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General Physics 2
Quarter 4, Module 2
COMMON PROPERTIES OF LIGHT
(Maxwell’s Equation and Law of Reflection)

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Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region VII, Central Visayas
DIVISION OF CITY SCHOOLS
CITY OF NAGA, CEBU

GRADE 12 ADM LEARNING RESOURCE

GENERAL PHYSICS 2

Quarter 4, Module 2
COMMON PROPERTIES OF LIGHT
(Maxwell’s Equation and Law of Reflection)

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B. Directions: Based on the given illustration on the previous page, provide what is asked.
Write your answer on your notebook/Answer Sheet. • A ray of light is shown passing
through three consecutive layered materials. Observe the direction of bending at each
boundary and rank the three materials (A, B and C) in order of increasing index of refraction.

II. WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

DISCUSSION:
Maxwell’s Equations James Clerk Maxwell described light as a propagating wave made up of
electric and magnetic fields. His work revealed that electromagnetic radiation came from
oscillating electric and magnetic fields travelling as waves with a speed equal to the speed of
light. The mathematical formula he provided yields the values of electric and magnetic fields
at all points in space, using one’s knowledge of the sources of these fields. Recall that a
changing magnetic field indirectly yields an electric field. Similarly, a moving electric field
yields a magnetic field. The interaction between the magnetic field and the electric field
produces the electromagnetic field or EM field. This electromagnetic field has been
associated with electromagnetic (EM) waves, in which light is a component.

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EM waves describe propagating oscillations with respect to electric and magnetic fields.
Maxwell’s wave equation shows that the speeds of the waves depend on the combination
of constants involved in electrostatics and magnetism. His calculations led him assert that
light must be an EM disturbance (in the form of waves) propagating through the EM field in
accordance with EM laws. Light as an Electromagnetic Wave An electromagnetic wave is
understood to be a transverse wave produced by a vibrating electric charge. Being a wave,
an EM wave possesses the characteristics of wavelength, frequency, and speed. The
wavelength is the measurement of the distance between the successive crests (highest
points) or troughs (lowest points) of a wave. The frequency is the number of waves that
propagate in a unit of time, which is usually in seconds. The speed is how fast the wave is
propagating. Based on the wave equation, you have 𝑣 = 𝑓λ In this equation, 𝑣 is the speed of
the wave, 𝑓 is the frequency, and λ is its wavelength.

Recall that a wave can be either a transverse wave or a longitudinal wave. A transverse wave is a
wave in which the movement of the energy is perpendicular to the movement of the particle of the
wave, whereas a longitudinal wave is a wave with the energy moving parallel to the movement of
the particle of the wave. Electromagnetic waves are transverse waves that have the capability of
propagating even without any medium. This means an EM wave can travel though a vacuum, unlike
a sound wave that needs the molecules of a medium to propagate from one point to another. As EM
wave enter any medium, various properties of the medium dictate how EM waves will propagate.
The most common of these properties is the index of refraction, which you will encounter on the
next module. The other two properties are electric permittivity and magnetic permeability. Electric
permittivity is related to the energy stored in an electric field, whereas magnetic permeability is
similar to the energy stored in a magnetic field. Their collective effect to light (being an EM wave) is

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given by the equation In this equation, 𝑐 is the speed of light, 𝜇0 is the
magnetic permeability, and 𝜀0 is the electric permittivity. From this equation, you can infer
that the magnetic permeability and electric permittivity are inversely proportional to the
speed of light. In other words, as either the magnetic permeability or the electric
permittivity increases, the speed of light decreases. Conversely, a decrease in the values of
the constant quantities considers a higher value for the speed of light

Reflection of Light When light strikes a material, it has the capacity to bounce against it or
be reflected. This phenomenon is known as the reflection of light, and it is governed by the
law of reflection, which is stated as: “The angle if incidence (θi) is equal to the angle of
reflection (θr). Furthermore, the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the
surface all lie on the same plane”. In Figure 3 below, the reflecting surface corresponds to
any surface where a light ray can bounce against. Mirrors are most commonly used to
represent such reflecting surfaces. The incident ray is the light ray that approaches the
reflecting surface and forms an angle with the line that is normal or perpendicular to the
surface. This formed angle is referred to as the angle of incidence (θi). The light ray that
bounces off the reflecting surface is the reflected ray. This ray also forms an angle with the
normal line, and this angle is referred to as the angle of reflection (θr).

When light is incident on a smooth surface, it produces regular reflection. In regular reflection, the
reflected rays have only one direction. Meanwhile, diffused reflection is produced from light being
incident to rough surfaces wherein the reflected rays have varying directions (See Figure 4). To
illustrate, you are able to read because of the diffused reflection of light from this page. This kind of
reflection enables you to see objects from any direction or position (See Figure 5

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Figure 5. When a sheet of paper is illuminated with many parallel incident rays, it can be seen at
many different angles, because its surface is rough and diffuses the light Total Internal Reflection
Consider sighting the long side of an isosceles triangle at a pin or other object held behind the
opposite face. When done so, an unusual observation - a discrepant event - is observed. Figure 6
below depicts the physical situation. A ray of light entered the face of the triangular block at a right
angle to the boundary. This ray of light passes across the boundary without refraction since it was
incident along the normal. The ray of light then travels in a straight line through the glass until it
reaches the second boundary. Now instead of transmitting across this boundary, all of the light
seems to reflect off the boundary and transmit out the opposite face of the isosceles triangle.

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The phenomenon observed is known as total internal reflection. Total internal reflection, or TIR as it
is intimately called, is the reflection of the total amount of incident light at the boundary between
two media. To understand total internal reflection, we will begin with a thought experiment.
Suppose that a laser beam is submerged in a tank of water (don't do this at home) and pointed
upwards towards water-air boundary. Then suppose that the angle at which the beam is directed
upwards is slowly altered, beginning with small angles of incidence and proceeding towards larger
and larger angles of incidence. What would be observed in such an experiment? If we understand
the principles of boundary behavior, we would expect that we would observe both reflection and
refraction. And indeed, that is what is observed mostly. But that's not the only observation that we
could make. We would also observe that the intensity of the reflected and refracted rays do not
remain constant. At angle of incidence close to 0 degrees, most of the light energy is transmitted
across the boundary and very little of it is reflected. As the angle is increased to greater and greater
angles, we would begin to observe less refraction and more reflection. That is, as the angle of
incidence is increased, the brightness of the refracted ray decreases and the brightness of the
reflected ray increases. Finally, we would observe that the angles of the reflection and refraction are
not equal. Since the light waves would refract away from the normal, the angle of refraction would
be greater than the angle of incidence. And if this were the case, the angle of refraction would also
be greater than the angle of reflection (since the angles of reflection and incidence are the same). As
the angle of incidence is increased, the angle of refraction would eventually reach a 90- -degree
angle. These principles are depicted in the diagram below.

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Figure 7. Altering the angle at which the laser beam submerged in water is directed upwards The
maximum possible angle of refraction is 90-degrees. If you think about it, you recognize that if the
angle of refraction were greater than 90 degrees, then the refracted ray would lie on the incident
side of the medium - that's just not possible. So, in the case of the laser beam in the water, there is
some specific value for the angle of incidence (we'll call it the critical angle) that yields an angle of
refraction of 90-degrees. This particular value for the angle of incidence could be calculated using
Snell's Law (ni = 1.33, nr= 1.000, θr = 90 degrees, θi = ?) and would be found to be 48.6 degrees. Any
angle of incidence that is greater than 48.6 degrees would not result in refraction. Instead, when the
angles of incidence is greater than 48.6 degrees (the critical angle), all of the energy (the total
energy) carried by the incident wave to the boundary stays within the water (internal to the original
medium) and undergoes reflection off the boundary. When this happens, total internal reflection
occurs. Two Conditions for Total Internal Reflection Total internal reflection (TIR) is the phenomenon
that involves the reflection of all the incident light off the boundary. TIR only takes place when both
of the following two conditions are met: 1. The light is in the denser medium and approaching the
less dense medium. 2. The angle of incidence is greater than the so-called critical angle. Total
internal reflection will not take place unless the incident light is traveling within the more optically
dense medium towards the less optically dense medium. TIR will happen for light traveling from
water towards air, but it will not happen for light traveling from air towards water. TIR would
happen for light traveling from water towards air, but it will not happen for light traveling from
water (n=1.333) towards crown glass (n=1.52). TIR occurs because the angle of refraction reaches a
90-degree angle before the angle of incidence reaches a 90-degree angle. The only way for the angle
of refraction to be greater than the angle of incidence is for light to bend away from the normal.
Since light only bends away from the normal when passing from a denser medium into a less dense
medium, then this would be a necessary condition for total internal reflection. Total internal
reflection only occurs with large angles of incidence - larger than the critical angle. As mentioned
above, the critical angle for the water-air boundary is 48.6 degrees. So, for angles of incidence

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greater than 48.6-degrees, TIR occurs. But 48.6 degrees is the critical angle only for the water-air
boundary. The actual value of the critical angle is dependent upon the two materials on either side
of the boundary. For the crown glass-air boundary, the critical angle is 41.1 degrees. For the
diamond-air boundary, the critical angle is 24.4 degrees. For the diamond-water boundary, the
critical angle is 33.4 degrees. The critical angle is different for different media.

One application of total internal reflection is in the operation of optical fibers. In an optical fiber,
light remains confined within the core of simple optical fiber because of total internal reflection from
core cladding boundary. If light hits the boundary of a material of lower refractive index at a steep
enough angle, it cannot get out and it is reflected back into the high index medium. An optical fiber
is a thin rod of high-quality glass (See Figure 9). Very little is absorbed by the glass. Optical fibers can
carry more information than an ordinary cable of the same thickness. The signals in optical fibers do
not weaken as much over long distances as the signals in ordinary cables. Optical fibers are found in
decorative lamps, glass fibers (used for communication technologies), and endoscopes (used to view
human body’s internal organs.

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Hands-on Experiment on Reflection Directions: Perform the experiment below. After which,
answer the guide questions that follow.

Objective: Perform a simple ray optics and reflection experiment.

Materials:

• Bond paper

• Pen

• Ruler

• Protractor

• Mirror

• Push pin

• Graphing paper

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Procedure: a. Prepare the experimental set-up. In a sheet of bond paper, use a dark pen to
draw a straight horizontal line and a line perpendicular to it. Designate the intersection
point as A.

b. Arbitrarily choose a location on the left side of the perpendicular line and push a pin. Designate
the position of the pin as point B. Draw a straight-line connecting points A and B.

c. Position the mirror center at A such that the mirror’s surface is parallel to the horizontal line.

d. Position yourself on the right-hand side of the perpendicular line and locate point C. Put a pin on
that location such that the line BA and line AC are perpendicular to each other.

e. Using a protractor measure the angle subtended by line AB to the perpendicular line. This will be
called the incident angle, θi.

f. Using a protractor measure the angle subtended by line AC to the perpendicular line. This will be
called the reflection angle, θi.

g. Repeat steps a-f for five (5) different locations of point B and their corresponding point C. 2. Plot
each on a graphing paper. The expected result is as follows:

(never mind the numbers indicated herein)

Guide Questions: 1. What is the relationship between θr and θi.? 2. Create a report detailing your
results

III. WHAT I HAVE LEARNED EVALUATION/POST-TEST

Multiple Choice: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write it in your notebook/Answer
Sheet.

1. It is the measurement of the distance between the successive crests or troughs of a wave.

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a. wavelength b. frequency c. speed

2. A kind of wave where the movement of the energy is perpendicular to the movement of
the particle of the wave.

a. transverse b. longitudinal c. both a and b

3. As EM waves enters any medium, various properties of the medium dictate how EM
waves will propagate. This property is related to the energy stored in an electric field.

a. Electric permittivity

b. magnetic permeability

c. index refraction

4. EM waves are transverse waves that have the capability of propagating even without a
medium. This statement means __________.

a. EM wave can travel through a vacuum.

b. EM wave cannot travel through vacuum.

c. EM wave needs the molecules of a medium to propagate from one point to another.

5. All the following are implications of Maxwell’s equations except one. Which is it?

a. It provides an important link among the concepts of electricity, magnetism and light.

b. It explains how light behaves as it propagates.

c. It shows that the speeds of the waves do not depend on the combination of constants
involved in electrostatics and magnetism.

6. When a ray of light enters from denser medium to rare medium, it bends
______________.

a. towards normal b. away from normal c. perpendicular to normal

7. The outer concentric shell in fiber optic is called _____________.

a. Cladding b. core c. coat

8. The entire light is reflected into the denser medium, which is called total _____________.

a. Internal reflection of light

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b. External reflection of light

c. Internal refraction of light

9. The critical angle for water-air boundary is _______________ degrees.

a. 46.8 b. 48.6 c. 46.6

10. The diagram shows total internal reflection. Which of the following statements is not
true.

a. Angle AON is the angle of incidence.

b. Angle AON = angle BON

c. Angle AON must be the critical angle.

11. For total internal reflection to occur, two conditions must be met except _________.

a. The index of refraction must decrease across the boundary in the direction of light
refraction.

b. The angle if incidence of the light ray must not exceed the critical angle of the interface.

c. The light is in the less dense medium and approaching the denser medium.

12.Which of the following phenomena takes place inside an optical fiber?

a. Reflection b. total internal reflection c. dispersion

13. Light is confined within the core of a simple optical fiber by ___________.
a. Total internal reflection at the edge of the cladding.

b. Reflection from the fiber’s plastic coating.

c. Total internal reflection at the core cladding boundary.

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God Bless!!!!

REFERENCES

Electromagnetic Waves. Retrieved from https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/electromagnetic-

wavestructure-and-parameters-vector-illustration-diagram-withgm1194626452-340233881

David, Oliver M. General Physics 2. Makati City, Philippines: DIWA Learning Systems Inc., 2017.
Physics Tutorial: Total Internal Reflection. Retrieved from
https:/www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/Lesson-3/TotalInternal-Reflection

The Law of Reflection⃒ Physics. Retrieved from

https://courses.lumenlearnng.com/physics/chapter/25-2-thelaw-of-reflection/

Test: Total Internal Reflection ⃒ 10 Questions MCQ Test. Retrieved from

https://edurev.in/course/quiz/attempy/-1_Test-Total-InternalReflection/7674cfce-a4d6-4191-810c-
885f042fca08

Total Internal Reflection. Retrieved from

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/Lesson-3/TotalInternal-Reflection

What is Optical Fiber? – Definition and Types of Optical Fiber. Retrieved from
https://byjus.com/physics/what-is-optical-fiber/

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Prepared by:

LUCILA U. ORQUINA
Gen. Physics Teacher

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God Bless!!!!

Prepared by:
LUCILA U. ORQUINA

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