SRI SEDAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL TAN.S.

W/IGCSE/PHYSICS
Teacher’s Guide

IGCSE PHYSICS
<<NOTES>>
TOPIC: LIGHT
Light Rays
Light is an electromagnetic wave that travels in straight lines until it is either reflected
or refracted. We will look at the behaviour of light rays when:
• they are reflected in a mirror;
• refracted at a boundary.
•
Describe an experiment that show's how light travels in a straight line
You need to use three pieces of card with a hole cut out. Place a candle on the bench
and then clamp the three pieces of card in front of the candle, one behind the other -
look through the holes (at this stage they're not lined up), and ask a volunteer to see if
you can see the light from the candle....of course not.

Then thread a piece of string through the holes to help line them up and you should be
able to see the candle now - indicating that the light is travelling in a straight line.

Could also look through some flexible tubing pointing at the candle - will only see the
light when it is straight.

Reflection in a Flat Mirror

When light strikes a plane (flat) mirror, it is reflected as shown in the diagram:

Normal

Incident ray Reflected ray

Angle of
Angle of incidence
reflection

Mirror
SRI SEDAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL TAN.S.W/IGCSE/PHYSICS
Teacher’s Guide

We should note the following:

• There is an incident and reflected ray;
• The angle of incidence and the angle of refraction are measured from the
normal line;
• The normal line is a construction line that is at 90 degrees to the surface of the
mirror.
• The angle of incidence = angle of reflection.

Question 1
A light ray strikes a mirror at an angle to the surface of 30 degrees. What is the angle of
incidence? What is the angle of reflection?

Solution:

Angle of Incidence = 60o Angle of reflection = 60o

The Image in a Mirror

The picture below shows how the image in a mirror is formed.

Object

Image

We draw accurately two rays coming from the object and hitting the mirror at an
angle. Since angle of reflection = angle of incidence, the two rays will be reflected as
shown. We can then extend the rays back. Where the two rays meet, that is where the
corresponding part of the image is found.
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You can see where this is done at the top and bottom of the image.

Question 2
What is the size of the object compared with the image?

Solution:

It's the same size.

There are two points to note about the image in a mirror:

• It laterally inverted. This means that, although the image is the right way up
compared with the object, left is swapped with right.
• It is virtual. This means that if you look behind the mirror, you won't find the
image there.
The picture below shows an example of lateral inversion:

Curved Mirrors
Concave Mirror
A concave mirror brings parallel rays of light together.

Principal focus Focal length

SRI SEDAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL TAN.S.W/IGCSE/PHYSICS
Teacher’s Guide

Each ray obeys the Law of Reflection.

Question 3
What is the Law of Reflection?

Solution:
Angle of incidence = angle of reflection

Note how the shape of the mirror brings all the rays to a single point called the principal
focus. The distance between the principal focus and the surface of the mirror is called
the focal length.

If the object is close up to the mirror, it appears the right way up (upright) and is
magnified (made bigger). If it's further away the image is upside down (inverted) and
diminished (made smaller).

Other waves can be reflected by a concave mirror. A satellite dish is a concave mirror
to reflect microwave waves onto an antenna. There was a device produced after the
First World War to focus sound waves of incoming aircraft to give early warning of their
presence.

Convex Mirror
A convex mirror reflects light rays outwards as shown in the diagram.

Principal focus

If we extend the rays behind the mirror, we see that they meet at a principal focus.
The image is virtual, upright, and diminished.

A convex mirror is used as a security mirror in a shop, or a wide angle mirror on a bus.
SRI SEDAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL TAN.S.W/IGCSE/PHYSICS
Teacher’s Guide

Refraction
When light hits an air-glass boundary, there are three things that happen to it:
• Some light is reflected;
• Some light is absorbed;
• Most of the light is transmitted.

If we shine a ray of light at an angle, we find something a little strange. The ray does
not carry on in a straight line as you might expect. Instead it bends inwards. This is
called refraction.

Note the following:

• All angles are measured from the normal.
• The angle of incidence is greater than the angle of refraction. The ray
therefore bends towards the normal.
SRI SEDAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL TAN.S.W/IGCSE/PHYSICS
Teacher’s Guide

• When the ray emerges from the glass, it bends away from the normal. The angle
of refraction in this case is bigger than the angle of incidence.

Question 4
How does the path of the emergent ray compare with the path of the undeviated ray
(the path the ray would have taken if the block hadn't been there)?

Solution:
It is parallel with the undeviated ray.

Refraction occurs because the speed of light in air is greater than the speed of light in
glass.

For a prism, the ray diagram is like this, using a ray of monochromatic (single colour)
red light.

Question 5.
How does the path of the emergent ray compare with the path of the undeviated ray?

Solution:
It is NOT parallel with the undeviated ray. The path of the emergent ray is at an angle to
the undeviated ray
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If we use a ray of white light, we see that the light ray gets split into the colours of the
rainbow (a spectrum).

Spectrum
White Light

This happens because red light is refracted less than blue light.

Lenses
Lenses are optical devices that bend light by refraction:
• In a converging (convex) lens, the light rays come together.
• In a diverging (concave) lens, the light rays spread apart.
Both types of lens have uses.

Converging Lens
The converging lens brings parallel rays of light onto a single point like this.

Lens axis Principal focus

Focal Length Focal Length

SRI SEDAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL TAN.S.W/IGCSE/PHYSICS
Teacher’s Guide

Note the following:

• There are two principal foci (plural of focus). This is because the rays can come
in either side of the lens.
• The focal length is the distance between the focus and the lens axis. This is
given the code F. So 2F means twice the focal length.
The nature of the image depends on where the object is:

Object at Image at Size Orientation Nature Use

Image on a film
Infinity F Diminished Inverted Real
(at infinity)
Between F Image on a film
>2F Diminished Inverted Real
and 2F (close up)
2F 2F Same size Inverted Real Photocopier
Between 2F
>2F Magnified Inverted Real Projector
and F
F Infinity Magnified Inverted Real Spot light
<F (on same Magnifying
<F Magnified Upright Virtual
side) glass

A real image can be projected onto a screen.

We can work out the magnification of the lens by the simple formula:

Know how to use this in the exam. This formula will be given:

magnification = image height

object height

Question 6:
A converging lens magnifies an object 12 mm high so that it is projected onto a screen,
and is 240 mm high. What is the magnification? Where is the object most likely to be?
What is the nature of the image?

Solution:

Magnification = image height ÷ object height = 240 mm ÷ 12 mm = 20

It will be between 2F and F

The image will be real, inverted, and magnified.

Ray Diagrams in Converging Lenses

SRI SEDAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL TAN.S.W/IGCSE/PHYSICS
Teacher’s Guide

We can determine where an image lies in relation to the objects by using a ray
diagram. We can do this by using two simple rules:
• Draw a ray from the top of the image parallel to the principal axis. This ray
bends at the lens axis and goes through the principal focus.
• Draw a ray from the top of the lens through the centre of the lens.
Where the two rays meet, that is where the image is found. The diagrams shows how
we do a ray diagram step-by-step:

Step 1 Draw the ray parallel to the principal axis.

Step 2 Draw the refracted ray so that it passes through the principal focus.

Step 3 Draw a ray from the top of the object through the middle of the lens. This ray is
undeviated.
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Teacher’s Guide

Step 4 Where the rays meet, that is where the image is.

It is a good idea to draw your ray diagrams on graph paper as the following ray diagrams
are. Be careful with your drawing; a small change in the angle of the undeviated ray
can lead to quite a big change in the final position of the image. And PLEASE... Be a
good chap and use a sharp pencil.
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Question 7
Draw a ray diagram to show the position of the image on a film where the object
distance is three times the focal length of the camera lens. What is the nature of the
image?

Solution:

Ray diagram:

Camera body left out for clarity

F 2F

3F 2F F

Film

The image is real, inverted, and diminished.

Diverging Lens
The diverging (concave) lens makes the rays split apart or diverge, as shown in the
picture.
F
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Teacher’s Guide

Note how the diverging rays are extended back, and come together at the principal
focus. The image of a diverging lens is virtual.

Correcting Eyesight
Short sight is usually caused by the converging lens in the eye being too strong, which
means it brings the rays together in front of the retina, so that the image on the retina
is not focused properly, and is blurred.

Diverging lenses are used in glasses that correct short sight.

Converging lenses are used to correct long sight, where people cannot make the lens
fat enough to see close-up objects clearly.

The converging lens brings the rays in so that the image is focused correctly on the
retina.
SRI SEDAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL TAN.S.W/IGCSE/PHYSICS
Teacher’s Guide

In the exam you need to know how:

• to construct ray diagrams to show the formation of images by plane, convex and
concave mirrors;
• to construct ray diagrams to show the formation of images by diverging lenses
and converging lenses;
• to explain the use of a converging lens as a magnifying glass and in a camera;
• to calculate the magnification produced by a lens or mirror using the formula:
magnification = image height
object height
• The normal is a construction-line perpendicular to the reflecting/refracting
surface at the point of incidence.
• The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
• The nature of an image is defined by its size relative to the object, whether it is
upright or inverted relative to the object and whether it is real or virtual.
• The nature of the image produced by a plane mirror.
• The nature of the image produced by a convex mirror.
• The nature of the image produced by a concave mirror for an object placed at
different distances from the lens.
• Refraction at an interface.
• Refraction by a prism.
• The nature of the image produced by a diverging lens.
• The nature of the image produced by a converging lens for an object placed at
different distances from the lens.
• The use of a converging lens in a camera to produce an image of an object on a
detecting device (e.g. film).

Summary
• All angles are measured from the normal.
• The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
• Image in a plane mirror is upright, laterally inverted and virtual
• Refraction occurs at an interface, e.g. between air and glass.
• Prisms refract light. White light is split up into a spectrum.
• The image produced by a diverging lens is virtual.
• Images produced by converging lenses are usually real and inverted.
• A converging lens used as a magnifying glass produces an upright, magnified, and
virtual image.
• Converging lenses are used in many optical devices.
• Converging and diverging lenses are used to correct defects of vision.

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