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Homework Statement
Ligh is incident normally upon one face of a prism of glass with an index of refraction, n. The light totally reflected as shown in the picture*. What is the minimum value n can have?
*Picture shows a Porro prism (45-45-90 prism)
Homework Equations
n sin(a) = n2 sin (b)
setting b = 90 will solve for the critical angle
The Attempt at a Solution
I guess it has something to do with critical angles. I just don't know how to use the information given. If its incident normally, then does sin(a) = 0? And if the light is not totally internally reflected then, the index of refraction for the prism must be greater than the index of refraction for air (1). so n(prism) > 1.
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