Physics notes – Direction of propagation

Wave-like properties of light

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A good starting point to learn about the behaviour of waves is λ
to study waves in a stretched spring or string.
A ‘full’ shake produces a cycle of the periodic wave. The time
A wave pulse is generated when a stretched spring is given a interval for generating a cycle is the period T of the wave. The
shake at one end. This wave pulse travels along the spring to length of a cycle of the wave is called its wavelength λ. The
the other end and turns back to travel in the opposite direction. number of cycles generated in a unit time (second) is the
frequency f of the periodic wave.

Frequency and period of a wave are related according to

1
1 2 Direction of propagation f = .
T

The highest point of a wave is the crest, and the lowest point
the trough. Half way between the two is the equilibrium
position where the spring is. The distance between a crest (or
1 2 3 trough) and the equilibrium position is the amplitude of a
wave.
The spring is given a certain amount of energy during the
shake. This amount of energy exists in the spring and is
carried along the spring by the wave pulse. Amplitude
The spring is the medium for the wave pulse (energy) to travel
along. The particles of the medium are displaced while the
pulse is passing and they returned to their original positions
after the pulse is through. They do not travel with the pulse.
A travelling wave moves a distance λ (the wavelength) during
The transfer of energy from one place to another does not
a time interval T (the period). Hence the speed of the wave v is
involve the net transfer of any material of the medium.
given by
λ
When the spring is shaken perpendicular to the length of the v= or v = fλ .
spring, the motion of a particle in the spring and the motion of T
the pulse are perpendicular to each other. This type of waves is
categorised as transverse waves. The first equation follows the general definition for speed.

Wave pulses can also be generated by shaking a stretched dis tan cetravelled
Speed = .
spring along the direction of its length. timetaken

The second equation is called the wave equation.

/ / / / // / / / / / / / / / / /
Example 1 A periodic wave is generated in a 5.00-m
stretched spring by shaking one end 2 times in a second. The
/ / / / / / / / / // / / / / / / time taken to travel to the other end of the spring is 2.00 s.
Find the speed and the wavelength of the wave.

dis tan cetravelled 5.00

The motion of a particle in the wave is parallel to the motion Speed = = = 2.50 ms-1.
of the pulse. This type of waves is categorised as longitudinal timetaken 2.00
waves. Again the particles do not travel with the pulse. They
are displaced when the pulse is passing through them. Frequency f = 2 s-1 (Hz).

v 2.50
v = fλ , λ = = = 1.25 m.
Periodic waves f 2

If the shaking of the spring is done repeatedly, a periodic

travelling wave is formed in the medium (the spring).

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Example 2 Consider the following transverse wave pulse in Displacement of particle at position P
a stretched rope travelling to the right. Draw the wave pulse at
T T 3T T 5T
(a) t = (b) t = (c) t = (d) t = (e) t =
8 4 8 2 8
3T 7T
(f) t = (g) t = (h) t = T . Draw a displacement-time 0 Time
4 8
graph for the particle at P.

Example 3 Consider the following longitudinal wave pulse

P in a stretched spring travelling to the right. Draw a
displacement-position graph of the wave at that particular
moment (say t = 0 ).
(a)
Q

(b)
Rarefaction Compression

P Displacement

(c)
0 Q Position

(d)
Example 4 Refer to example 3, draw a displacement-time
graph for the particle at position Q.
P
Q
(e)

P
Displacement

(f)

P 0 Time

(g)

Phase
P Two particles in a wave are in phase when they move in the
same direction and at the same speed. The distance between
two consecutive particles in phase equals the wavelength.
(h)
Two waves of the same frequency are in phase when they
vibrate the same way at the same place and at the same time.
P

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Examples of waves Refraction

Surface water waves Wave changes its speed and direction when the depth of water
changes.
Direction of propagation Water level

λ Water
Deep r

Surface water waves are transverse waves (as an i Shallow

approximation) because the motion of water particles is
perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the waves.
The highest points are called crests and the lowest points are
troughs.

Aerial view of a surface water wave can be represented by a

series of lines to stand for wave crests. An arrow Frequency is the same in both regions.
perpendicular to the crests is used to indicate the direction of λd > λs , vd > vs , ∠i > ∠r .
propagation. vd fλ λ
= d = d .
vs fλ s λ s

Diffraction

Wave spreads out when it passes by an edge, an obstacle or

through an opening.

Surface water wave is particularly useful to demonstrate

visually some important behaviour of waves, e.g. reflection,
refraction, diffraction and interference.

Reflection

Normal to the barrier

Wavelength, frequency and speed remain the same after

reflection.
Wavelength, frequency and speed remain the same after
diffraction.
Angles of incidence and reflection are equal, ∠i = ∠r . This is
known as the law of reflection.
λ
Spread due to diffraction ∝ , where w is the width of the
w
obstacle or opening.

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Interference Sound waves in air

Two waves interfere when they cross or overlap each other. If Each of following diagrams shows a simplified picture of the
they are in phase (crests meeting crests and troughs meeting air molecules in front of a loudspeaker before and after it was
trough), constructive interference is said to occur resulting in turned on.
a wave with larger amplitude.

Wave 1 Enlarged
Wave 2 amplitude

If they are half of a wavelength out of phase (crests meeting

troughs), destructive interference occurs resulting in the
destruction of both waves. Rarefaction Compression

Sound waves in air are longitudinal because the particles

Diminished oscillate parallel to the direction of propagation. A way to
amplitude describe the above sound wave is in terms of the displacement
of the particles at different positions from the loudspeaker.

Displacement

The diagram below is called an interference pattern of two

circular waves generated by two sources producing the waves 0 Position
periodically and in phase.

Another way is in terms of the variation in air pressure at

different positions.

Variation in air pressure

0 Position

As a sound wave passes through air, a series of alternating

high (compressions) and low (rarefactions) air pressure
Wavelength, frequency and speed remain the same during and
regions propagate forwards.
after interference.
Sound has all the properties of a wave, namely reflection,
Constructive interference occurs at places where a wave
refraction, diffraction and interference.
crest meets another crest, or a trough meets another trough.
Destructive interference occurs at places where a crest and a
An example of refraction of sound is when it travels from a
trough meet.
region into another region of different temperature. Sound
travels faster in a warmer region (longer λ ) than in a cooler
The regions marked with dotted curves are called antinodal
lines where constructive interference takes place. The regions region (shorter λ ), and it bends towards the normal, i.e.
between two adjacent antinodal lines are called nodal lines ∠i > ∠r .
where destructive interference occurs.

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Wave-like properties of light When a light ray enters an optically denser medium, it always
bends towards the normal, hence ∠r < ∠i .
Reflection of a light ray
When it enters a less dense medium, it bends away from the
Normal normal. This results in a phenomenon called total internal
reflection if the angle of incidence ∠i is sufficiently large for
i r the two media under consideration. The minimum angle of
incidence for total internal reflection to occur is called the
critical angle θ c for a particular colour (frequency) of light. A
∠i = ∠r different critical angle results if a different combination of
Specular reflection of a parallel beam of light media is used.

n1

n2 > n1

Diffuse reflection of a parallel beam of light θ c

When a ray (broken line) of light travels from n2 into n1 it

splits into a refracted ray and a reflected ray at the interface.
As the angle of incidence increases the refracted ray becomes
Refraction of a light ray dimmer and closer to the interface (angle of refraction
approaches 90°), whilst the reflected ray becomes brighter.
Normal
θ1 When ∠i = θ c (solid line), the refracted ray disappears
Medium 1 completely and only the reflected ray remains, i.e. total
Medium 2 internal reflection occurs.
θ2
The critical angle can be determined from Snell’s law,
n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ 2 .
When a light ray enters a medium from a different medium at n1
an angle to the normal, both direction and speed of the light Let θ1 = 90° and θ 2 = θ c , then sin θ c = ,
n2
ray change. This is called refraction of light.
n 
∴θ c = sin −1  1  .
If the light ray travels from medium 1 to medium 2, then  n2 
∠i = θ1 and ∠r = θ 2 , and the relative refractive index If medium 1 is a vacuum or air, n1 = 1 or ≈ 1 ,
sin θ1
r1to 2 = . The relative refractive index can also be  1 
sin θ 2 ∴θ c = sin −1   .
 n2 
determined from the absolute refractive indices n1 and n2 ,
n2 Total internal reflection is the principle behind fibre optics.
r1to 2 = .
n1 Very thin (a few micrometres) glass and plastic fibres are
bundled together to form a light pipe since light can be
If the light ray travels from medium 2 to medium 1, then transmitted along it with almost no loss because of total
∠i = θ 2 and ∠r = θ1 , and the relative refractive index internal reflection.
sin θ 2 n 1
r2to1 = . Also, r2to1 = 1 = . When light travels down a thin fibre, it makes only glancing
sin θ1 n2 r1to 2
collisions with the walls so that the angle of incidence is
Hence n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ 2 . This is known as Snell’s law. greater than the critical angle and no light can escape to the
outside of the fibre.
When a light ray enters an optically denser medium (i.e.
medium of higher refractive index), its speed decreases,
1 v n c
v ∝ and 2 = 1 . In fact, v = , where c is the speed of
n v1 n2 n
light in a vacuum ( c = 3.0 × 10 8 ms-1). Light travels inside a thin fibre

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Example 1 Light hits a slab of glass ( n = 1.52 ) at an angle They are also perpendicular to the direction of propagation of
of incidence of 60°. What is the angle of refraction? At what the light wave; this means that light wave (an electromagnetic
angle with the normal does it emerge from the glass? wave) is a transverse wave.

60° Air A pictorial representation of a light wave is shown below.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic wave)

r Glass Electric field λ

r

60°

Use Snell’s law: n g sin θ g = na sin θ a , 1.52 sin r = 1.00 sin 60° , Magnetic field
r ≈ 35° .
Direction of propagation
Light ray emerges at 60° with the normal.
Polarisation of light
Example 2 Explain how a diamond achieves its brilliance. Light emitted by an excited atom is polarised, i.e. the
Explain how it loses its brilliance if its base is wet. oscillating electric field lies on the same plane along the
direction of propagation. Polarisation of light is a good
Diamond has an absolute refractive index of 2.42, which is indicator that light as a wave is transverse.
much higher than other media, e.g. water ( n = 1.33 ). Hence
 1 
the critical angle for diamond-air θ c = sin −1   ≈ 24° is
 2.42 
much smaller than that for other medium-air combinations. A
smaller critical angle gives higher probability for total internal
reflection of light entering the diamond from air. Thus the
Direction of propagation
light retains almost all its intensity when it leaves the diamond
at the uppermost surface of the diamond.

A light source (e.g. a fluorescent lamp) consists of many

excited atoms emitting light independently. The light therefore
consists of many independent waves that are randomly
polarized about the direction of propagation. Such light is said
to be unpolarised.

If the base of the diamond is wet, the critical angle for Electric field shown
 1.33  by the arrows
diamond-water is θ c = sin −1   ≈ 33° and it is greater than
 2.42 
θ c = 24° when the diamond is dry. This reduces the chance
for total internal reflection and more light escapes through the
base; hence the wet diamond is not as brilliant as before.

Light reflects, refracts, diffracts and interferes with each other;

The diagram above shows an unpolarised light directed out of
therefore a wave model is a suitable tool to describe light
the page. It is made up of waves with randomly directed
phenomena.
electric fields.
There is one important difference between light waves and the
other waves mentioned previously. No medium is required for Each electric field can be resolved into two perpendicular
light to travel in. Light energy can be transferred from one components.
position to another in a vacuum. E

According to Maxwell light in space is an oscillating electric

field ‘combined’ with an oscillating magnetic field. These two
fields are related and they are perpendicular to each other.

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Therefore unpolarised light can be considered as two The following diagrams are copied from
perpendicular oscillating electric fields of the same amplitude. http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/waves3.html .
E

E
Electromagnetic spectrum

Unpolarised light can be made polarised by passing it through

a polarising sheet (commercially known as a Polaroid sheet).
A polarising sheet has a particular polarising direction on its
plane that allows those components parallel to this direction
and removes components perpendicular to it.

I Polarising sheet Colour components of white light

I E Light from the sun is called white light and found to compose
I E of different colours (frequencies) of light. This can be
I E demonstrated easily by passing a beam of sunlight through a
triangular glass prism.

Red
Violet
Theoretically the intensity of light is halved after passing
through a polarising sheet. If a second sheet is placed in
tandem with its polarising direction perpendicular to the first
sheet, it is expected to block the rest from passing through.
The prism separates the white light into a spectrum of colours
Example 1 What do you think a third sheet will do to the on the screen. The spreading of white light into a full spectrum
light? is called dispersion.

In fact, if you insert a third sheet between the two Dispersion occurs because the material of the prism refracts
perpendicular sheets at about 45°, some light will pass through the different colour of lights to varying degrees. That is, the
the three sheets. There is a quantum dynamic theory for this material has slightly different refractive indices for the
effect. different colours. Violet light (higher n) is bent the most and
red (lower n) the least.
Visible light
Absolute refractive index
Colour
Visible light is a particular region of the spectrum of Diamond Crown glass Water
electromagnetic radiation. Wavelength ranges from Red 2.410 1.514 1.331
4 × 10 −7 m for violet light to 7 × 10 −7 m for red light. Yellow 2.418 1.517 1.333
Blue 2.450 1.528 1.340
For light wave (electromagnetic wave), the wave equation is
c = fλ .
Chromatic aberration
Example 1 Calculate the corresponding frequencies for violet
and red lights. In optics, chromatic aberration is a term used to describe the
8
effect of a lens failing to focus all colours to the same point. It
3.0 × 10
c occurs because lenses have a different refractive index for
Violet light: f = = ≈ 8 × 1014 Hz.
4 × 10 −7
λ different frequencies of light. The refractive index increases
c 3.0 × 108 with increasing frequency. Chromatic aberration appears as
Red light: f = = ≈ 4 × 1014 Hz. fringes of colour along boundaries that separate dark and
λ 7 × 10 −7 bright parts of the image.
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 The setup demonstrating the refraction of light consists of two
horizontal levels connected with a sloping surface. A ball
Blue bearing rolls along the top level and down the slope to the
Green
lower level with a greater speed. A change in direction
Red
(towards the normal) is clearly observable. However, this
Red
demonstration fails to show that the speed of light decreases
Green when it enters a denser medium (represented by the lower
Blue level).

He was unable to explain:

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lens6a.svg) - Partial reflection and partial transmission of light at an
interface
- The existence of Newton’s rings and other related
Speed of light in a medium phenomena due to the interference of light.
All light, irrespective of its colour, travels at the speed of light Christiaan Huygens (~1678) considered light as a wave. Using
c in a vacuum, i.e. 3.00 × 108 ms-1 ( 2.998 × 108 ms-1 to be a wave model he was able to explain all the known
more precise). But once it enters a medium its speed depends phenomena of light mentioned above as well as interference
c and diffraction of light.
on the refractive index of the medium for its colour, v = .
n

Example 1 Compare the speeds of red and blue light in

diamond.

c 2.998 × 10 8
Red light in diamond: v = = = 1.244 × 10 8 ms-1.
n 2.410

c 2.998 × 10 8
Blue light in diamond: v = = = 1.224 × 10 8 ms-1.
n 2.450

Red light travels faster in diamond than blue light.

A particle model of light

Light can be thought of as a stream of particles because it

shows similar behaviours in some experiments.

Isaac Newton (~1665) made up a particle model of light to

explain many of the known behaviours of light at that time. He
was able to explain:
- Straight line propagation of light (Free particles move in a
straight line)
- The intensity of light (Number of particles in the stream)
- Different colours (Different types of particles)
- Reflection of light from flat and curved surfaces
(Particles hitting a solid surface follow the law of
reflection, ∠i = ∠r )
- Refraction (change in direction) of light as it crosses the
interface between two media.

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