Q19E
Question
A ray of light is traveling in a glass cube that is totally immersed in water. You find that if the ray is incident on the glass– water interface at an angle to the normal larger than 48.7°, no light is refracted into the water. What is the refractive index of the glass?
Step-by-Step Solution
VerifiedThe refractive index of glass is 1.7743.
Snell's law determines the degree of refraction as well as the relationship between the angle of incidence, angle of refraction, and refractive indices of two media.
Here;
Critical Angle-Beyond which light rays traveling through a thicker media to the surface of a less dense medium are no longer refracted but completely reflected
Total Internal Reflection-When the angle of incidence surpasses the critical angle, a light ray reaches an interface with less dense material and is completely reflected.
Light traveling from glass to water
Medium 1 is glass
Medium 2 is water
Applying Snell’s law;
Hence, the refractive index of glass is 1.7743.