Light Death Physics

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LIGHT

Light is a form of energy that enables us to see other objects.


Sources of light
Sun, fire, electricity (electric bulb), glow worms, moon, lightning, etc.
Terms used in the study of light
(i) Ray of light:
This is the direction of the path taken by light.

(ii) Beam of light:


This is a collection of light rays.

(iii) Convergent beam of light:


These are light rays that meet at a common point.

(iv) Divergent beam of light:


These are light rays that originate from a common point.

(v) Parallel beam of light:


These are light rays which can never meet & are parallel to each other.

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Rectilinear propagation of light
Light travels in straight lines & when abstracted, shadows are formed.

Observation:
The source of light is visible.
Procedure:
Identical card boards on stands and with holes in corresponding positions are arranged in straight
line. When a burning candle is placed at each end of the card boards, it can be seen from the
other side of the card boards. This shows that light travels in a straight line and doesn’t bend
around corners.
Formation of shadows
(i) A point source of light

Observation: A dark shadow forms on the screen.


Penumbra: Is a partial outer shadow that is lighter than the darker inner shadow (umbra).
It can be obtained by using an extended source of light. When rays of light from the source meet
on an obstacle, the umbra shadow is formed.
NB: No rays of light from the source meet the umbra shadow.

(ii) An extended source of light


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When rays of light from an extended source meet an obstacle, the shadow formed has two
regions: the umbra & penumbra.
No rays of light reach the umbra. Some rays of light from the source reach the penumbra but not
as much as it would be if there was no obstacle.
ECLIPSE
(a) The eclipse of the sun (solar eclipse)
It occurs when the moon is between the sun and earth and the three are in a straight line.

(b) The eclipse of the moon (lunar eclipse)


It occurs when the earth is between the sun and moon and all three are in a straight line.

The pin hole camera

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It consists of a light proof box with the inside of its walls painted black on one of the faces with a
pin hole, and the opposite side has a screen on it.
Nature of image on a pin hole camera
(i) The image is smaller than the object.
(ii) The image is inverted.
(iii) The image is real.
(iv) The image is sharp.
Magnification,

Effect of size of the pin hole


(i) Small pin hole: It produces a clear, sharp, well, focused image.
(ii) Big pin hole: The image will brighter but blurred.
Example: an object of height is placed from a pinhole camera which is long. If the height of
the image is, calculate the magnification.
Given,
Height of object,
Object distance,
Image distance,
Height of image,
Magnification,

Revision questions:
1. Describe an experiment to show that light travels in a straight line.
2. An object of height 4cm is placed 5cm away from the pinhole camera. The screen is 7cm
away from the pinhole. Draw a scale diagram to show the formation of the image by the
pinhole camera.
(i) What is the nature of the image?
(ii) Find the magnification.
(iii) Explain what happens to the image if the pinhole is made larger.
3. Draw a diagram to show the formation of the solar eclipse.
Reflection of light
Is the change in the direction of light rays when they strike a reflecting surface.

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(i) Regular reflection
Incident parallel rays are reflected parallel to one another, e.g. reflection from plane mirrors and
other shiny surfaces.

(ii) Diffuse or irregular reflection


Incident parallel rays of light are reflected in different directions by a rough surface, but all at the
incidence lie in the same plane.

Laws of reflection
1. The incident ray, normal, & reflected ray, all at the point of incidence lie in the same
plane.
2. Angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
Experiment to verify the laws of reflection

Procedure
a) Place a sheet of paper on a drawing board using drawing pins.
b) Draw the line along the middle of the paper.
c) Place the strip of plane mirror vertically along.

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d) Place a pin about in front of the mirror.
e) Fix pins such that they are in a straight line with the image seen in the mirror.
f) Move your image to the right of the object and place pins in a straight line.
g) Remove the mirror and the pins.
h) Draw the line
i) Draw a normal at and measure angles
j) Draw a line through to meet at
k) Draw a line
l) Draw a normal at and measure angles
m) Measure the image & object distance.
Properties of images in plane mirrors
- They are the same size as the object.
- Image distance is equal to object distance.
- They are virtual (they cannot be formed on the screen).
- They are laterally inverted.
Rotation of a plane mirror
When a plane mirror is rotated through angle theta () while keeping the direction of the incident
ray along the same path, the reflected ray is rotated through an angle of .
Number of images formed in two plane mirrors inclined at an angle ,

Examples: find the number of images formed when an object is placed through two plane mirrors
inclined at an angle:
a) b) c) d) e)
Application of plane mirrors
1. The periscope

Plane mirrors are inserted at to the horizontal and held facing each other in the light proof case.
When light rays from the object strike they are reflected to which reflects them to the observer.
Other uses of plane mirrors: used in saloons, bicycle, kaleidoscope, dressing rooms, etc.

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Reflection in curved mirrors
1. Concave (converging) mirror.

2. Convex (diverging) mirror.

3. Parabolic mirror.

Terms used
i) Centre of curvature.
This is the center of the sphere of which the mirror is a part.
ii) Radius of curvature.
This is the radius of the sphere of which the mirror is a part.
OR

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It’s the distance between the center of curvature and pole of the mirror.
iii) Pole.
Is the center of the mirror.
iv) Principal axis.
This the line passing through the center of curvature.
v) Principal focus (for concave mirror),
The point on the principle axis from which rays parallel and close to the principal axis
pass after reflection.
vi) Principal focus (for a convex mirror),
Is the point on the principal axis from which rays parallel and close to the principal axis
appear to diverge from after reflection.
Construction of ray diagrams in concave mirrors
Rays are used to locate images in concave mirrors.
(i) A ray through the center of curvature,

(ii) A ray parallel to the principal axis.


The ray is reflected through the principal focus.

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(iii) A ray through
Is reflected parallel to the principal axis.

(iv) A ray incident at


Is reflected with an angle of reflection equal to the angle of incidence,
Ray diagrams for a concave mirror for various positions of the object.
a) Object between

Image is: virtual, upright, magnified, behind the mirror.

b) Object at

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Image is at infinity.
c) Object between

Image is: magnified, real, beyond, inverted.


d) Object at Image is: inverted, real, at same distance as object

e) Object beyond

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Image is: smaller than the object, inverted, real, between
f) Object at infinity.

Image is: real, inverted, diminished, and at


NOTE: A real image is formed from actual intersection of light rays. It can be formed on the
screen.
A virtual image is formed by apparent intersection of light rays. It cannot be formed on the
screen.
Magnification: Is the ratio of height of image to height of object.
The mirror formula;
, where

Sign convention
- Distances measured from real objects and real images to the mirror are positive.

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- The focal length of a concave mirror is also positive.
- Distances measured from virtual objects or virtual images to the mirror are negative.
- The focal length of a convex mirror is negative.
Example: 1. a concave mirror has a radius of curvature of. Find the position, magnification, &
nature of the image of a small pin placed on the axis and at right angles to it from a pole.
Given that: radius of curvature,
Focal length,
Using

Magnification,

Image is: real, magnified, inverted, beyond.


2. An object is placed in front of a convex mirror of focal length Find the nature & position
of the image formed.
Given
From,

The image formed is virtual, diminished, behind the mirror and upright.
Exercise: a) Draw a ray diagram to show how a concave mirror forms a virtual image.
b) An object long or high is placed in front of a concave mirror of focal length so that it is
perpendicular and has one end resting on the axis of the mirror. Find by means of scale
drawing the size and position of the image.
c) A radius of curvature of 20cm has an object high placed at a distance of from the mirror.
By means of scale drawing, find the details of the image.
Formation of images in convex mirrors

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Image is diminished, virtual, behind the mirror, upright.
Uses of curved mirrors
i) Concave (converging mirrors)
They are used for/in:
- Dental examination
- Reflecting television
- Dressing mirror
- Reflectors in touches and head lamps
- Solar concentrators
ii) Convex mirror
- Used as dressing mirrors
- Used at security check points to inspect under cars
- Used in supermarkets to monitor customers
- Used in buses or coaches to monitor movements of passengers
Parabolic mirrors

When the source of light is placed at the principal focus of the mirror, a parallel beam of light is
produced. Parabolic mirrors are used as reflectors in touches, search lights, flash lights, etc.
Experiment to measure the focal length of a concave mirror

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 A concave mirror on a holder is placed in front of an illuminated wire gauze object.
 The position of the concave mirror is adjusted until when the image of the object forms
besides it on the screen
 The distance between the mirror and the screen is measured.
 The focal length of the mirror is equal to
Refraction of light
Refraction is the change in the direction of light rays when they cross a boundary between two
media.

Laws of refraction
1. The incident ray and the refracted ray are on opposite sides of the normal and all three lie
on the same plane at the point of incidence.
2. The ratio of the, of incidence to the, of refraction is a constant for a given pair of media.
=

Experiment to verify the laws of refraction

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 A plane sheet of paper is placed on a drawing board.
 The glass block is placed at the middle of the paper and its outline is marked.
 The glass block is then removed from the paper and a normal to is drawn about from
 Angle is drawn as shown in the diagram above.
 The glass block is then replaced over its outline. Two pins are placed along a line
 The images of observed by looking through the glass block from the side are placed in a
straight line with the pins.
 The positions of are marked and the glass block is removed from the paper. A straight
line through is drawn to meet at and then joined to and angle is measured.
 The above procedure is then repeated for values of
 The results are recorded in a suitable table including values of
Terms used in refraction
 Refractive index of a medium (absolute refraction)
Is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in the medium.
OR
The ratio of the sin angle of incidence to the sin angle of refraction for light moving from a
vacuum to the medium.
 Critical angle and total internal reflection
Consider a ray of light moving from a denser medium to a less dense medium.

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Critical angle, is the angle of incidence for light moving from a denser medium to a less dense
medium (or for which the angle of refraction is equal to.
Total angle reflection is when the ray of light is reflected back into the denser medium when the
angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle for light moving from a denser medium to a
less dense medium.

Relationship between the critical angle & the refractive index.


Consider a ray of light moving from the medium to air (where the medium is denser than air).
When

Principle of reversibility of light

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The path of light through a medium is reversible.
By the principle of reversibility of light:

Questions:
1. State the laws of refraction and define refractive index.
2. Describe an experiment to find the refractive index of glass.

3.
The figure above shows a block of glass of uniform thickness lying horizontally. Above it
is a regular layer of water. A ray of light is incident upwards on the lower surface of the
glass and is refracted successively at the points where it crosses the interfaces. Calculate:
i) Angle
ii) Angle
iii) Refractive index for light passing from water to glass (take the refractive index of
glass to be and that of water to be.
Effects of refraction
1. A stick partially dipped in water.

When the rays of light from the bottom of the stick under water cross the air-water
boundary they bend away from the normal. The refracted rays appear to be coming from a point
near the surface than the bottom of the stick. This makes the stick appear bent.
2. A fish in water appears nearer than its actual depth.
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As the rays of light from the fish at the bottom of the pond cross the water-air boundary,
they are refracted away from a point which is closer to the water surface than the actual fish at
the bottom of the pond. This makes the fish appear nearer than its actual depth.

Example. A microscope is focused on a mark on a table. When the mark is covered by a plate of
glass thick, the microscope has to be raised for the mark to be once again in focus. Calculate the
refractive index of the glass.

Uses of total internal reflection


1. The fish’s eye view.

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When the water is calm the fish sees objects above the water due to refraction and those
below due to total internal reflection.
2. The reflecting prisms.

Rays from the object are incident on perpendicularly and pass on to undeviated. At they
undergo total internal reflection and pass through normally. They are incident on normally and
pass to undeviated. At they undergo total internal reflection and pass through normally and
undeviated.

3. The erecting or inverting prism.

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4. The mirage.
This is the appearance of a pool of water in front of someone moving along a high
way on a hot day.

As the rays of light from the sun move towards the earth they pass through warmer layers
of air of decreasing refractive indexes. The rays undergo progressive bending until when they
become parallel to the earth and they bend upwards. To the observer, the rays of light appear to
be reflected from and this appears as a pool of water.
Questions:
1. The diagram below shows rays of light in a semicircular glass block.

i) Explain why:
a) The ray is not reflected on entering the block at
b) Ray takes the path on reaching

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ii) Ray is reflected at Calculate the angle of refraction (take the refractive index of glass
as
2. What is meant by refraction of light?
When does total internal reflection occur?
The figure below shows a ray of light through a right isosceles angled prism of refractive
index.
Y

X Z
If the ray is incident on at. Find the angle of emergency,
i) State two reasons why reflecting prisms are better than plane mirrors.
Describe an experiment to determine the refractive index of a material of a glass block.
Refraction in lenses
A lens is a piece of glass with curved surfaces. It is used to refract light.
Types of lenses

Terms used
1. Optical Centre, .
This is the center of the lens.
2. Principal axis.
It is the line through the center of curvature of curved mirrors of the lens.

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3. Principal focus.
a) Of a converging lens:
It is a point along the principal axis where rays which are originally parallel and close to the
principal axis converge after refraction.
b) Of a diverging lens.
It is a point along the principal axis where rays which are originally parallel and close to the
principal axis appear to diverge from after refraction by the lens.
4. Focal length,
This is the distance between the principal focus and the optical center.
5. Conjugate foci.
These are two points along the principal axis such that if an object is placed at one of them, a real
image forms at the other point.
6. Real image.
This is the image formed by the actual intersection of light rays. It can be formed on the screen.
7. Virtual image.
Is the image formed by apparent intersection of light rays.
Constructing ray diagrams in converging lenses
i) A ray originally parallel and close to the principal axis passes through the principal
focus after refraction by lens.

2F F C F 2F

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ii) A ray through the principal focus moves parallel to the principal axis after refraction
by the lens.

2F F C F 2F

iii) A ray through the optical center is undeviated.

2F F C F 2F

Ray diagrams in a converging lens

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Image formation by a concave lens

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Experiment to determine the focal length of a converging lens.

The apparatus is setup as in the diagram above. The bulb is switched on and the position
of the mirror and the lens is adjusted until when a sharp image of the wire gauze forms on the
screen besides the object. The distance between the screen and the lens is measured and it is
equal to the focal length of the lens.
The lens equation
; Where object distance

Real-is-positive-convention.
i) The focal length of a converging lens is positive and the focal length of a
diverging lens is negative.
ii) Object distances and real image distances are positive.
iii) Distances measured from virtual images are negative.

Example.

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1. An object is placed on a converging lens of focal length. Find the nature, position and
magnification of the image formed.
From

Magnification,

The image formed is real, magnified, inverted and from the lens on the opposite side of the
object.
2. A virtual image magnified four times is formed from an object placed from a converging
lens. Calculate:
i) The position of the image

It is
ii) The focus length of the lens.

Focal length is

3. Determine the position, size, and nature of the image of an object high and away from
the diverging lens of focal length
Power of a lens
This is the reciprocal of the focal length in meters.

One diopter is the power of a lens of focal length one meter.

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Example: find the power of the following lenses.
a)

b)

Scale drawing

Uses of lenses
The slide projector.

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The high intensity bulb is at the center of curvature of the concave mirror. The concave
mirror reflects rays of light back to the bulb which would otherwise be wasted. When the light
falls onto the condenser, it produces a parallel beam of light which is focused onto the slide. The
heat filter removes heat from the light which would otherwise damage the slides. The rays from
the slide are then focused by the projection lens onto the screen to form an image of the object on
the slide.
The image formed is inverted, magnified, and real. To obtain an upright image, the slide
is inverted.
Parts & their functions:
i) Converging lens: focuses the image of an object onto the film.
ii) Diaphragm: it regulates the size of the aperture. Also controls the amount of light
entering the camera by varying the size of the aperture.
iii) Shutter: it enables the film to be exposed to light when it is open.
iv) Film: it is where the image is formed.
Qn: why are camera boxes black inside? (To prevent reflection of light onto the film)
1. The eye

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Parts & their functions:
i) The lens & cornea: reflect light to focus images of objects on the retina.
ii) Iris: controls amount of light entering the eye by varying the size of the pupils.
iii) Retina: this is where the image of the object is formed.
iv) Optical nerve: transmits electrical impulses from the retina to the brain for
interpretation.
v) Aqueous humor: separates the cornea from the eye lens.
vi) Vitreous humor: maintains the shape of the eye.
vii) Ciliary muscles: vary the thickness and curvature of the eye lens enabling the eye to
focus images of objects at different distances.
viii) Suspensory ligaments: hold the eye lens.
Comparison between a camera and eye.
a) Similarities: they both;
- Have converging lenses.
- Have a provision for controlling amount of light entering.
- Give rise to real images
- Have a provision where the image is focused (i.e. retina in the eye & film in camera).
b)
Camera Eye
i) Focal length of lens is fixed It is variable
ii) The lens position is adjustable Lens position is fixed
iii) Image forms on film Image forms on retina

Accommodation: is the adjustment of the focal length of the eye lens in order to focus images of
objects at different distances.

Eye defects
1. Short sight (myopia)
This is when one can only see objects near him/her but not those that are far. It is caused by the
eyeball being too big or too long.

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2. Long sight
Is where one can only see objects that are far way. Near objects are focused beyond the retina.

Exercise:
a) What is meant by light?
b) Describe an experiment to show that light travels in a straight line.
c) Define the following:
i) Power of a lens
ii) Aperture of a lens.

d) The figure below shows light travelling from glass to air.

Find the refractive index of the glass


e) An object high is placed away from a concave lens. Find, graphically, the size of the
image that is formed from the lens.
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f) Describe briefly how short sightedness can be corrected.
Dispersion & color

When white light is incident on a glass as shown above, it splits into seven different
colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
The arrangement of the colors obtained on the screen is called a spectrum. The spectrum
obtained in this method is impure, i.e. the neighboring colors overlap.
Production of a pure spectrum
White light is made of 7 different colors and each has a different refractive index. When the
white light is incident on the glass prism, each color is refracted at a different angle and the white
light splits into its constituent colors.
NB: when the 7 colors of the spectrum are reflected on the same point, white light is formed.

Colors
1. Primary colors:
These are colors which cannot be obtained from mixing other colors e.g. red, blue, and green.
2. Secondary colors:
These are colors obtained by mixing two primary colors.
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Appearance of colored objects in white light.
a) When a colored object is in white light, it absorbs all the other colors and reflects its own
color e.g. a blue skirt absorbs all other colors and only reflects the blue color.
b) White objects appear white because they reflect all the colors of white light incident on
them.
c) Black objects absorb all the colors in white light and reflect none.
Appearance of objects in colored light.

Qns:
1. a) Explain the term dispersion as applied to light.
i) What is a pure spectrum?
ii) With the aid of a labelled diagram explain how a pure spectrum is obtained.
iii) Distinguish between primary & secondary colors.
iv) The figure below shows colors mixed by addition. Name the colors represented
by the parts labelled A, B, C, & D.

b) State the color of a yellow dress with blue flowers in green light.
Color filters.

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The electromagnetic spectrum:
When light is passed through a color filter, some of the light will absorbed while others
will be transmitted depending on the color of the filter, e.g. when green light is directed through
a red filter, no light is transmitted. A light filter will therefore only transmit its own color or its
component colors and absorbs the rest.
Questions:
1. State why most car registration number plates are printed black on a yellow background.
- The yellow color can easily be seen when the car is receding from the observer while the
white one can be seen when the car is approaching the observer.
2. Explain why the sun appears red at sunrise & sunset.
- During sunset or sunrise, it’s only the red light which is scattered towards the earth due
to the position of the earth relative to the earth.
3. Name the color that would be obtained when the following colors are mixed.
i) Green & red
ii) Cyan & red
4. Explain why an object illuminated by white light appears:
i) Colored
ii) Black

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