Ray Optics and Optical Instruments is a high-weightage and scoring chapter in Class 12 Physics that explains the behavior of light using geometrical optics. This chapter covers key topics such as reflection and refraction of light, total internal reflection, mirrors, refraction through spherical surfaces, lenses, lens maker’s formula, magnification, and optical instruments like the human eye, microscope, and telescope. These concepts are frequently tested in CBSE board exams and competitive exams like JEE and NEET.
NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Physics Chapter 9 – Ray Optics and Optical Instruments are prepared strictly according to the latest CBSE syllabus and exam pattern. The solutions are written in simple, step-by-step language with clear ray diagrams, derivations, and solved numericals, helping students build strong conceptual clarity and score well in board examinations.
NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Physics Chapter 9 – Ray Optics and Optical Instruments
Q.
A small candle, 2.5 cm in size is placed at 27 cm in front of a concave mirror of radius of curvature 36 cm. At what distance from the mirror should a screen be placed in order to obtain a sharp image? Describe the nature and size of the image. If the candle is moved closer to the mirror, how would the screen have to be moved?
Q.
A small pin fixed on a table top is viewed from above from a distance of 50 cm. By what distance would the pin appear to be raised if it is viewed from the same point through a 15 cm thick glass slab held parallel to the table? Refractive index of glass = 1.5.
Q.
(a) For the telescope described in Exercise 9.28 (a), what is the separation between the objective lens and the eyepiece?
(b) If this telescope is used to view a 100 m tall tower 3 km away, what is the height of the image of the tower formed by the objective lens?
(c) What is the height of the final image of the tower if it is formed at 25 cm?
Q.
A small telescope has an objective lens of focal length 140 cm and an eyepiece of focal length 5.0 cm. What is the magnifying power of the telescope for viewing distant objects when
(a) the telescope is in normal adjustment (i.e., when the final image is at infinity)?
(b) the final image is formed at the least distance of distinct vision (25 cm)?
Q.
Answer the following questions:
(a) The angle subtended at the eye by an object is equal to the angle subtended at the eye by the virtual image produced by a magnifying glass. In what sense then does a magnifying glass provide angular magnification?
(b) In viewing through a magnifying glass, one usually positions one’s eyes very close to the lens. Does angular magnification change if the eye is moved back?
(c) Magnifying power of a simple microscope is inversely proportional to the focal length of the lens. What then stops us from using a convex lens of smaller and smaller focal length and achieving greater and greater magnifying power?
(d) Why must both the objective and the eyepiece of a compound microscope have short focal lengths?
(e) When viewing through a compound microscope, our eyes should be positioned not on the eyepiece but a short distance away from it for best viewing. Why? How much should be that short distance between the eye and eyepiece?
Q.
A card sheet divided into squares each of size 1 mm2 is being viewed at a distance of 9 cm through a magnifying glass (a converging lens of focal length 9 cm) held close to the eye.
(a) What is the magnification produced by the lens? How much is the area of each square in the virtual image?
(b) What is the angular magnification (magnifying power) of the lens?
(c) Is the magnification in (a) equal to the magnifying power in (b)? Explain.
Q.
(a) Determine the ‘effective focal length’ of the combination of the two lenses in Exercise 9.10, if they are placed 8.0 cm apart with their principal axes coincident. Does the answer depend on which side of the combination a beam of parallel light is incident? Is the notion of effective focal length of this system useful at all?
(b) An object 1.5 cm in size is placed on the side of the convex lens. The distance between the object and the convex lens is 40 cm. Determine the magnification produced by the two-lens system, and the size of the image.
Q.
Answer the following questions:
(a) You have learnt that plane and convex mirrors produce virtual images of objects. Can they produce real images under some circumstances? Explain.
(b) A virtual image, we always say, cannot be caught on a screen. Yet when we ‘see’ a virtual image, we are obviously bringing it on to the ‘screen’ (i.e., the retina) of our eye. Is there a contradiction?
(c) A diver under water, looks obliquely at a fisherman standing on the bank of a lake. Would the fisherman look taller or shorter to the diver than what he actually is?
(d) Does the apparent depth of a tank of water change if viewed obliquely? If so, does the apparent depth increase or decrease?
(e) The refractive index of diamond is much greater than that of ordinary glass. Is this fact of some use to a diamond cutter?
Q.
(a) Figure 9.32 shows a cross-section of a ‘light pipe’ made of a glass fibre of refractive index 1.68. The outer covering of the pipe is made of a material of refractive index 1.44. What is the range of the angles of the incident rays with the axis of the pipe for which total reflections inside the pipe take place, as shown in the figure
(b) What is the answer if there is no outer covering of the pipe?
Q.
Use the mirror equation to deduce that:
(a) an object placed between f and 2f of a concave mirror produces a real image beyond 2f.
(b) a convex mirror always produces a virtual image independent of the location of the object.
(c) the virtual image produced by a convex mirror is always diminished in size and is located between the focus and the pole.
(d) an object placed between the pole and focus of a concave mirror produces a virtual and enlarged image.
[Note: This exercise helps you deduce algebraically properties of images that one obtains from explicit ray diagrams.]
Q.
A 4.5 cm needle is placed 12 cm away from a convex mirror of focal length 15 cm. Give the location of the image and the magnification. Describe what happens as the needle is moved farther from the mirror.
Q.
(a) A giant refracting telescope at an observatory has an objective lens of focal length 15 m. If an eyepiece of focal length 1.0 cm is used, what is the angular magnification of the telescope?
(b) If this telescope is used to view the moon, what is the diameter of the image of the moon formed by the objective lens? The diameter of the moon is 3.48 × 106 m, and the radius of lunar orbit is 3.8 × 108 m.
Q.
A compound microscope consists of an objective lens of focal length 2.0 cm and an eyepiece of focal length 6.25 cm separated by a distance of 15 cm. How far from the objective should an object be placed in order to obtain the final image at (a) the least distance of distinct vision (25 cm), and (b) at infinity? What is the magnifying power of the microscope in each case?
Q.
What is the focal length of a convex lens of focal length 30 cm in contact with a concave lens of focal length 20 cm? Is the system a converging or a diverging lens? Ignore thickness of the lenses.
Q.
An object of size 3.0 cm is placed 14 cm in front of a concave lens of focal length 21 cm. Describe the image produced by the lens. What happens if the object is moved further away from the lens?
Q.
A beam of light converges at a point P. Now a lens is placed in the path of the convergent beam 12 cm from P. At what point does the beam converge if the lens is (a) a convex lens of focal length 20 cm, and (b) a concave lens of focal length 16 cm?
Q.
Double-convex lenses are to be manufactured from a glass of refractive index 1.55, with both faces of the same radius of curvature. What is the radius of curvature required if the focal length is to be 20 cm?
Q.
A prism is made of glass of unknown refractive index. A parallel beam of light is incident on a face of the prism. The angle of minimum deviation is measured to be 40°. What is the refractive index of the material of the prism? The refracting angle of the prism is 60°. If the prism is placed in water (refractive index 1.33), predict the new angle of minimum deviation of a parallel beam of light.
Q.
Figures (a) and (b) show refraction of a ray in air incident at 60° with the normal to a glass-air and water-air interface, respectively. Predict the angle of refraction in glass when the angle of incidence in water is 45
o with the normal to a water-glass interface [Fig. (c)].
Q.
Figure 9.34 shows an equiconvex lens (of refractive index 1.50) in contact with a liquid layer on top of a plane mirror. A small needle with its tip on the principal axis is moved along the axis until its inverted image is found at the position of the needle. The distance of the needle from the lens is measured to be 45.0cm. The liquid is removed and the experiment is repeated. The new distance is measured to be 30.0cm. What is the refractive index of the liquid?
NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Physics Chapter 9 – Ray Optics and Optical Instruments
Q. 1) Answer the following questions:
(a) You have learnt that plane and convex mirrors produce virtual images of objects. Can they produce real images under some circumstances? Explain.
(b) A virtual image, we always say, cannot be caught on a screen. Yet when we ‘see’ a virtual image, we are obviously bringing it on to the ‘screen’ (i.e., the retina) of our eye. Is there a contradiction?
(c) A diver under water, looks obliquely at a fisherman standing on the bank of a lake. Would the fisherman look taller or shorter to the diver than what he actually is?
(d) Does the apparent depth of a tank of water change if viewed obliquely? If so, does the apparent depth increase or decrease?
(e) The refractive index of diamond is much greater than that of ordinary glass. Is this fact of some use to a diamond cutter?
Ans:
(a) Yes, plane and convex mirrors can produce real images if the object is virtual. For example: If the rays of light converging at a point behind the mirror are reflected to a point on the screen in front of the mirror. In this way, a real image is formed on the screen.
(b) No, there is not any contradiction. Since our eye lens is a double convex lens, it produces real and inverted images of the objects on the retina of the eye. In human eye, the virtual image acts as the object for the eye lens to produce the real image on the retina.
(c) Since the diver is under water and the fisherman is in the air, the light travels from the denser medium to the rarer medium. Therefore, it bends away from the normal and the fisherman looks taller to the diver.
(d) Yes, the apparent depth of tank of water will decrease further, when viewed obliquely as compared to the depth when seen normally. This is because, the direction of light changes when it travels from one medium to another.
(e) Since the refractive index of diamond is much greater as compared to that of an ordinary glass, the critical angle for diamond is much smaller as compared to that of an ordinary glass. Therefore, a skilled diamond cutter will put to use a large range of angles of incidence (less than critical angle) of light to ensure that the light entering the diamond undergoes multiple total internal reflections inside the diamond.
Note: Q&A containing MathML or Latex or Katex code cannot be rendered in pdf document.
FAQs: Class 12 Physics Chapter 9 – Ray Optics and Optical Instruments
Q1. Is Ray Optics an important chapter for exams?
Yes, it is a high-weightage chapter for CBSE, JEE, and NEET.
Q2. Which topics are most important in this chapter?
Mirrors, refraction, lenses, ray diagrams, and optical instruments.
Q3. Are numericals asked from this chapter?
Yes, lens and mirror formula-based numericals are very common.
Q4. Are ray diagrams important in exams?
Yes, well-labelled ray diagrams are frequently asked.
Q5. How do NCERT Solutions help?
They provide NCERT-aligned, exam-ready explanations with diagrams and solved numericals.