Physics For Scientists and Engineers, 6e: Chapter 35 - The Nature of Light and The Laws of Geometric Optics

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 6e
Chapter 35 – The Nature of Light and the

Laws of Geometric Optics
In the movies, you sometimes see an actor looking
in a mirror and you can see his face in the mirror.
During the filming of this scene, what does the actor
see in the mirror?
1. his face
20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
2. your face
3. the director’s face
4. the movie camera
5. impossible to determine
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
The light rays from the actor’s face must reflect from the
mirror and into the camera. If these light rays are
reversed, light from the camera reflects from the mirror
into the eyes of the actor.
If beam 1 is the incoming beam in Figure 35.10b,
which of the other four red lines are reflected beams
and which are refracted beams?
1. Only beam 2 is
reflected.
20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
2. Only beam 4 is
reflected.
3. Beams 2 and 4
are reflected.
4. Beams 2, 3, and 4
are reflected.
5. All four of the
other lines are reflected.
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Beams 2 and 4 are reflected; beams 3 and 5 are
refracted.
Light passes from a material with index of refraction
1.3 into one with index of refraction 1.2. Compared
to the incident ray, the refracted ray
1. bends toward the normal

2. is undeflected 33% 33% 33%
3. bends away from the
normal
1 2 3
1 2 3 4 5
Because the light is entering a material in which
the index of refraction is lower, the speed of light
is higher and the light bends away from the
normal.
As light from the Sun enters the atmosphere, it refracts due to the small
difference between the speeds of light in air and in vacuum. The optical length
of the day is defined as the time interval between the instant when the top of
the Sun is just visibly observed above the horizon to the instant at which the
top of the Sun just disappears below the horizon. The geometric length of the
day is defined as the time interval between the instant when a geometric
straight line drawn from the observer to the top of the Sun just clears the
horizon to the instant at which this line just dips below the horizon. Which is
longer?
50% 50%
1. the optical length of a
day
2. the geometric length
of a day
1 2
1 2 3 4 5
Due to the refraction of light by air, light rays from
the Sun deviate slightly downward toward the
surface of the Earth as the light enters the
atmosphere. Thus, in the morning, light rays from
the upper edge of the Sun arrive at your eyes
before the geometric line from your eyes to the top
of the Sun clears the horizon. In the evening, light
rays from the top of the Sun continue to arrive at
your eyes even after the geometric line from your
eyes to the top of the Sun dips below the horizon.
Lenses in a camera use refraction to form an image on a film.
Ideally, you want all the colors in the light from the object being
photographed to be refracted by the same amount. Of the
materials shown in this figure, which would you choose for a
camera lens?
1. crown glass
2. acrylic 25% 25% 25% 25%
3. fused quartz
4. impossible to determine
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 5
An ideal camera lens would have an index of
refraction that does not vary with wavelength so
that all colors would be bent through the same
angle by the lens. Of the three choices, fused
quartz has the least variation in n across the
visible spectrum.
In the figure, five light rays enter a glass prism from the
left. How many of these rays undergo total internal
reflection at the slanted surface of the prism?
1. 1
20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
The two bright rays exiting the bottom of the
prism on the right in Figure 35.27 result from
total internal reflection at the right face of the
prism. Notice that there is no refracted light
exiting the slanted side for these rays. The light
from the other three rays is divided into
reflected and refracted parts.
Suppose that the prism in this figure can be rotated
in the plane of the paper. In order for all five rays to
experience total internal reflection from the slanted
surface, the prism should be rotated:
1. clockwise
2. counterclockwise 50% 50%
1 2
1 2 3 4 5
Counterclockwise rotation of the prism will cause the
rays to strike the slanted side of the prism at a larger
angle. When all five rays strike at an angle larger
than the critical angle, they will all undergo total
internal reflection.
A beam of white light is incident on a crown glass–air interface as shown in
the figure below. The incoming beam is rotated clockwise, so that the incident
angle θ increases. Because of dispersion in the glass, some colors of light
experience total internal reflection (ray 4 in figure (a) below) before other
colors, so that the beam refracting out of the glass is no longer white. The
last color to refract out of the upper surface is
1. violet
2. green 25% 25% 25% 25%
3. red
4. impossible
to determine
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 5
When the outgoing beam approaches the direction
parallel to the straight side, the incident angle is
approaching the critical angle for total internal
reflection. The index of refraction for light at the
violet end of the visible spectrum is larger than that
at the red end. Thus, as the outgoing beam
approaches the straight side, the violet light
experiences total internal reflection first, followed by
the other colors. The red light is the last to
experience total internal reflection.

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Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 6e

Chapter 35 – The Nature of Light and the

1. bends toward the normal

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