Refraction Definition and 726 Threads

Homework Statement Parallel light rays travel from air towards a glass hemisphere with radius R and index of refraction ng > nair. A top view is shown in the figure. http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6380/parallellightrays.jpg (a) Determine where the light rays come to a focus relative to the...

Homework Statement Studying the mirage, we can assume that the index of refraction depends only on the vertical coordinate z. A ray of light starts from {0,0} with angle \beta\leq30. It's trajectory fits on an ellipse with major axis a and minor axis b. a) Give n(z)=? b) What is the trajectory...

Hello there, I'm wondering if there is any restricting reason why fiber optic cables are not made thicker. Regardless of the practical applications, is there any reason you can't make a fiber optic cable that is only 2m long but 2cm thick (compared to the normal 0.0125 cm thick)? Does width of...

Homework Statement Giancoli Ed. 6, Ch. 24, #52 One of the beams of an interferometer passes through a small glass container containing a cavity 1.3 cm deep. When a gas is allowed to slowly fill the container, a total of 236 dark fringes are counted to move past a reference line. The light...

We have the index of refraction formula of n = \frac{c}{v} which essential states how much of a factor light travels faster in a vacuum than in this medium. Why don't they just have it as n=\frac{v}{c} so it states fractionally how much slower light travels in the medium than the speed of...

Homework Statement A glass lens is coated on one side with a thin film of magnesium floride (MgF2) to reduce reflection from the lens surface. The index of refraction of MgF2 is 1.38; that of the glass is 1.50. Assume that the light is perpendicular to the lens surface and that the thickness...

Homework Statement Hi all its me again.need help again =] well basically i am stuck at b part (iii), no idea on how to find out theta 3 =/ Homework Equations hmm 180- something =/? no idea The Attempt at a Solution well i though at first that it would be this way: 180=90+19.47 =/...

I'm building a project that requires to look through a window and see a specific color, however there are different colors either side, and depending on what angle you look through the little window with depends on which color you see. I would like it so that looking from most angles would, in...

Homework Statement An underwater swimmer observes that a beam of sunlight in the water makes an angle of 18.7° with the vertical. The index of refraction for water is equal to 1.33. Assuming the surface of the water is level, determine the beam's angle as it enters the water...

Homework Statement Is there any way to calculate a solution's concentration (mass percentage - that is, the percentage of the solute mass to the solution mass) just by knowing its index of refraction? If it helps, the solute is NaCl, so I know the molar mass of the solute. I also have the...

Homework Statement A man whose eyes are 2 m above the ground is looking into a clear lake. He sees a treasure chest on the bottom of the lake, which is 1 m deep. His eyes make an angle of 30 degrees below the horizontal as he looks at the chest. If he wants to shoot the chest with a bow and...

Hey, this is just an exercise in my textbook. I think I have the solution, but I would just like for someone to verify my answer. A coin rests on the bottom of a tank of water 1m deep, with a 20cm layer of benzene on top of the water. n for water is 1.33, for benzene it is 1.5. Find the...

Homework Statement A penny is located at the bottom of a barrel of water 1m deep. There is a 20cm thick layer of oil on top of the water. To an observer at normal incidence, what is the apparent depth of the penny. n for water is 1.33, for oil it is 1.5 Homework Equations Snell's law...

[SOLVED] Index of refraction Homework Statement An air bubble inside an 9.00 cm-diameter plastic ball is 2.90 cm from the surface. As you look at the ball with the bubble turned toward you, how far beneath the surface does the bubble appear to be? Homework Equations n_1/s + n_2/s' =...

Homework Statement To a fish in an aquarium, the 4.30 mm-thick walls appear to be only 3.10 mm thick. What is the index of refraction of the walls? Homework Equations m=-s'/s n_1/s + n_2 / s' = (n_2-n_1)/R m: magnification s: object distance s': image distance The Attempt at a...

“mirage” is refraction phenomenon or total internal reflection phenomenon? “mirage” is refraction phenomenon or total internal reflection phenomenon?

Homework Statement A pair of students measure the refraction of light in passing from acetone into air for several angles. When the angle of incidence is 30, the angle of refraction is 42. (a) What is the index of refraction n of the acetone? Homework Equations n=c/v The...

Homework Statement A pair of students measure the refraction of light in passing from acetone into air for several angles. When the angle of incidence is 30, the angle of refraction is 42. (a) What is the index of refraction n of the acetone? Homework Equations n=c/v The...

I wish to understand why the speed of light slows down when it enters a medium such as glass or air. Is this best understood by treating light as a stream of particles or a wave? I have read that the speed of light (c) is a result of disturbance of the electromagnetic field. In contrast...

Is it possible for the critical angle to exist when light goes from water (n=1.33) into glass (n=1.5)? I solved this using snell's law. and my answer is no.. because glass has greater refraction index than water. And when you use snell's law and solve for the critical angle, there will be no...

I'm new to the forum, so, hi =D Special theory of relativity tell us that the speed of light is the same, independently of the reference frame. But we know that, while light travels through some materials (with refraction index larger than one), it speeds slows down. These two "things"...

Is it possible for the critical angle to exist when light goes from water (n=1.33) into glass (n=1.5)? My used the formula sin(critical angle) = n1/n2. I'm a bit confused, should the numerator(n1) always be less dense compared to the denominator(n2).

If the transparent material has an index of refraction of 1.2, what is the angle of incidence beyond which total internal reflection occurs?

Light strikes the surface of a transparent material at an angle of incidence of 30. If the refracted angle in the transparent material is 20, what is the speed of light in the material? Is it possible to solve this problem without their index of refraction? If possible, how?

Homework Statement 5) A beam of monochromatic light enters an equilateral triangular prism at an angle of incidence of 30.0º. If the index of refraction of the prism is 1.53, at what angle with respect to the surface of the prism does the beam emerge from the other side of the prism...

Homework Statement Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I was kind of confuse with the use of refractive index. For the first part of question, n1 = 1.00 and n2 = 1.50. From what I know, the object is at vacuum so the n1 = 1.00. But why for the second part of the...

Homework Statement A helium-neon laser beam has a wavelength in air of 633 nm. It takes 1.38 ns for the light to travel through 30 cm of an unknown liquid. What is the wavelength of the laser beam in the liquid?Homework Equations n=c/v d=rtThe Attempt at a Solution So, I'm having difficulty...

Homework Statement A beam of light in air makes an incident angle with the normal at 53 with an unknown substance. Part of the light is relected and part is refracted into the substance. The reflected ray and the refracted ray make an angle of 90 degrees. a) What is the refracted angle...

I understand that refraction is a bending of light that occurs when light passes between two mediums with different optical density. Because the light is represented as a wave-front, one side of the wave-front hits the medium first and slows down (or speeds up) first, which causes the wave to...

Homework Statement The original problem: A plane mirror is placed horizontally at the bottom of a transparent liquid of 10 cm depth. When one looks at the image of a small object floating at the surface of the liquid right above the object, the image is seen at 14 cm below the surface of...

Snell's law says n1sin(theta1) = n2sin(theta2) The angle of refraction theta2 can be greater or less than the angle of incidence theta1. That's fairly obvious. My question is if theta2 = theta1 then we don't have an interface (because n1 = n2) so the light is still in the same medium, and...

If I was doing a practical on refraction, and I was using Snell's Law, what would the Aim be. Also remember that, the aim can't be to prove Snell's Law. Thanks everyone. (please hurry this assignment is due tomorrow)

1. A light source, S, is located 2.0 m below the surface of a swimming pool and 1.5 m from one edged of the pool. The pool is filled to the top with water. a) At what angle does the light reaching the edge of the pool leave the water? b) Does this cause the light viewed from this angle to...

We learning about light refraction in class the other day and I was just wondering what man made objects used it for and what man made light refraction is used for.

I am sure this topic has been discussed a million times so how can once more hurt? I am only just being introduced to physics at school and a question came to mind when I was thinking about a game called "Crysis" in which the main character can become invisible. 'Cloaking' or 'invisibillity'...

Homework Statement What are the difference among angle of incidence, reflection, and refraction when light strikes two parallel surfaces? What does it mean "light is incident on film"?-is that the angle of incidence? The Attempt at a Solution I know how to find all of...

Snell's Law -- figuring out index of refraction Homework Statement A light ray enters a rectangular block of plastic at an angle of θ1 = 45.0° and emerges at an angle of θ2 = 79.0°, as shown in Figure P35.71. (the image is of light entering the block from the west, and exiting from the...

Homework Statement A penny lies on the bottom of a pool 0.75m from the edge of the pool and 1.5m below the surface. A flashlight beam is shone over the edge of the pool to illuminate the penny. At what angle to the pool deck should the flashlight be aimed? Homework Equations ?? The...

Hello, new comer to realitivity here. My friend and I were wondering if when light refracts if the photons temporarly convert back into partial mass. Through my understanding of e=(mc^2)/sqrt(1-v^2/c^2) it appears as if they would, but since photons have an infinite amount of energy...

A Monochromatic source of light in a vacuum shines light into a block of glass. How does the amplitude of the light wave change once it is inside the glass and once it leaves the glass. I know that some energy (and hence amplitude) is lost by the light wave when it enters the glass due to slight...

Homework Statement The index of refraction for violet light in silica flint glass is 1.65 and for red light is 1.62.What is the angle of deviation for the red ray passing through a prism of apex angle 59.7 degrees. If the angle of incidence is 47.4 degrees. Homework Equations nglass...

Homework Statement One method of determining the refractive index of a transparaent solid is to measure the critical angle when the solid is in air. It Ac is found to be 40.5 degrees, what is the index of refraction of the solid? Homework Equations nsinA=nsinA The Attempt at a...

A glass Slab is placed over a page on which the word VIBGYOR is written with each letter in its corresponding colour. Will the image of all letters appear to be in the same level or will each letter be raised by different levels?

A beam of parallel light rays from a laser is incident on a solid transparent sphere of index of refraction n. (a) If a point image is produced at the back of the sphere, what is the index of refraction of the sphere. Here's the equation you use to find the index of refraction of the sphere...

Ok, I'm decided to post this here just because after searching for refraction of light, I see a lot of posts in this category. Currently in my Physics class, we're working on the theory of light in the book, Newton to Einstein the trail of light. After covering refraction and snell's law to...

A glass rod seems to disappear when it is placed in vegetable oil. Based on this observation, predict the index of refraction for vegetable oil.

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...

Homework Statement A beam of sunlight with a wavelength of 500 nm strikes an ice floe at an angle of 66.5 If ice has an index of refraction n=1.31, at what angle is the beam refracted? Homework Equations Law of Refraction- n(i) sin 0(i)=n (r) 0 (r') The Attempt at a Solution I'm...

Homework Statement A concave mirror (R=54cm) faces a convex mirror of the same radius. The distance between the mirrors is 54cm, and their axes coincide. A candle is held between the mirrors, 10 cm from the convex mirror. Consider light rays reflect off the concave mirror and then the...

Homework Statement The property of a transparent material that makes it useful for a lens is: this is refraction, right? In relation to this, the image of an object can't be focused correctly if a simple glass lens is placed under white light because: a)the lens absorbs light b)the glass...