Reflection & Total Internal Reflection

$0.00

This diagram is a new addition to the site! More information will be added ASAP 🙂

SKU: N/A Category: Tags: , , ,

Description

Reflection & Total Internal Reflection

TRY SOME QUICK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TO GET STARTED
What is meant by the term refraction?
Refraction refers to the way light changes both direction and speed as it travels from one transparent medium into another.
What is total internal reflection?
Total internal reflection means that all the light propagating through a medium is reflected when it reaches its boundary.
When light strikes a surface, is the angle of incidence always the same as the angle of reflection?
Yes! The angle of incidence of a ray of light as it strikes any point on a surface is always the same as the angle of reflection.
Does light undergo refraction
Yes! When light leaves a vacuum or travels from one transparent medium into another, it undergoes refraction causing it to change both direction and speed.
What happens when light undergoes refraction?
As light travels from a fast medium such as air to a slow medium such as water it bends toward 'the normal' and slows down. As light passes from a slow medium such as diamond to a faster medium such as glass it bends away from 'the normal' and speeds up.

About the diagram

Have you already checked out An Introduction to Reflection, Refraction and Dispersion?

It is the opening page of our Reflection, Refraction and Dispersion Series and contains masses of useful information. This is the table of contents:

The diagram

  • In this diagram sunlight or artificial light travelling through water reflects upwards off the body of the fish.
  • For clarities sake,  the diagram doesn’t show light travelling towards the fish.
  • Check out our diagram dealing with the way parallel incident light rays scatter in different directions as they are reflected off the body of the fish:  Sunlight Reflects off a Fish in Water
  • Notice how the light reflected off the fish and towards the surface is incident to the boundary between water and air.
  • As the incident light strikes the surface a proportion is refracted as it crosses the boundary into the air and a proportion is reflected off the surface back into the water.
  • The diagram demonstrates the paths taken for a ray travelling parallel to the normal and striking the boundary at right angles and for rays at angles of 150, 300,  450  to the normal.
  • Notice that the amount of light that is reflected increases as the angle increases but that above 48.60 total internal reflection takes place and all the light is reflected.
  • Depending on the angle at which the light strikes the surface, different proportions are refracted or reflected.
  • The ratio of the reflected intensity to the incident intensity is called the reflectance (R) and the ratio of the transmitted intensity to the incident intensity is called the transmittance (T).  Energy conservation requires that R + T = 1 (if there is no absorption).
    • The reflectance of the surface of a material is its effectiveness at reflecting radiant energy.
    • The transmittance of the surface of a material is its effectiveness at transmitting radiant energy.

Some key terms

Wave diagram

In physics and optics, a wave diagram uses a set of drawing conventions and labels to describe the attributes of light waves including wavelength, frequency, amplitude and direction of travel.

  • A wave diagram illustrates what happens to a wave as it encounters different media or objects.
  • The aim of a wave diagram is to demonstrate optical phenomena such as reflection and refraction.
Normal

If one line is normal to another, then it is at right angles. So in geometry, the normal is a line drawn perpendicular to and intersecting another line.

In optics, the normal is an imaginary line drawn on a ray diagram perpendicular to, so at a right angle to (900), to the boundary between two media.

  • Expressed more formally, in optics, the normal is a geometric construct, a line drawn perpendicular to the interface between two media at the point of contact. This conceptually defined reference line is crucial for characterizing various light-matter interactions, such as reflection, refraction, and absorption.
  • Light travels in a straight line through a vacuum or a transparent medium such as air, glass, or still water.
  • If light encounters a force, an obstacle or interacts with an object, a variety of optical phenomena may take place including absorption, dispersion, diffraction, polarization, reflection, refraction, scattering or transmission.
  • Optics treats light as a collection of rays that travel in straight lines and calculates the way in which they change direction (deviate) when encountering different optical phenomena.
  • When the normal is drawn on a ray diagram, it provides a reference against which the amount of deviation of the ray can be shown.
  • The normal is always drawn at right angles to a ray of incident light at the point where it arrives at the boundary with a transparent medium.
  • Expressed more formally, in optics, the normal is a geometric construct, a line drawn perpendicular to the interface between two media at the point of contact. This conceptually defined reference line is crucial for characterizing various light-matter interactions, such as reflection, refraction, and absorption.
Refraction

Refraction refers to the way that electromagnetic radiation (light) changes speed and direction as it travels across the interface between one transparent medium and another.

  • As light travels from a fast medium such as air to a slow medium such as water it bends toward the normal and slows down.
  • As light passes from a slow medium such as diamond to a faster medium such as glass it bends away from the normal and speeds up.
  • In a diagram illustrating optical phenomena like refraction or reflection, the normal is a line drawn at right angles to the boundary between two media.
  • A fast (optically rare) medium is one that obstructs light less than a slow medium.
  • A slow (optically dense) medium is one that obstructs light more than a fast medium.
  • The speed at which light travels through a given medium is expressed by its index of refraction.
  • If we want to know in which direction light will bend at the boundary between transparent media we need to know:
  • Which is the faster, less optically dense (rare) medium with a smaller refractive index?
  • Which is the slower, more optically dense medium with the higher refractive index?
  • The amount that refraction causes light to change direction, and its path to bend, is dealt with by Snell’s law.
  • Snell’s law considers the relationship between the angle of incidence, the angle of refraction and the refractive indices (plural of index) of the media on both sides of the boundary. If three of the four variables are known, then Snell’s law can calculate the fourth.
Angle of reflection

The angle of reflection measures the angle at which reflected light bounces off a surface.

  • The angle of reflection is measured between a ray of light which has been reflected off a surface and an imaginary line called the normal.
  • See this diagram for an explanation: Reflection of a ray of light
  • In optics, the normal is a line drawn on a ray diagram perpendicular to, so at a right angle to (900), the boundary between two media.
  • If the boundary between the media is curved then the normal is drawn perpendicular to the boundary.
Reflection

Reflection takes place when incoming light strikes the surface of a medium, obstructing some wavelengths which bounce back into the medium from which they originated.

Reflection takes place when light is neither absorbed by an opaque medium nor transmitted through a transparent medium.

If the reflecting surface is very smooth, the reflected light is called specular or regular reflection.

Specular reflection occurs when light waves reflect off a smooth surface such as a mirror. The arrangement of the waves remains the same and an image of objects that the light has already encountered become visible to an observer.

Diffuse reflection takes place when light reflects off a rough surface. In this case, scattering takes place and waves are reflected randomly in all directions and so no image is produced.

Law of refraction

As light crosses the boundary between two transparent media, the law of refraction (Snell’s law) states the relationship between the angle of incidence and angle of refraction of the light with reference to the refractive indices of both media as follows:

When electromagnetic radiation (light) of a specific frequency crosses the interface of any given pair of media, the ratio of the sines of the angles of incidence and the sines of the angles of refraction is a constant in every case.

  • Snell’s law deals with the fact that for an incident ray approaching the boundary of two media, the sine of the angle of incidence multiplied by the index of refraction of the first medium is equal to the sine of the angle of refraction multiplied by the index of refraction of the second medium.
  • Snell’s law deals with the fact that the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is constant when a light ray passes across the boundary from one medium to another.
  • Snell’s law can be used to calculate the angle of incidence or refraction associated with the use of lenses, prisms and other everyday materials.
  • When using Snell’s law:
    • The angles of incidence and refraction are measured between the direction of a ray of light and the normal – where the normal is an imaginary line drawn on a ray diagram perpendicular to, so at a right angle to (900), to the boundary between two media.
    • The wavelength of the incident light is accounted for.
    • The refractive indices used are selected for the pair of media concerned.
    • The speed of light is expressed in metres per second (m/s).
Angle of incidence

The angle of incidence measures the angle at which incoming light strikes a surface.

  • The angle of incidence is measured between a ray of incoming light and an imaginary line called the normal.
  • See this diagram for an explanation: Reflection of a ray of light
  • In optics, the normal is a line drawn on a ray diagram perpendicular to, so at a right angle to (900), the boundary between two media.
  • If the boundary between the media is curved, then the normal is drawn at a tangent to the boundary.
Angle of refraction

The angle of refraction measures the angle to which light bends as it passes across the boundary between different media.

  • The angle of refraction is measured between a ray of light and an imaginary line called the normal.
  • In optics, the normal is a line drawn on a ray diagram perpendicular to, so at a right angle to (900), the boundary between two media.
  • See this diagram for an explanation: Refraction of a ray of light
  • If the boundary between the media is curved, the normal is drawn perpendicular to the boundary.

Diagrams are free to download

Downloads: Slides or Illustrations

DOWNLOAD DIAGRAMS
  • SLIDES are optimized for viewing on-screen.
  • ILLUSTRATIONS are optimized for printing on A4 pages in portrait format.
SLIDES
  • Slides are available in JPG and AI (Adobe Illustrator) file formats.
  • Titles: Slides have titles.
  • Backgrounds: Black.
  • Size: 1686 x 1124 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio).
ILLUSTRATIONS
  • Illustrations are available in JPG and AI two file formats.
  • Titles: No titles.
  • Backgrounds: White.
  • Size: 1686 x 1124 (3:2 aspect ratio). So all illustrations reproduce at the same scale when inserted into Word documents etc.
  • Labels: Calibri 24pt Italic.

File formats: JPG & AI

DOWNLOAD THE DIAGRAM ON THIS PAGE AS A JPG FILE
  • JPG (JPEG) diagrams are 1686 x 1124 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio).
  • If a JPG diagram doesn’t fit your needs, you can download it as an AI (Adobe Illustrator) file and edit it yourself.
  • JPG files can be placed or pasted directly into MS Office documents.
DOWNLOAD THE DIAGRAM ON THIS PAGE AS AN AI file
  • All AI (Adobe Illustrator) diagrams are 1686 x 1124 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio).
  • All our diagrams are created in Adobe Illustrator as vector drawings.
  • Save as or export AI files to other formats including PDF (.pdf), PNG (.png), JPG (.jpeg) and SVG(.svg) etc.

Spelling: UK & US

We use English (UK) spelling by default here at lightcolourvision.org.

COPY & PASTING TEXT
  • After copy/pasting text please do a spell-check to change our spelling to match your own document.
DOWNLOAD DIAGRAMS
  • Download AI versions of diagrams to change the spelling or language used for titles, labels etc.
  • We are adding American English (US) versions of diagrams on request. Just contact us and let us know what you need.
  • When downloading JPG versions of diagrams, look out for JPG (UK) or JPG (US) in the download dialogue box.

Download agreement

DOWNLOAD AGREEMENT

Light, Colour, Vision & How To See More (https://lightcolourvision.org) : Copyright © 2015-2022 : MediaStudies Trust.

Unless stated otherwise the author of all images and written content on lightcolourvision.org is Ric Mann.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this website may be copied, displayed, extracted, reproduced, utilised, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or scanning without the prior written permission of MediaStudies Trust.

EXCEPTIONS

Exceptions to the above statement are made for personal, educational and non-profit purposes:

Before downloading, cutting and pasting or reproducing any information, images or other assets found on lightcolourvision.org we ask you to agree to the following terms:

  1. All information, images and other assets displayed and made available for download on the lightcolourvision.org website are copyright. This means there are limitations on how they can be used.
  2. All information, images and other assets displayed or made available for download are solely and exclusively to be used for personal, educational and non-profit purposes.
  3. When you find the resources you need, then part of the download process involves you (the user) ticking a box to let us (at lightcolourvision.org) know we both agree on how the material can be used.
  4. Please contact [email protected] before considering any use not covered by the terms of the agreement above.

The copyright to all information, images and all other assets (unless otherwise stated) belongs to:

The Trustees. MediaStudies Trust
111 Lynbrooke Avenue
Blockhouse Bay
Auckland 0600
New Zealand
[email protected]

We love feedback

Your name and email address will be used solely to provide you with information you have specifically requested. See our privacy policy at https://lightcolourvision.org/privacy/.

We welcome your feedback 🙂









    Note: The feedback form records the URL of the current page


    Thank you so much for your time and effort

    Related products