Properties of Light

The nature and propagation of light

The speed of light is measured
through the electrical constants o and
o.

c=

1
o o

The exact measurement of the speed

of light is:
C = 299792458 m/s

Propagation of Light
Huygenss Construction (Huygens
Principle)
Each point on a primary wavefront
serves as the source of spherical
secondary wavelets that advance at
the wavespeed for the propagating
medium. The primary wavefront at
some later time is the envelope of
these wavelets.

A more complete and general

statement is that the time of travel is
stationary with respect to variations in
path; that is, if t is expressed in terms
of some parameter x, the path taken
will be such that dt/dx = 0. The
important characteristic of a
stationary path is that the time taken
along nearby paths will be
approximately the same as that along
the stationary path.

Derivation of the Laws of Reflection

and Refraction
Huygenss Principle
Law of Reflection

Fermats Principle
The path taken by light traveling from
one point to another is such that the
time of travel is a minimum. That is,
light travels along the path of least
time.

Law of Refraction

From triangle APB,

From triangle ABB,

Fermats Principle
Law of Reflection

Law of Refraction

equal to the inverse ratio of the

two indexes of refraction:
na sin a = nb sin b

Sample Problem no. 1

Light traveling in air enters water with
an angle of incidence of 45o. If the
index of refraction of water is 1.33,
what is the angle of refraction?

Summary!!
1. The incident, reflected, and
refracted rays and the normal to
the surface all lie in the same
plane. The plane of the three
rays is perpendicular to the
plane of the boundary surface
between the two materials. We
always draw ray diagrams so
that the incident, reflected, and
refracted rays are in the plane
of the diagram.
2. The angle of reflection r is
equal to the angle of incidence
a for all wavelengths and for
any pair of materials. (r = a)
3. For monochromatic light and for
a given pair of materials, a and
b, on opposite sides of the
interface, the ratio of the sines
of the angles a and b, where
both angles are measured from
the normal to the surface, is

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

Fiber Optics!

Sample Problem No. 3

You are spending time at the pool.
While under the water, you look up
and notice that you see objects above
water level in a circle of light of radius
approximately and the rest of your
vision is the color of the sides of the
pool. How deep are you below the
surface of the water?

Sample Problem no.2

A particular glass has an index of
refraction of n = 1.50. What is the
critical angle for total internal
reflection for light leaving the glass
and entering air, for which n = 1.00?

Seatwork
1. A glass surface (n = 1.50) has a
layer of water(n=1.33) on it. Light in
the glass is incident on the glass
water interface. Find the critical angle
for total internal reflection.

2. A point source of light is located

5.0m below the surface of a large pool
of water. Find the area of the largest
circle on the pools surface through
which light coming directly from the
source can emerge.

Sample Problem no 4
The wavelength of the red light from a
helium-neon laser is 633 nm in air but
474 nm in the aqueous humour inside
your eye ball. Calculate the index of
refraction of the aqueous humour and
the speed and frequency of the light in

Index of Refraction and Wave Aspects

The frequency f of the wave
does not change when passing
from one material to another.
The number of wave
cycles arriving per unit
time must equal the
number leaving per unit
time; this is a statement
that the boundary surface
cannot create or destroy
waves.

The wavelength of the wave

is different in general in
different materials.
The wavelength of light
in a material is less than
the wavelength o of the
same light in vacuum.

= o/n
When a wave passes from one
material into a second material
with larger index of refraction,
so that nb > na, the wave speed
decreases.
The wavelength b = o/nb in the
second material is then shorter
than the wavelength a = o/na
in the first material.

this substance.

Dispersion
The index of refraction of a
material has a slight
dependence on wavelength.

The value of n decreases with

increasing wavelength and
decreasing frequency, and thus
n increases with decreasing
wavelength and increasing
frequency.
In such a material, light of
longer wavelength has greater
speed than light of shorter
wavelength.

Polarization by Absorption
When light is incident with its
electric field vector parallel to
the chains, electric currents are
set up along the chains, and the
light energy is absorbed, just as
the microwaves are absorbed
by the wires.

Polarization
The direction of polarization of a
linearly polarized electromagnetic
wave is the direction of the E field. A
polarizing filter passes waves that are
linearly polarized along its polarizing
axis and blocks waves polarized
perpendicularly to that axis.

If the electric field is

perpendicular to the chains, the

light is transmitted.

The intensity of light is

proportional to the square of the
magnitude of the electric field
amplitude, the intensity of light
transmitted by the sheet is
given by

I =I o cos 2

Sample Problem no 5
Unpolarized light of 3.0W/m2 intensity
is incident on two polarizing sheets
whose transmission axes make an
angle of 60o. What is the intensity of
light transmitted by the second sheet?

Polarization by Reflection
When unpolarized light is
reflected from a plane surface
boundary between two
transparent media, such as air
and glass or air and water, the
reflected light is partially
polarized.

The degree of polarization

depends on the angle of
incidence and on the ratio of
the wave speeds in the two
media.

Polarization by Scattering
The phenomenon of absorption
and reradiation.

The electric field vector of the

scattered light perpendicular to
the direction of propagation is in
the plane of the long axis of the
antenna and the field point.

 The wave nature of light was

first demonstrated by Thomas
Young, who in 1801 observed
the interference pattern of two
coherent light sources produced
by illuminating a pair of narrow,
parallel slits with a single source
A particle of light called a
photon has energy that is
related to the frequency and
wavelength of the light wave by
the Einstein equation

Polarization by Birefringence
Birefringence is a complicated
phenomenon that occurs in
calcite and other non- cubic
crystals and in some stressed
plastics, such as cellophane.
Most materials are isotropic,
that is, the speed of light
passing through the material is
independent of the polarization
of the light.
Because of their microscopic
structure, birefringent materials
are anisotropic. The speed of
light depends on the
polarization and on the direction
of propagation of the light.
When a light ray is incident on
such materials, it may be
separated into two rays called
the ordinary ray and the
extraordinary ray.

Wave-Particle Duality

History
Galileo proposed to measure
the time it took for visible light
to travel back and forth
between the experimenters.
Rmers method of measuring
the speed of light. The time
between eclipses of Jupiters
moon Io appears to be greater
when Earth is moving along
path ABC than when Earth is
moving along path CDA. The
difference is due to the time it
takes light to travel the distance
travelled by Earth along the line
of sight during one period of Io.
The French physicist Armand
Fizeau made the first
nonastronomical measurement
of the speed of visible light in
1849.

 Light from the source is

reflected by mirror and is
transmitted through a gap in
the toothed wheel to mirror A.
The speed of light is determined
by measuring the angular speed
of the wheel that will permit the
reflected light to pass through
the next gap in the toothed
wheel so that an image of the
source is observed.
Fizeaus method was improved
upon by Jean Foucault, who
replaced the toothed wheel with
a rotating mirror.

Light that strikes the rotating

mirror is reflected toward a
distant fixed mirror, where it is
reflected back toward the
rotating mirror. The light is then
reflected toward the telescope
by the rotating mirror. During

the time taken for the light to

travel from the rotating mirror
to the distant fixed mirror and
back, the mirror rotates through
a small angle .
American physicist Albert
Michelson made more precise
measurements of the speed of
light in approximately 1880.

In these measurements, the

mirror rotates through oneeighth of a turn during the time
it takes for the light to travel to
the fixed mirror and back. The
rotation rate is varied until
another face of the mirror is in
the right position for the
reflected light to enter the
telescope.