General Physics 2

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

N2

Light as an
Electromagnetic Wave
_____________________________________________

Maxwell’s Synthesis of Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics

EM Waves and Light
Law of Reflection
Law of Refraction (Snell’s Law)
Dispersion
Polarization

Compiled by:
|denver m. cho-oy, lpt, ma physics | nick t. loque, lpt |
I. MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS
Maxwell’s equations provide an important link among the concepts of electricity, magnetism, and light. A
significant understanding of the nature of light is revealed by this relationship.

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)

- regarded as the greatest theoretical physicist of the 19th century
- formulated a complete theory by bringing together all the work that had been done by brilliant
physicists such as Oersted, Coulumb, Gauss, and Faraday, and added his own insights to develop the
overarching theory of electromagnetism

The waves predicted by Maxwell would consist of oscillating electric and magnetic fields—defined to be
an electromagnetic wave.

Electromagnetic waves would be capable of exerting forces on charges great distances from their source,
and they might thus be detectable. Maxwell calculated that electromagnetic waves would propagate at a speed
given by the equation
1
c=
 0 0
When the value of 0 and 0 are entered into the equation for c, we find that
1
c= = 3.00  10 8 m / s
 7 T • m  
2
C
 4  10   8.85  10 
−12

 A  N • m2 

II. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND LIGHT

Light
- is radiation or radiant energy capable of exciting vision.
- transverse, electromagnetic waves that can be seen by humas
- sources:
o thermal sources such as fire or carbon arcs
o gas discharges such as neon lights
o luminescent sources such as some rosaries and toys
▪ incandescence is the emission of light from “hot” matter (T  800K)
▪ luminescence is the emission of light when bound electrons fall to lower energy levels

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

- is the whole range of electromagnetic waves
- extends from gamma rays with wavelengths of one hundredth of a nanometer to radiowaves with
wavelengths of one meter or greater

The Visible Spectrum

- is just a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The receptors of the eye respond to light in the
visible spectrum
- it lies in the middle range with wavelengths 400 nm (blue) and 700 nm (red)
III. LAW OF REFLECTION
Regular or Specular Reflection
- reflection from a smooth surface
- incident rays and reflected rays are parallel to each other

Diffuse Reflection
- reflection from rough surfaces
- reflected rays are in different directions

For specular or regular reflection, the laws of reflection are as follows:

1. The incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the reflection surface at the point of incidence
lie in the same plane.
2. The angle which the incident ray makes with the normal is equal to the angle which the reflected ray
makes to the same normal. i=r
IV. LAW OF REFRACTION (SNELL’S LAW)

Refraction is the bending of the path of a light wave

as it passes from one material to another material. The
refraction occurs at the boundary and is caused by a
change in the speed of light wave upon crossing the
boundary.

Index of Refraction (n)

- of the media is the ratio of the speed of light in
vacuum c to the speed of light in that medium v
- it also determines the extent of the change in the
direction of propagation of the light wave
c
- n=
v
- the more dense the material, the slower the speed of
light in that material

Sample Problem 1: The index of refraction of water in 1.333. How fast does it travel in water?

Sample Problem 2: What is the index of refraction of a substance where light travels at 2 x 108 m/s?

Law of Refraction:
- The change in speed and wavelength at the boundary between two materials causes light to change
direction. If 1 is the angle of the ray relative to the normal to the surface in medium 1, and 2 is the angle
relative to the normal in medium 2, then:
sin  2 1 v1 n1
= = =
sin 1 2 v2 n2

Snell’s Law
- The ratio of sines of the angles of incidence and refraction is a constant. The ratio is constant for a
particular wavelength and a particular set of materials.

Sample Problem 1: When light passes from air to water, what is the angle of refraction when the angle of
incidence is 30 degrees?

Sample Problem 2: Light travels from air to diamond, what is the angle of refraction when the angle of incidence
is 30 degrees?
Total Internal Reflection
When light passes obliquely from denser to less dense medium, it is refracted away from the normal.
Increasing the angle of incidence increases the angle of refraction until such time the angle of refraction is 90.
Light appears to emerge between the surfaces of the two media. The angle of incidence corresponding to an angle
of 90 is called critical angle. If the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, no refraction occurs. The
light will be totally reflected back to the first medium. This phenomenon is called total internal reflection.

1
If air is the second medium, then  c = sin −1 .
n1

Sample Problem 1: What is the critical angle for diamond-air interface? What happens to light if it strikes the
interface at an angle of incidence of 20.5? What if the angle of incidence is 30.6?

V. DISPERSION and COLOR

Dispersion
- splitting of white light into its constituent colors
Isaac Newton
- first discovered that ordinary white light is a combination of colors.
- In his experiment, Newton passed sunlight through a triangular prism that resulted in sunlight fanning out
into a band of colors:
wavelength (m) frequency (Hz)
o R Red 6.60 x 10-7 4.54 x 10 14
o O Orange 6.10 x 10 -7
4.92 x 10 14
o Y Yellow 5.80 x 10 -7
5.17 x 10 14
o G Green 5.40 x 10 -7
5.56 x 10 14
o B Blue 4.70 x 10-7 6.38 x 10 14
o I Indigo 4.40 x 10 -7
6.82 x 10 14
o V Violet 4.10 x 10 -7
7.32 x 10 14

The Color of Objects

• Color is the thing we perhaps notice most about light in the world around us. But why we see colors the
way we do has to do with light.
o The reason something appears to be the color that it does is that the object is absorbing all other
colors of light except the ones we see, which are reflected back to our eyes.
o If something absorbs all the ccolors, it appears black, if it reflects everything, it appears white.
• Color comes from the visible spectrum of light; all of its major colors and everything in between. What
color we see depends on the wavelength of the light we absorb into our eyes.
• The sensation of color depends primarily on the composition of light which is a mixture of white light and
colored light.

Color Addition for Lights

- is the process of producing other colors by mixing suitable protions of the primary colors of light. The
primary colors are red, blue and green.
- all other colors produced by mixing suitable protions of primary colors are called secondary colors.

RED + BLUE + GREEN = WHITE

RED + BLUE = MAGENTA
RED + GREEN = YELLOW
BLUE + GREEN = CYAN

Sample Problem 1: What will you get if you mix M, Y, and C lights?

Sample Problem 2:What will you get if you mix M and Y lights?

Sample Problem 3: Consider an opaque body capable of absorbing blue light and illuminated by (a) white light
and (b) magenta light. What will be its color in each case?
Sample Problem 4: If illuminated by blue light, what will be the color of the object in sample problem 3?

VI. POLARIZATION
- the property of polarization distinguishes transverse wave from longitudinal waves
- only transverse waves can be polarized

Polarization by Reflection
- 1809, Malus discovered that light can be polarized by reflection
- Sir David Brewster discovered that when light strikes a non-metallic surface, like glass, at a particular
angle on incidence, the reflected ray is almost polarized. This particular angle is called polarizing
angle or Brewster angle.
- At the polarizing angle, the reflected ray and refracted ray are perpendicular to each other.
n2
 p = tan −1
n1
where p = polarizing angle
n1 = index of refraction of the first medium
n2 = index of refraction of the second medium

Sample Problem 1: At what angle of incidence is light completely polarized after reflection from a surface of
water? What is the corresponding angle of refraction? Assume that light is incident from air. (Index of refraction
of water = 1.333)

Sample Problem 2: Find the polarizing angle for yellow light for diamond if its index of refraction is 2.417.
 Intensity of Polarized Light
- If an unpolarized light is allowed to pass through a polarizing filter, one-half of the incident light is
transmitted while the other half is absorbed. The intensity of the transmitted light is reduced to one-
half its original value. A second polarizing filter may be used to change the direction of polarization
and the intensity of transmitted light.

- In each setup, the first polarizing filter is called the polarizer and the second polarizing filter is called
the analyzer. The intensity of light leaving the analyzer is dependent of the angle  between the
transmission axes of the polarizer and analyzer.
- Malus’ Law:
I = I 0 cos2 
where I0 = Intesity of light entering the analyzer
I = Intensity of light leaving the analyzer
 = angle between the transmission axes of the polarizer and analyzer

Sample Problem 1: Unpolarized light of intensity 1.2 watts/m2 is incident on a polarizer. (a) What is the intensity
of the light leaving the polarizer? (b) If an analyzer is set at 60 with respect to the polarizer, what is the intensity
of light leaving the analyzer?

Sample Problem 2: An unpolarized light having an intensity of I0 is allowed to pass through two polarizers. Find
the intensities transmitted by each polarizers if the angle between their axes is 50.

VII. APPLICATIONS OF REFLECTION, REFRACTION, DISPERSION, AND POLARIZATION

 Exercise Problems:
1. Calculate the frequencies of the following electromagnetic waves (EM) waves:
a. red light (660nm)
b. microwave (50cm)
c. blue light (490nm)
2. Calculate the wavelengths of the following EM waves:
a. gamma rays (1024 Hz)
b. FM radio waves (108 Hz)
c. UV rays (1016 Hz)
3. The following sound waves have what velocity?
a. Middle C, or 256 Hz and 1.34 m .
b. Note A, or 440.0 Hz and 78.0 cm .
c. A siren at 750.0 Hz and  of 45.7 cm.
d. Note from a stereo at 2,500.0 Hz and  of 13.7cm.
4. Determine the range of wavelengths for FM radio waves with frequencies between 89.5 and 107.1 MHz.
5. Who will hear the voice of a singer first—a person in the balcony 50 m away from the stage or a person3
3000km away at home whose ear is next to the radio? How much sooner? Assume that the microphone is a
few centimetres from the singer and the temperature is 20C.
6. A light ray reflected from a mirror with an angle 10 to the normal. What was the angle of incidence?
7. An incident light ray strikes a mirror with an angle of 30 to the surface of the mirror. What is the angle of
the reflected ray?
8. A ray of light in crown glass exits into air at an angle of 25.0 degrees. Determine the angle at which the
light approached the glass-air boundary.
9. Calculate the index of refraction of a substance through which light travels at a 2.201 x 108 m/s? 2.998 x 108
m/s?
10. Calculate the speed of light in (a) plexiglass (b) ethyl alcohol (c) benzene (d) oxygen.
11. Calculate the speed of light in: (a) sugar solution (50%) (b) heavy flint glass (c) diamond (d) carbon
disulfide.
12. For the case of light passing from air to heavy flint glass, what is the angle of refraction when the angle of
incidence is 60?
13. For light passing from air to 50% sugar solution, what is the angle of incidence when the angle of of
refraction 45?
14. White light is shone on a transparent material capable of absorbing green. What will be its color?
15. If yellow light is used in the previous problem, what will be its color?
16. Suppose that you are wearing Polaroid sunglasses with the axes of the molecules oriented vertically. (a) At
what angle can you look at the sheet of glass of refractive index 1.60 and observe no reflected light? (b)
What fraction of the light reflected at the Brewster angle will pass through your sunglasses if you tilt your
head and sunglasses 30 to the side?
17. Unpolarized light passes through two polaroids; the axis of one is vertical and that of the other is 60 to the
vertical. (a) What is the orientation and intensity of the transmitted light? (b) What happens if a third
Polaroid, with axis 45 to each of the other two, is placed in between?
18. At what incident angle is sunlight reflected fully plan-polarized from a lake? (b) What is the refraction
angle?
19. Find the polarizing angle of a dense flint glass having an index of 1.768.
20. What is the index of refraction of a rocksalt if the polarizing angle is 57 4’?

References:
• AREVALO, R. L. (2017) General Physics 1. DIWA Learning Systems. Makati City, Philippines.
• CAINTIC, H. E. (2017) General Physics 1 for Senior High School. C & E Publishing, Inc. Quezon City, Philippines.
• LUBRICA, J. V. (2016) Course Manual in General Physics 2. Benguet State University.
• SILVERIO, A. A. (2013) Exploring Life through Science: Physics. Second Edition. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc.
Quezon City, Philippines.
• https://sites.google.com/site/chempendix/em-spectrum
• http://www.bigshotcamera.com/learn/lcd-display/polarization