PHYS1220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Parabolic Reflector, Plane Mirror, Paraxial Approximation
10 Oct 2018
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Document Summary
Light exhibits a wave-particle duality: the course deals with the wave nature of light for the most part. Assume light involves the propagation of energy via waves. A wavefront is an imaginary plane intersecting equivalent points on the wave. Consecutive wavefronts are separated by the wavelength. A light ray is an imaginary line constructed in the direction of energy flow of the wave and is perpendicular to the wavefront. In ray approximation, light travels in straight lines in the direction of its rays. Reflections from a surface may be diffuse or specular: diffuse when the surface is rough, specular is a polished surface, giving a mirror image. Specular reflected light has the incident ray, the normal to the surface and the reflected ray in the same plane (the plane of incidence) Phys1220: equations are related back to the normal to surface angle. Real image image is on the same side of the.
