IP Physics Notes (Upper Secondary, Year 3-4): 7) Light
In one line
Master reflection and refraction laws, critical angle behaviour, and thin-lens constructions for IP optics questions.
Last updated 30 Nov 2025
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- Start Here
- Reflection Basics
- Refraction & Refractive Index
- Total Internal Reflection (TIR)
Q: What does IP Physics Notes (Upper Secondary, Year 3-4): 7) Light cover?
A: Master reflection and refraction laws, critical angle behaviour, and thin-lens constructions for IP optics questions.
Quick recap -- Light travels in straight lines until a boundary bends or reflects it. Track incident and refracted angles carefully and use lens rules to predict image position, size, and orientation.
Start Here
| Read time | What to take away |
| 1 second | Draw the normal first, then track how light reflects or bends. |
| 10 seconds | Reflection keeps equal angles. Refraction bends because speed changes. Total internal reflection needs a higher-to-lower refractive index path and an angle above the critical angle. |
| 100 seconds | Use the mirror, optical fibre, and lens rules to practise ray diagrams that show image position, size, orientation, and whether the image is real or virtual. |
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These notes align with SEAB GCE O-Level Physics (6091) content used in IP programmes (exams from 2026).
Status: SEAB O-Level Physics 6091 syllabus (exams from 2026) checked 2025-11-30 - scope unchanged; remains the reference for these notes.
Reflection Basics
- Reflection: bouncing of light from a surface.
- Law 1: incident ray, reflected ray, and normal all lie in the same plane.
- Law 2: angle of incidence equals angle of reflection,
