.
Image formed is usually real and inverted Image formed is always virtual and erect.
except when the object is placed very close
to the surface of the mirror.
Image can be magnified, same size as that The image formed is always diminished no
of the object or diminished depending upon matter where the object is placed.
the position of the object.

Important terms related to Spherical Mirror:

1. Pole: The centre of the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is called the pole. It
lies on the surface of the mirror and is denoted by P.
2. Centre of Curvature: The centre of the sphere of which the reflecting surface of
the spherical mirror forms a part, is called the centre of curvature. It lies outside
the reflecting surface of the spherical mirror. It is denoted by C. It lies in front of
the concave mirror and behind the convex mirror.
Pole lies on the mirror while Centre of curvature lies outside it.
3. Radius of Curvature: The radius of the sphere of which the reflecting surface
forms a part, is called the radius of curvature. It is denoted by R and is equal to
the distance between P and C.
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 4. Principal Axis: The straight line joining the pole and the centre of curvature is
called the principal of axis. It is normal to the mirror at its pole.
5. Principal Focus: The point on the principal axis at which the rays parallel to the
principal axis meet (concave mirror) or appear to meet (convex mirror) after
reflection. It is represented by F.
6. Focal Length: The distance between the pole and the principal focus of a
spherical mirror is called the focal length. It is represented by f.
7. Aperture: The diameter of the reflecting surface of the spherical mirror is called
its aperture.

For spherical mirrors of small aperture the radius of curvature is equal to twice the focal
length.
R = 2f

Rules for drawing ray diagrams in spherical mirrors:

1. A ray parallel to the principal axis after reflection will pass through the principal
focus (concave mirror) or appear to diverge from it (convex mirror).
2. A ray passing through the focus (concave mirror) or which is directed towards the
mirror after reflection will emerge parallel to the principal axis.
3. A ray passing through the centre of curvature (concave mirror) or which is
directed towards it (convex mirror) is reflected back along the same path.
4. A ray incident obliquely to the principal axis is reflected obliquely making equal
angle with the principal axis.
Image formed by Concave Mirror:

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S.No. Position of Object Position of Image Size of Image Nature of Image
1. At Infinity At Focus Highly Real and Inverted
Diminished
2. Beyond C Between F and C Diminished Real and Inverted
3. At C At C Same size Real and Inverted
4. Between C and F Beyond C Enlarged Real and Inverted
5. At F At Infinity Highly Real and Inverted
Enlarged
6. Between F and P Behind the mirror Enlarged Virtual and Erect

Concave mirrors are also called converging mirrors as they converge light rays falling
on them.

Uses of Concave Mirror:

1. Used in torches, search lights and vehicle head lights to get powerful parallel
beams of light.
2. Used as shaving mirrors to see a larger image of the face.
3. Used by dentists to see enlarged image of teeth of patients.
4. Used to concentrate sunlight to produce heat in solar furnaces.

Image formed by Convex Mirror:

S.No. Position of Object Position of Image Size of Image Nature of Image
1. At Infinity At Focus, behind Highly Virtual and Erect
the mirror Diminished
2. Between infinity Between P and F, Diminished Virtual and Erect
and pole of the behind the mirror
mirror

Uses of Convex Mirror:

1. Used as rear view mirrors in vehicles because
(i) they always give an erect image no matter what is the distance between object
and the mirror and,
(ii) always give a diminished image thus has a wider field of view as they are
curved outwards.
2. They are used for security purposes in shops, malls etc.
Ques. Which mirror should be used to see the full length image of a distant tall building

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 or object?
Ans. Convex mirror

Sign Convention for solving the numericals based on Spherical Mirrors (New
Cartesian Sign Convention):
1. The object is always placed to the left of the mirror.
2. All the distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of the
mirror.
3. All the distances measured to the right of the origin are taken as positive while
those measured to the left of the origin are taken as negative.
4. Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis are taken as
positive and below the principal axis are taken as negative.

Mirror Formula:
u = object distance: distance between the object and the pole.
v = image distance: distance between the image and the pole.
f = focal length: distance between the principal focus and the pole.

1/v + 1/u = 1/f

This formula is valid in all situations for all types of spherical mirrors.

Magnification: It is the ratio of the height of image to the height of the object. It is
represented by m.
m = h’ / h = - v / u
where h’ is height of the image and h is the height of the object.
When
• m is positive the image is virtual and erect.
• m is negative the image is real and inverted.
• For m > 1, image is enlarged.
• m < 1, image is diminished.
• m = 1 image is of the same size.

Refraction: The phenomenon of bending of light when it travels obliquely from one
transparent medium to another is called refraction. Examples of refraction from our daily
life are:
1. Bottom of a tank or pond containing water appears to be raised.
2. The letters printed on a page appears to be raised when a glass slab is placed over
it.
3. When a pencil is immersed partly in water in a tumbler it appears to be displaced
at the interface of air and water.
4. Lemon kept in water appears to be bigger than its actual size.

Optical Density: The ability of a medium to refract light is called optical density. More
the optical density of a medium more is its refractive index.

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Optically denser medium: The medium with higher refractive index in which the speed
of light is less is called optically denser medium.

Optically rarer medium: The medium with lower refractive index in which the speed of
light is more is known as optically rarer medium.

Optical density does not depend on the mass of the substance. That is why turpentine oil
that has less mass density than water, is optically denser than water.

A ray of light traveling from optically rarer medium to optically denser medium always
bends towards the normal and (angle i) > (angle r). A ray of light traveling from optically
denser medium to optically rarer medium always bends away from the normal and (angle
i) < (angle r).

Laws of Refraction: There are two laws of refraction.

1. The incident ray, refracted ray and the normal to the interface of the two
transparent media at the point of incidence lie in the same plane.
2. The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is a
constant, for the light of given colour and given pair of media. This law is called
Snell’s Law. The constant is equal to refractive index.
sin i / sin r = constant = refractive index

Refraction through a rectangular glass slab:

N AIR
Incident ray
i
A O B

r
GLASS
N’ N”
Refracted ray
D C
P
e AIR
N”’ Emergent ray

1. Angle of incidence is equal to angle of emergence.

2. Extended incident ray is parallel to the emergent ray.
3. Lateral displacement is proportional to the thickness of the glass slab.
4. Lateral displacement depends upon the angle of incidence.

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Lateral Displacement: The perpendicular distance between the extended incident ray
and emergent ray. It is denoted by ‘d’.

Refractive Index (n): The refractive index of a medium with respect to another medium
is the ratio of speed of light in a medium with respect to its speed in another medium.
n12 = speed of light in medium 2 / speed of light in medium 1
It does NOT have any unit as it is the ratio of two similar quantities.

Absolute Refractive Index: Absolute refractive index of a medium is the ratio of speed
of light in vacuum to its speed in the medium. Eg. n of water = 1.33, n of glass = 1.52
n = speed of light in vacuum / speed of light in medium
or, n = c / v
Speed of light in vacuum (c) = 3 × 108 m /s
Absolute Refractive Index of diamond (n) = 2.42 (maximum)
Refraction through Spherical Lenses:
Spherical lens is a transparent medium bounded by one or two spherical
refracting surfaces. [It is of six types- Double/Biconvex, Double/Biconcave, Plano convex,
Plano concave, Convexo concave and concavo convex.]
Double Convex / Biconvex lens Double Concave / Biconcave lens
1. The two spherical surfaces of this lens 1. The two spherical surfaces of this lens
are bulging outwards. are curved inwards.
2. It thickens in the middle and is thinner 2. It thickens at the ends and is thinner in
at the edges / ends. the middle.
3. It is a converging lens. 3. It is a diverging lens.
4. The image formed is real and inverted 4. The image formed is always virtual and
except when the object is placed erect.
between F1 and O.
5. The image can have any size 5. The image formed is always
depending upon the position of the diminished i.e. smaller than the object.
object.
Spherical lenses are mainly of two types: Convex and Concave.

Important terms related to spherical lenses:

1. Centre of Curvature: The centre of the two spheres of which each of the
spherical surfaces of the lens forms a part. It is represented by C or 2F. There are
two centre of curvatures for a lens- C1 and C2 or 2F1 and 2F2.
2. Principal Axis: An imaginary straight line passing through the two centre of
curvatures.

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 3. Optical Centre: The central point of the lens through which any light ray passing
does not suffer refraction. It is represented by O.
4. Aperture: The diameter of the circular outline of a spherical lens.
5. Focus: The point on the principal axis at which light rays parallel to the principal
axis converge or appear to diverge after refraction. It is represented by F. There
are two foci in case of lenses, F1 and F2.
6. Focal Length: The distance between focus and optical centre of a lens.
Represented by f.
R = 2f
Thin Lenses: Lenses whose aperture is much less than the radius of curvature.

S.No. Position of Object Position of Image Size of Image Nature of Image

1. At Infinity At Focus F2 Highly Real and Inverted
Diminished
2. Beyond 2F1 Between F2 and Diminished Real and Inverted
2F2
3. At 2F1 At 2F2 Same size Real and Inverted
4. Between 2F1 and Beyond 2F2 Enlarged Real and Inverted
F1
5. At F1 At Infinity Highly Real and Inverted
Enlarged
6. Between F1 and O Same side of the Enlarged Virtual and Erect
lens as the object
Rules for drawing ray diagrams in spherical lenses:
1. A ray parallel to the principal axis after refraction will pass through the principal
focus (convex lens) or appear to diverge from it (concave lens).
2. A ray passing through the focus in convex lens or appearing to meet it in concave
lens, after refraction will emerge parallel to the principal axis.
3. A ray passing through the optical centre will emerge without any deviation.

Image formed by Convex Lens:

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Image formed by Concave Lens:
S.No. Position of Object Position of Image Size of Image Nature of Image
1. At Infinity At F1, on same side Highly Virtual and Erect
as that of the object Diminished
2. Between infinity Between O and F1 Diminished Virtual and Erect
and optical centre

Uses of Lenses:
1. Convex lenses are used in optical instruments like microscopes, telescopes,
spectacles, magnifying glasses and binoculars.
2. Concave and convex lenses are used in spectacles by people who suffer from
refractive defects of vision.

Sign Convention for solving the numericals based on Spherical Lenses (New
Cartesian Sign Convention):
1. The object is always placed to the left of the lens.
2. All the distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the optical centre
of the lens.
3. All the distances measured to the right of the optical centre are taken as positive
while those measured to the left of the optical centre are taken as negative.
4. Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis are taken as
positive and below the principal axis are taken as negative.
5. Focal length of convex lens is positive and of concave lens is negative.

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Lens Formula:
u = object distance: distance between the object and the optical centre.
v = image distance: distance between the image and the optical centre.
f = focal length: distance between the principal focus and the optical centre.

1/v - 1/u = 1/f

This formula is valid in all situations for all types of spherical lenses.

Magnification: It is the ratio of the height of image to the height of the object. It is
represented by m.
m = h’ / h = v / u
where h’ is height of the image and h is the height of the object.
When
• m is positive the image is virtual and erect.
• m is negative the image is real and inverted.
• For |m| > 1, image is enlarged.
• |m| < 1, image is diminished.
• |m| = 1 image is of the same size.

Power of a Lens: Power is the degree of convergence or divergence of light rays by the
lens. It is defined as the reciprocal of focal length. It is represented by P and its S.I. unit
is Dioptre (D)
P=1/f

One dioptre is defined as the power of a lens whose focal length is one metre.
• Power of a convex lens is positive.
• Power of a concave lens is negative.
• Power of a combination of lenses is P = P1 + P2 + P3 + ------

Lenses are combined to increase the magnification, sharpness of the image and to
minimize certain defects in images produced by single lenses.

Q. One half of a convex lens is covered with a black paper. Will this lens produce a
complete image of the object?
Ans. Yes, the convex lens covered half with a black paper will produce a complete image
because the rays from the object pass through half the lens and produce a complete
image.

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 Formulae:

MIRROR LENS
Mirror Formula: 1/f = 1/v + 1/u Lens Formula: 1/f = 1/v – 1/u
Object distance = u is always negative Object distance = u is always negative
Focal Length = f = positive for convex mirror Focal Length = f = positive for convex lens
= negative for concave mirror = negative for concave lens
Image distance = v = positive for virtual image Image distance = v = negative for virtual image
= negative for real image = positive for real image
Magnification: m = h’/h = - v/u Magnification: m = h’/h = v/u
Size or height of object = h is always positive Size or height of object = h is always positive
Size or height of image = h’ = positive for virtual Size or height of image = h’ = positive for virtual
image image
= negative for real = negative for real
image image
Magnification = m = positive for virtual image Magnification = m = positive for virtual image
= negative for real image = negative for real image
|m| = 1 => size of image is same as size of object |m| = 1 => size of image is same as size of object
|m| > 1 => image is enlarged as compared to object |m| > 1 => image is enlarged as compared to object
|m| < 1 => image is diminished as compared to |m| < 1 => image is diminished as compared to
object object
Power of lens = P = 1 / f (in metre)
= 100 / f (in cm)
Power = P = positive for convex lens
= negative for concave lens

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