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प्रश्न
Explain ‘mirage’ as an illustration of refraction.
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उत्तर
- On a hot, clear, sunny day, along a level road, there appears a pond of water ahead of the road. However, if we physically reach the spot, there is nothing but the dry road, and the water pond again appears some distance ahead. This illusion is called a mirage.
- Mirages result from the refraction of light through a non-uniform medium.
- On a hot day the air in contact with the road is hottest, and as we go up, it gets gradually cooler. The refractive index of air thus decreases with height. Hot air tends to be less optically dense than cooler air, which results in a non-uniform medium.
- Light travels in a straight line through a uniform medium but refracts when travelling through a non-uniform medium.
- Thus, the ray of light coming from the top of an object gets refracted while travelling downwards into less optically dense air and becomes more and more horizontal, as shown in the figure.

- As it almost touches the road, it bends (refracts) upward. Then onwards, upward bending continues due to denser air.
- As a result, for an observer, it appears to be coming from below, thereby giving an illusion of reflection from an (imaginary) water surface.
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संबंधित प्रश्न
You are given prisms made of crown glass and flint glass with a wide variety of angles. Suggest a combination of prisms which will
(a) deviate a pencil of white light without much dispersion,
(b) disperse (and displace) a pencil of white light without much deviation.
A ray of light travels from water to air as shown in the diagram given below :

1) Copy the diagram and complete the path of the way. Given the critical angle for water is 48°.
2) State the condition so that internal reflection occurs in the above diagram.
Name the factors affecting the critical angle for the pair of media.
Draw diagram to illustrate the total internal reflection.
Two isosceles right-angle glass prisms P and Q are placed near each other as shown in Fig. Complete the path of the light ray entering the prism P till it emerges out of the prism Q.
The observation made by Swarali while doing the experiment is given below. Based on these write answers to the questions:
Swarali found that the light ray travelling from the denser medium to rarer medium goes away from the normal. If the angle of incidence (i) is raised by Swarali, the angle of refraction (r) went on increasing. However, after certain value of the angle of incidence the light ray is seen to return back into the denser medium.
Questions:
- What is the specific value of∠i called?
- What is the process of reflection of incident rays into denser medium called?
- Draw the diagrams of three observations made by Swarali.
(i) Define critical angle.
(ii) State one important factor which affects the critical angle of a given medium.
Plot a graph between
Angle of incidence versus angle of reflection,
Make the correct choices for each of the following :
Total Internal reflection takes place when
(where ∠i = angle of incidence, ∠r = angle of refraction, ∠C = critical angle)
In the following figure, show two rays A and B travelling from water to air. If the critical angle for water- air surface is 48°, complete the ray diagram showing the refracted rays for each. State conditions when the ray will suffer total internal reflection.

Name the principle on the basis of which optical fibres work.
How does a ray of light bend when it travels from denser to rarer medium.
A ray of light incident at an angle of incidence ‘i’ passes through an equilateral glass prism such that the refracted ray inside the prism is parallel to its base and emerges from the prism at an angle of emergence ‘e’.
What can you say about the value of the angle of deviation in such a situation?
What is meant by the statement, ‘the critical angle for diamond is 24°’?
Answer the following question.
What are the advantages of optical fibre communication over electronic communication?
Solve Numerical example.
A monochromatic ray of light is incident at 37° on an equilateral prism of refractive index 3/2. Determine angle of emergence and angle of deviation. If angle of prism is adjustable, what should its value be for emergent rays to be just possible for the same angle of incidence?
Solve Numerical example.
From the given data set, determine angular dispersion by the prism and dispersive power of its material for extreme colours. nR = 1.62 nV = 1.66, δR = 3.1°
Critical angle of light passing from glass to air is maximum for ____________.
The twinkling effect of star light is due to ______.
The entire light is reflected back into the denser medium is called ______.
Which of the following statements about total internal reflection is true?
The angle of incidence at which the angle of refraction is Q£ is called the critical angle.
Write any two uses of total internal reflection.
A ray of light incident at an angle θ on a refracting face of a prism emerges from the other face normally. If the angle of the prism is 5° and the prism is made of a material of refractive index 1.5, the angle of incidence is ______.
A ray of light passes through a prism of refractive index `sqrt2` as shown in the figure. Find:

- The angle of incidence (∠r2) at face AC.
- The angle of minimum deviation for this prism.
A given ray of light suffers minimum deviation in an equilateral prism P. Additional prism Q and R of identical shape and of the same material as P are now added as shown in the figure. The ray will now suffer ______.

