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View Full Version : Refraction--Faster then a vacuum!!


SwAnK
Apr24-05, 07:54 PM
I was given an experiment to mesaure the refraction of light thgouh this semisircle piece of glass, (shining the light in the middle of the flat part). I measured several differnt angles of incidence and their corresponding angles of refraction.

When i graphed sin(i) to sin(r) the slope came to around 0.6, which is the index of refraction (medium 2)right? So using the equation n=c/v, my v would become greater then c, which is impossible. My slope would have to be greater then 1 for this to work.

Any ideas what i did wrong, or calculated.

KingNothing
Apr24-05, 08:27 PM
what do these numbers mean: n=c/v.

Is it index of refraction = speed of light / ?????

SwAnK
Apr24-05, 08:32 PM
n is the refractuve index of the medium, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, and v is the speed of light in the other medium.

nevermind about the question, i plotted sin(i) as x and sin(r) as y :yuck: they shoulda been the other way around. :biggrin: