TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

• Total internal reflection may be defined as the
phenomenon of reflection of light that takes place, when a
ray of light travelling in a denser medium gets incident at
the interface of the two media at an angle greater than the
critical angle for that pair of media.
• Thus, for the total internal reflection to take place,
following conditions should be obeyed:
a) Light should travel from a denser medium to a rarer
medium.
b) Angle of incidence in denser medium should be greater
than the critical angle for the pair of media in contact.
 TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
We know that a ray of light entering a rarer medium from
a denser medium goes away from the normal , i.e. r > i. If
we keep on increasing the angles of incidence, angles of
refraction also increase in such a way that sin i /sin r =
constant. However, a stage comes when the angle of
refraction becomes 90°. In other words, the refracted ray
gazes along the separating the two media. The angle of
incidence for r = 90° is known as critical angle (ic). If the
angle of incidence is further increased, refraction does
not take place at the surface separating the two media.
Instead, Refection takes place. This is known as Total
Internal Reflection. Let us consider a ray of light entering
from glass into air.
When i = ic , r = 90◦
𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑖 aµ = gµ = 1
= w 1/ a
𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑟 𝜇
= 1
i.e. sin ic = ( r =90◦ and sin 90 = 1)
𝜇
If the refractive index of a medium is known, the
critical angle in that medium can be calculated.
MIRAGE
MIRAGE:
Mirage is an optical illusion which occurs
usually in deserts on hot summer rays.
As stated earlier, it is an optical illusion in
which inverted images of distant objects are
seen as if reflected from a water surface.
Sometimes, it even gives the impression that
the object is suspended in air in the
atmosphere.
In deserts, because of the intense heat, layers of air near
the surface the earth are hotter compared to the layers
above them. Hence the density and the refractive index of
these layers are different from those in the higher levels.
Rays of light from a distant object, thus, pass through layers
whose refractive indices gradually decrease. As a result,
they go away from the normal, till they are incident on a
layer where the angle of incidence is greater than the
critical angle. Sure enough, total internal reflection takes
place. These reflected rays travel upwards and undergo a
series of refraction through various layers till they reach the
eye of the observer, who sees the image of the object as
though reflected from the surface of a calm lake.
OPTICAL FIBRE
OPTICAL FIBRE
 OPTICAL FIBRE
• An optical fibre is a very thin fibre made of glass or
quartz having radius of the order of 10-10 m. A bundle
of such thin fibres from a light pipe.
• The fig shows the principle of light transmission inside
an optical fibre. The refractive index of the material of
the core is higher than that of cladding. When light is
incident at one end of the fibre at a small angle the
light passes inside, undergoes repeated total internal
reflection along the fibre and finally comes out. The
angle of incidence is always larger than the critical
angle of the core with respect to its cladding. Even if
the light can easily travel through the fibre.
AZIMUTHAL MIRROR :
This instrument is based on the principles of
refraction and total internal reflection. It is used
to take the bearing of both terrestrial and
astronomical bodies such as the sun. Depending
upon the requirement, it is used in two different
positions.
 AZIMUTHAL MIRROR
(ARROW UP POSITION)
AZIMUTHAL MIRROR:(ARROW UP POSITION)
In this position, the instrument is used to obtain the bearing of the sun and
other heavenly bodies. An equilateral prism is use. Rays of light from the sun
suffer refraction at the first face. When these rays meet the second face, i.e.
the surface separating the glass medium from air, they are incident at an
angle greater than the critical angle and so undergoes total internal
reflection. These reflected rays once again suffer refraction. When they
emerge through the third face, they reach the eye and final image is formed
at the eye. Obviously, for the eye, the sum will appear as though it is located
in the direction from which the rays enter the eye. Thus, the eye E would
see the image of the sun at S1, while by glancing just outside the line of the
prism itself, a pointer P is seen by direct vision close against the graduated
rim of the compass card. By bringing the image against the pointer, the
bearing of the sun is read off.
 AZIMUTHAL MIRROR
(ARROW DOWN POSITION)
AZIMUTHAL MIRROR : (ARROW DOWN POSITION)
In this position, the instrument is used to
measure the bearing of terrestrial objects.
The diagram shows the rays. In this case, the
eye E will see the image of the pointer and
the compass card at P1. By raising the line of
vision slightly, the observer can see the
terrestrial object, say a light house L. The
reading on the compass card gives the
bearing of the light house.
PERISCOPE
PERISCOPE:
A periscope consists of a vertical tube with two right
angled prisms placed in such a way that a ray of light
entering the prisms P1 and P2 suffer total internal
reflections and so deviate the rays through 90°. However,
the deviation produced by P2 is equal and opposite to that
produced by P1. As a result, the incident ray suffers a
displacement but no deviation. In other words, the
incident ray gets displaced by a length equal to the length
of the tube. Periscopes are used in submarines and by
soldiers in trenches enabling the viewer to remain hidden
from the objects they view.
PRISM BINOCULAR
PRISM BINOCULARS:
This consists of two astronomical telescopes, each
having two totally reflecting right angled prisms. In
this way, the optical distance between the objective
and the eyepiece of the telescopes is made larger
than the distance between the two. Hence, the field
of vision is increased. Also, the effective length is
made a third of the length of the telescope without
compromising on the magnification and the final
image which is erect.
The objective and the eyepiece lenses are convex
lenses, Prism A is placed with its refracting edge
horizontal and so turns the image in the vertical
direction upside down. Prism B is placed with its
refracting edge vertical and so turns the image in
the horizontal direction. Thus, the final image
produced is erect and magnified. Total optical
path is about three times the length of the
binocular and so it works as an astronomical
telescope equal to 3 times its length.
 ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
• The electromagnetic spectrum is a continuum
of all electromagnetic waves arranged
according to frequency and wavelength. The
sun, earth, and other bodies radiate
electromagnetic energy of varying
wavelengths. ... The spectrum of waves is
divided into sections based on wavelength.
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 TYPES OF EM WAVES
• Radio waves: are characterized by higher wavelengths, greater
than 1 millimeter. Higher frequency radio waves are
called microwaves.
• Infrared: with a wavelength between 700nm and 1mm, we
humans we can not see it but we perceive it as heat on skin.
• Visible light: with a wavelength between 700 and 400 nm, it is the
part of electromagnetic spectrum that we can see and which is
expressed through rainbow colors.
• Ultraviolet: it has a wavelength between 400 to 10 nm and it is
responsible for our tans.
• X rays: characterized by a wavelength between 10 and 0.01 nm,
they are very important for medical application because they are
used for medical diagnostics.
• Gamma rays: with a wavelength less than 0.01 nm, are those with
greater energy.
 TYPES OF EM WAVES AND ITS
APPLICATION
• Radio waves: Communication
• Microwaves: Heating and data transmission
• Infrared waves: Used in remote control and
imaging applications
• Visible light: Help us see everything around us
• Ultraviolet Waves: Useful in the study of galaxies
• X-rays: Medica instruments to view bone
structure
• Gamma rays: Nuclear energy
SEXTANT
 SEXTANT
• A sextant is a nautical navigation instrument
used to measure horizontal or vertical angles
between 2 objects.This can be the sun and the
horizon ,the moon and the horizon or any
other body and the horizon.
 WORKING OF SEXTANT
• To find the ship latitude ,sailors used a tool
called a sextant.The sextant is a valuable
instrument used to determine the angle
between the horizon(the line at which the
earths surface and the sky appear to meet)
and a celestial body like the sun,moon or
star.When the measurement of this angle was
determined,it could be converted to degrees
latitude by using a chart provided in the
Nautical Almanac.
 PRINCIPLE OF SEXTANT
• The principle of a sextant is when the ray of
light is reflected from two mirrors in
succession in the same plane, Then the angle
between the incident and reflected ray is two
times the angle between the mirrors.
 PARTS OF A SEXTANT
• The sextant is made up of the following parts:
• The frame.
• The handle.
• The telescope or monocle.
• The rising piece.
• The arc.
• The index arm.
• The clamp.
• The worm and rack.
 PROPAGATION OF RADIO WAVES
• Radio propagation is the behavior of radio
waves as they travel, or are propagated, from
one point to another, or into various parts of
the atmosphere. ... Line-of-sight propagation
means radio waves which travel in a straight
line from the transmitting antenna to the
receiving antenna.
 3 TYPES OF RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION

• The mode of propagation of electromagnetic

waves in the atmosphere and in free space
may be divided into the following three
categories:

• Ground wave propagation.

• Space wave propagation
• Skywave propagation.
IONOSPHERIC BENDING
 IONOSPHERIC BENDING
• When a RF (Radio Frequency) signal travels
into ionospheric layer, it experiences
refraction due to differences in the density
between layers. ... This ionospheric reflection
is called as ionospheric bending.
 REASON OF BENDING OF EM WAVES
IN IONOSPHERE
• The reason is that the atoms and molecules
in the ionosphere absorb large amounts of
radiation (primarily UV) from the sun, which
makes the electrons so energetic that they are
not held to one nucleus.