Geometric Optics
PSI AP Physics 2 Name________________________________
Multiple-Choice
1. When an object is placed in front of a plane mirror the image is:
(A) Upright, magnified and real
(B) Upright, the same size and virtual
(C) Inverted, demagnified and real
(D) Inverted, magnified and virtual
2. A point object is placed in front of a plane mirror. Which is the correct location of the image
produced by the mirror?
(A)A (B) B (C) C (D) D
3. A narrow beam of light is incident on the surface of a plane mirror. The initial angle between the
incident ray and reflected ray is 2α. If the mirror is turned around point A by the angle Θ what is
the change of the angle between two rays?
(A) Θ (B) 2Θ (C) 4Θ (D) Θ/2
4. A candle is placed in front of a concave mirror.
The image produced by the mirror is:
(A) Real, inverted and magnified
(B) Real, inverted and demagnified
(C) Virtual, upright and magnified
(D) Virtual, upright and demagnified
5. A candle is placed in front of a concave
mirror. The image produced by the mirror is:
(A) Real, inverted and magnified
(B) Real, inverted and demagnified
(C) Virtual, upright and magnified
(D) Virtual, upright and demagnified
6. A candle is placed in front of a concave mirror.
The image produced by the mirror is:
(A) Real, inverted and magnified
(B) Real, inverted and demagnified
(C) Virtual, upright and magnified
(D) Virtual, upright and demagnified
7. A candle is placed in front of a convex mirror.
The image produced by the mirror is:
(A) Real, inverted and magnified
(B) Real, inverted and demagnified
(C) Virtual, upright and magnified
(D) Virtual, upright and demagnified
8. A very narrow light ray AB strikes the surface of a concave mirror as shown on the diagram.
Which of the following diagrams represents the reflected ray?
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
9. A very narrow light ray AB strikes the surface of a concave mirror as shown on the diagram.
Which of the following diagrams represents the reflected ray?
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
10. A very narrow light ray AB strikes the surface of a convex mirror as shown on the diagram.
Which of the following diagrams represents the reflected ray?
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
11. An object is located far away from a concave mirror. The image is located at:
(A) The distance d>R
(B) The distance d<F
(C) The distance F<d<R
(D) The focal point
12. An object is placed at the focal point in front of a concave mirror. The image is located:
(A) The distance d>R
(B) The distance d<F
(C) The focal point
(D) No image is formed
13. An object is placed at the center of the curvature in front of a concave mirror. The image is
located:
(A) The distance d=R
(B) The distance d<F
(C) The distance F<d<R
(D) The focal point
14. A light ray AB is incident obliquely on the surface of a glass block. Which of the following
diagrams represents the refracted ray?
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
15. A light ray AB passes from glass into air at an angle less than the critical angle. Which of the
following diagrams represents the refracted ray?
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
16. A light ray AB passes from glass into air at the critical angle. Which of the following diagrams
represents the refracted ray?
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
17. A boy is trying to catch a fish from a lake. Which of the following diagrams represents the image
of the fish observed the boy?
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
18. Which of the lens or lenses is the converging lens?
(A) I and V (B) II, III and IV (C) II and III (D) III and IV
19. Which of the lens or lenses is the diverging lens?
(A) I and V (B) II, III and IV (C) II and III (D) III and IV
20. An object is placed in front of a converging lens at a distance greater than 2F. The image
produced by the lens is:
(A)Real, inverted and demagnified
(B)Real, inverted and magnified
(C) Virtual, upright and magnified
(D) Virtual, upright and demagnified
21. An object is placed in front of a converging lens at a distance between F and 2F. The image
produced by the lens is:
(A)Real, inverted and demagnified
(B)Real, inverted and magnified
(C) Virtual, upright and magnified
(D) Virtual, upright and demagnified
22. An object is placed in front of a converging lens at a distance less than F. The image produced by
the lens is:
(A)Real, inverted and demagnified
(B)Real, inverted and magnified
(C) Virtual, upright and magnified
(D) Virtual, upright and demagnified
23. An object is placed in front of a diverging lens at a distance between F and 2F. The image
produced by the lens is:
(A)Real, inverted and demagnified
(B)Real, inverted and magnified
(C) Virtual, upright and magnified
(D) Virtual, upright and demagnified
24. A light ray is incident on a glass prism with one angle of 90 ̊and the
other angle θ. If θ is greater than the critical angle for glass-air
boundary, which of the following is correct for the emerging ray from
the opposite face of the prism?
(A) (B) (C)
(D)
25. A light ray is incident on a glass prism with one angle of 90 ̊and the
other angle θ. If θ is less than the critical angle for glass-air boundary,
which of the following is correct for the emerging ray from the
opposite face of the prism?
(A) (B) (C)
(D)
Multi Correct Questions
26. An object is placed in front of a concave mirror. Which of the following are possible images that
can be formed by this placement? Select two answers.
(A) A real image that is magnified and upright
(B) A real image that is demagnified and inverted.
(C) A virtual image that is magnified and upright
(D) A virtual image that is demagnified and inverted.
27. A group of students collect data using a lens.
They varied the distance of the object and
measured the the distance of the image. The
graph to the right represents their data. Which of
the following can be determined from their data?
Select two answers.
(A) The focal length of the lens.
(B) The magnification when the object is placed at
any given distance.
(C) The height if the object and image.
(D) The index of refraction of the glass.
28. A real, inverted, and magnified image is formed. Which of the following could have created this
image? Select two answers.
(A) An object placed in passed the focal length of a converging lens.
(B) An object placed within the focal length of a concave mirror.
(C) An object placed passed the focal length of a diverging lens.
(D) An object placed passed the focal length of a concave mirror.
29. As a ray of light passes from glass into air, which if the following happen? Select two answers.
(A) A reflected ray’s angle is larger than the incident ray’s angle.
(B) A refracted ray bends towards the normal line.
(C) A reflected ray’s angle is equal to the incident ray’s angle.
(D) A refracted ray bends away from the normal line.
Free Response Problems
1. A candle is placed at a distance of 15 cm from of a concave mirror with a focal length of 10 cm.
The candle is 4 cm tall.
a. On the diagram below use ray-tracing to show the image produced by the
mirror.
b. Find the image distance. Is the image real or virtual?
c. Find the size of the image. Is the image upright or inverted?
d. The concave mirror is replaced by a convex mirror. On the diagram below use
ray-tracing to show the new image formed by the convex mirror
2. An object is placed at a distance of 60 cm from a converging lens with a focal length of 20 cm.
a. On the diagram below use ray-tracing to show the image formed by the lens.
b. Calculate the image distance. Is the image virtual or real?
c. If the object is 10 cm tall, what is the size of the image?
d. An identical converging lens is placed behind the first lens at the focal point. On
the diagram below use ray-tracing to show the image formed by two lenses.
3. An object is placed at a distance of 80 cm from a converging lens with a focal length of 30 cm.
a. On the diagram below use ray-tracing to show the image formed by the lens.
b. Calculate the image distance. Is the image virtual or real?
c. If the object is 8 cm tall, what is the size of the image?
d. A diverging lens with the same focal length is placed behind the first lens at the
point 3F. On the diagram below use ray-tracing to show the image formed by two
lenses.
4. A light ray strikes a flat piece of glass at an angle of incidence 60 ̊. The thickness of the glass is 2
cm and the index of refraction of the glass is 1.5.
a. On the diagram below use ray-tracing to show the refracted ray from both faces
of the glass.
b. The light ray partially reflects from the surface of the glass. Find the angle of
reflection.
c. Find the angle at which the ray emerges from the glass.
d. Find the linear displacement between the emerging ray and the incident ray.
5. A light ray travels from glass to air at an angle of incidence θ1 = 35 .̊ The ray partially reflected
from the glass-air boundary at the angle θ2 and partially refracted at the angle θ3. The index of
refraction of the glass is 1.6.
a. What is the speed of light in glass?
b. What is the angle of reflection θ2?
c. What is the angle of refraction θ3?
d. What is the minimum value of θ1 at which light doesn’t emerge from the top
face of the glass?
6. A narrow beam of white light is incident normally on the surface of a triangular silicate flint glass
prism with one angle of 90 .̊ The index of refraction for violet light is 1.66 and for red light is
1.61. The angle θ in the prism is less than the critical angle for this type of glass.
a. On the diagram below show an approximate sketch for the refracted light from
the opposite face of the prism.
b. Find the critical angle of the glass for both violet and red light.
c. If the angle θ is 30 ̊, calculate the angular width of the dispersion spectrum.
d. The situation has changed to opposite; now a beam of white light travels in a
huge glass block and strikes the surface of an air bubble in a shape of triangular
prism. On the diagram below show an approximate sketch for the refracted light
from the opposite face of the prism.
7. A student needs to perform an experiment to determine the index of refraction of a transparent
block. The student shines a laser from air (n = 1) into the block at an angle θi and measures the
angle of refraction θr as shown in the figure below, left. Measurements are taken of the angles
of incidence and refractions and are listed in the table below, middle.
a. In the blank table above, list values this student should use to create a graph that can be
used to find the index of refraction.
b. Graph the values you chose so that the index of refraction can be calculated using the slope
of your graph.
c. Calculate the index of refraction.
θi (°) θr (°)
20 15
35 25
45 32
60 40
75 46
8. The figure below shows two transparent blocks, the first with an index of refraction of 1.25 and
the second with an index of refraction of 1.6. A laser is positioned such that it passes into the
top block head on without refracting and hits point P. A piece of paper is placed on top of block
1 so that two bright spots are projected on it as shown below. The spot closer to Q will be called
point A and the spot further from Q will be called spot B.
a. In a paragraph-length answer, explain how the two bright spots A and B are formed and
why B is further away from Q than A.
b. On the figure above, draw a ray diagram that shows the formation of the spots A and B.
c. Now the angle is increased such that one of the spots becomes brighter due to total
internal reflection. Explain which spot becomes brighter and why.
d. Again the angle is increased such that one of the spots disappears. Explain which spot
disappears and why.
Multiple Choice Answers
1. B
2. D
3. B
4. B
5. A
6. C
7. D
8. B
9. A
10. C
11. C
12. D
13. A
14. A
15. C
16. D
17. C
18. B
19. A
20. A
21. B
22. C
23. D
24. A
25. C
26. B, C
27. A, B
28. A, D
29. C, D
Free Response Answers
1. a.
b. di = 30 cm; It is real
c. hi = 8 cm; It is inverted
d.
2. a.
b. di = 30 cm; It is real
c. hi = 5 cm; It is inverted
d.
3. a.
b. di = 48 cm; It is real
c. hi = 4.8 cm
d.
4. a.
b. 60O
c. 60O
d. Δx = 0.42 cm
5. a. v = 1.9 x 108 m/s
b. ϴ = 35O
c. ϴ = 66.6O
d. ϴ =38.7O
6. a.
b. ϴCR = 38.4O; ϴCV = 37O
c. Δϴ = 2.5O
d.
7. a.
Sin θi Sin θr
0.34 0.26
0.57 0.42
0.71 0.53
0.87 0.64
0.97 0.72
b. c. The slope and index of refraction should be approximately 1.37.
8.
a. When the ray hits point P it is both reflected and refracted. The reflected ray forms the bright
spot at point A. The refracted ray hits the surface between block 2 and air and is both reflected
and refracted. That refracted ray then hits the surface between block 2 and block 1 and is
reflected and refracted. This refracted ray forms the bright spot at point B.
b. c. Spot B gets brighter because the ray is no longer refracted at the boundary between block 2 and
the air. It is only reflected so that the reflected ray gets brighter.
d. Spot B disappears because the ray is no longer refracted as it passes through the boundary from
block 2 to block 1. It is only reflected back into block 2.