Physics 1502: Lecture 28Today’s Agenda

• Announcements:

– Midterm 2: Monday Nov. 16 …

– Homework 08: due next FridayHomework 08: due next Friday

• Optics – Waves, Wavefronts, and Rays

– Reflection

– Index of Refraction

3-D Representation

Waves, Wavefronts, and Rays

• Consider a light wave (not necessarily visible) whose E field is described by,

• This wave travels in the +x direction and has no dependence on y or z, i.e. it is a plane wave.

Wave Fronts

RAYS

EM wave at an interface

• What happens when light hits a surface of a material?

• Three Possibilities

– Reflected

– Refracted (transmitted)

– Absorbed

incident ray

reflected ray

refracted ray

MATERIAL 1

MATERIAL 2

Geometric Optics• What happens to EM waves (usually light) in

different materials?– index of refraction, n.

• Restriction: waves whose wavelength is much shorter than the objects with which it interacts.

• Assume that light propagates in straight lines, called rays.

• Our primary focus will be on the REFLECTION and REFRACTION of these rays at the interface of two materials.

incident ray

reflected ray

refracted ray

MATERIAL 1

MATERIAL 2

Reflection • The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection

i = r , where both angles are measured from the normal:

· Note also, that all rays lie in the “plane of incidence”

i r

i r

x

Eii

Er

r

· Why?

» This law is quite general; we supply a limited justification when surface is a good conductor,

• Electric field lines are perpendicular to the conducting surface.

• The components of E parallel to the surface of the incident and reflected wave must cancel!!

Index of Refraction• The wave incident on an interface can not only

reflect, but it can also propagate into the second material.

• Claim the speed of an electromagnetic wave is different in matter than it is in vacuum.

– Recall, from Maxwell’s eqns in vacuum:– How are Maxwell’s eqns in matter different?

, · Therefore, the speed of light in matter is related to the speed

of light in vacuum by:

· The index of refraction is frequency dependent: For example

nblue > nred

where n = index of refraction of the material:

Refraction• How is the angle of refraction related to the angle of incidence?

– Unlike reflection, 1 cannot equal 2 !!

» n1 n2 v1 v2

but, the frequencies (f1,f2) must be the same the wavelengths must be different!

Therefore, 2 must be different from 1 !!1

2

n1

n2

1

2

Snell’s Law• From the last slide:

1 1

1

2

L n1

n2

1

2

2 2 2

The two triangles above each have hypotenuse L

But,

1

Lecture 28, ACT 1• Which of the following ray diagrams could represent the passage of

light from air through glass and back to air?

(a) (b) (c)air

air

glass

air

air

glass

air

air

glass

Lecture 28, ACT 1• Which of the following ray diagrams could represent the passage of

light from air through glass and back to air?

(a) (b) (c)air

air

glass

air

air

glass

air

air

glass

Lecture 28, ACT 2• Which of the following ray diagrams could represent the passage of

light from air through glass and back to air?

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Prisms

Inde

x of

re

frac

tion

frequency

ultravioletabsorption

bands

1.50

1.52

1.54

white light

prism

A prism does two things,

1. Bends light the same way at both entrance and exit interfaces.

2. Splits colours due to dispersion.

Prisms

1

2

Entering

For air/glass interface, we use n(air)=1, n(glass)=n

34

Exiting

Prisms

1

2

34

Overall Deflection

• At both deflections the amount of downward deflection depends on n (and the prism apex angle, ).

• The overall downward deflection goes like,

~ A() + B n• Different colours will bend different amounts !

Lecture 28, ACT 3

White light is passed through a prism as shown. Since n(blue) > n(red) , which colour will end up higher on the screen ?

?

?

A) BLUE B) RED

LIKE SO! In second rainbow pattern is reversed

Total Internal Reflection

– Consider light moving from glass (n1=1.5) to air (n2=1.0)

ie light is bent away from the normal.as 1 gets bigger, 2 gets bigger, but 2 can never get bigger than 90 !!

In general, if sin 1 sin C (n2 / n1), we have NO refracted ray; we have TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION.

For example, light in water which is incident on an air surface with angle 1 > c = sin-1(1.0/1.5) = 41.8will be totally reflected. This property is the basis for the optical fibers used in communication.

incident ray

reflected ray

refracted ray

2

1 r

GLASS

AIRn2

n1

2

ACT 4: Critical Angle...

air n =1.00

glass n =1.5

air n =1.00

c

water n =1.33

glass n =1.5

water n =1.33

cCase I

Case II

An optical fiber is cladded by another dielectric. In case I this is water, with an index of refraction of 1.33, while in case II this is air with an index of refraction of 1.00.

Compare the critical angles for total internal reflection in these two cases

a) cI>cII

b) cI=cII

c) cI<cII

ACT 5: Fiber Optics

air n =1.00

glass n =1.5

air n =1.00

c

water n =1.33

glass n =1.5

water n =1.33

cCase I

Case II

The same two fibers are used to transmit light from a laser in one room to an experiment in another. Which makes a better fiber, the one in water (I) or the one in air (II) ?

a) Water

b) Air

ProblemYou have a prism that from the side forms a triangle of sides 2cm x 2cm x 22cm, and has an index of refraction of 1.5. It is arranged (in air) so that one 2cm side is parallel to the ground, and the other to the left. You direct a laser beam into the prism from the left. At the first interaction with the prism surface, all of the ray is transmitted into the prism.

a) Draw a diagram indicating what happens to the ray at the second and third interaction with the prism surface. Include all reflected and transmitted rays. Indicate the relevant angles.

• Repeat the problem for a prism that is arranged identically but submerged in water.

Solution• At the first interface =0o, no deflection of initial light direction.• At 2nd interface =45o, from glas to air ?

• Critical angle: sin(c)=1.0/1.5 => c= 41.8o < 45o

• Thus, at 2nd interface light undergoes total internal reflection• At 3rd interface =0o, again no deflection of the light beam

A) Prism in air

B) Prism in water (n=1.33)

• At the first interface =0o, the same situation.• At 2nd interface now the critical angle: sin(c)=1.33/1.5 => c= 62o > 45o

• Now at 2nd interface some light is refracted out the prism• n1 sin(1) = n2 sin(2) => at 2 = 52.9o

• Some light is still reflected, as in A) !• At 3rd interface =0o, the same as A)