Refraction Definition and 726 Threads

Homework Statement Consider a special crystal sphere, where light from a distant object is focused by the front surface of the sphere exactly onto the opposite side of the sphere. What is the index of refraction of the sphere? Assume the sphere is in air. Homework Equations (n'/l') -...

Hi, Is it possible that the medium of lesser density has larger index of refraction? If yes, please give me some examples. Thanks in advance.

For a while I have wondered if the refraction of light had any connection to gravity on small scales (dare I say . . . quantum gravity?!?). I found this paper in the Cornell University Library. Below is the link and a copy of the opening synopsis that anyone can see without downloading it. . . ...

Are there someones know about gold's index of refraction in micro-onde, for exemple in frequency 10GHz? Or a book in which I may find the value. Thanks a lot.

Homework Statement Hi all. This is a problem from one of the problem sheets from earlier in the term. I'm just revising for my exam tomorrow and can't solve this one. Here it is: Consider a light source placed at a fixed distance L from a screen, such that a lens of focal length f can be...

Homework Statement I have a problem with the question in the attachment below. I have no idea on how to proceed as I thought that the ray of light would continue to travel in a straight line with no refraction whatsoever. Homework Equations n1sinθ1=n2sin2 The Attempt at a...

hello if the fish is swiming below the water, and we need to catch it, we will spear the fish above, below or at the fish? if we will use laser light, thn above, below or at the fish?

and frequency? Could someone point me in a direction where this is explained in depth? I understand polarization and the dielectric constant as I've taken E&M 1

I have just a few more questions regarding index of refractions and reflections... 8. A fly is 10 cm above the surface of a pond. How high above the water does the fly appear to a fish directly below (nair = 1, nwater = 1.333)? (A) 10 cm (B) 7.5 cm (C) 13.3 cm (D) 12.5 cm (E) fish cannot see...

Homework Statement The radius of curvature of both sides of a converging lens is 18 cm. One side of the lens is coated with silver so that the inner surface is reflective. When light is incident on the uncoated side it passes through the lens, reflects off the silver coating, and passes back...

Homework Statement A transparent cube with index of refraction n = 1.6 and side length a = 4.0 cm is free to rotate about an axis passing through its center. A laser beam is aimed at the cube. After passing through the cube the beam hits a screen on the other side forming a spot. The spot is...

Homework Statement 1. A cylindrical tank 2.4 m deep is full to the brim with water. Sunlight first hits part of the tahnk bottom when the rising maes at 22o angle with the horizon. Find the tank's diameter 2. An aquarium is made from a thin-walled tube of transparent plastic 50 cm in...

Homework Statement I am to find the angle of incidence of a light ray before it undergoes refraction. Light is refracted in the second medium at an angle of 76 degrees measured from the normal. The second index of refraction is 1.386. The index of refraction for the initial or first medium...

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Hey there, recently been studying Optics in Feynman's book vol.1 and came across his geometrical approach of Fermat's least time theorem and its application on refraction. So he illustrates refraction geometrically like this (attached jpeg for those without the book) and so he goes on to say...

1. Your car key has fallen to the bottom of a clear pool of water (n = 1.33) with a uniform depth of 3.0 m. You are standing at the edge of the pool and your eyes are a height of 1.5 m above the surface. You can see the key by staring at an angle 60o below horizontal. (A) How far is the key from...

Homework Statement See image Homework Equations n1sin(theta1) = n2sin(theta2) 1/s + 1/s' = 1/f The Attempt at a Solution My question is for the second part. I think I've figured out why I got it wrong, but I'm not sure. So since the object distance (s) should be approximately 21 cm, then...

Homework Statement Explain, with the relevant equations and a clearly labeled figure, what is actually happening as you view a sunset. Make sure to include a clearly labeled ray diagram for full credit. Homework Equations n1sin(θ1) = n2sinθ2 1/f = 1/o + 1/i The Attempt at a...

Hello! I have a question concerning the relation of the index of refraction of a material with E/M wave frequency. If we take the classical Feynman approach, we can envision the material as a series of atoms, with electrons bound with springs to the nuclei. Let the natural frequencies of...

Optics -- Refraction and a transparent sphere Homework Statement A spider is hanging by means of its own silk thread directly above a transparent fixed sphere of radius R=20 cm as shown in the figure. The refractive index of the material of the sphere is equal to ##\sqrt{2}## and the height...

Homework Statement A beam of light travels through air (n= 1.0003) and strikes an unknown material at an angle of 50.0 degrees. The new angle of refraction is 25.0 degrees. What is the index of refraction of this material? Homework Equations sin\theta2 / sin\theta1 = n1/n2 The...

Homework Statement A non-expanding/non-contracting laser beam having a diameter 0.132 m in air strikes a piece of glass (ng = 1.62) at an angle of 52°. What is the diameter of the beam, in m, in the glass? Homework Equations snell's law, n1sin(θ1)=n2sin(θ2) The Attempt at a...

Homework Statement One of the contests at the school carnival is to throw a spear at an underwater target lying flat on the bottom of a pool. The water is 0.900 m deep. You're standing on a small stool that places your eyes 3.20 m above the bottom of the pool. As you look at the target, your...

Homework Statement (see attachment) Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I don't quite understand the question. It asks the distance of the "unilluminated patch" from the cylinder. There will be only a single point where the rays will intersect. Rest everywhere, it is...

Most textbooks list the real part of the index of refraction. How would I go about calculating the imaginary part of the index of refraction of air?

I read the following in a book. “In order for there to be a clear image on your retina, the eye must refract the light rays. About two thirds of the refraction occurs at the surface of the eye. If water is on the eye, nearly all of the refraction is lost because the refractive index of the...

Homework Statement We know, for constant n, \frac{\partial L}{\partial y} = \frac{d}{dx} (\frac{\partial L}{\partial y'}), where we define L as being the optical light path length, and y' is the derivative of y with respect to x, and L = L(y, y') = n \sqrt{1 + y' ^{2}}. However...

Considering the vibrational damping of bubble wrap. My basic premise is that there are three main contributors to the damping effect: 1) Surface tension of the sheet structure and the bubbles themselves when subject to applied force causes dissipation of force away from applied direction 2) The...

Homework Statement There is a diagram in the problem statement so here is a link to the image of the problem: http://imgur.com/KDrRsyO Homework Equations Snell's Law: n_{1} * sin(\theta_{1}) = n_{2} * sin(\theta_{2}) The Attempt at a Solution My attempt using Snell's law...

Homework Statement The problem is page 5 on: http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/olympiad/Downloads/PastPapers/Paper3_2010_.pdf I will just summarise the question: The refractive index of space,n, at a distance r from the sun is given by √(1+5920/r). The light from a distant star is deflected by a...

Homework Statement 1: A decrease in the aperture of a lens changes the (A)Size of the image (B)Intensity of the image (C)Portion of the image (D) All of these 2: A vessel is filled with two different liquids which do not mix. One liquid is 40cm deep and has n=1.6 and the other is 30cm deep...

Refraction -- A fish under water Homework Statement 1 A fish under water obliquely sees a fisher-man standing on the bank of a lake. How does he appear? 2 A parallel sided glass plate is introduced in the path of a converging beam. What happens to the point of convergence of the beam...

If the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle then it is reflected back into same medium. Is this reflection normal reflection? (as in it obeys all the rules of reflection, like reflection in mirrors) Or is it a bit different?

polarized light and refraction! Hi guys I need to discuss the polarized light in the waveguide and its refraction at an interface between two different media. if the light is polarized like in the picture(see attached) and oscillating only up and down (linear polarization), then does the...

ElectroMagnetic Wave In Liquid.. Help with Index of Refraction?? Homework Statement Consider the propagation of an electromagnetic wave in some liquid. The y-component of its electric field is given by Ey(x,t)=4.3 x104 V/m sin(5.40E-2m-1x + 6.00E+0 x106 s-1 t). How large is the index of...

I have read about effect of refraction due to slowing of light rays reaching the denser medium first and so light bends etc...but why can't light go as shown in the figure (attachment)? In the diagram (Sry, not a great artist ;-) ) the wavefront does change but not the path of light...or is it...

Homework Statement A speck of dust is 3cm from the center of a glass sphere with radius of 5cm. If the glass sphere is placed in a tank of glycerin with a refractive index of 1.47, find the image distance, as viewed along the diameter through the speck of dust from the far side. Refractive...

I was thinking about refraction of waves and I´m a little unsure. I wanted to run my understanding through you guys to make sure I´m right. So The general rule is when a wave goes from a slower medium to a faster medium the wave should turn sligtly away from the faster medium when it...

Snell's Law - complex angle of refraction (need "complement") I'm tying myself in knots trying to calculate something I think should be very simple. I'm writing/debugging some code at the moment, and I simply don't know if this silly problem is the source of the major errors I'm currently...

When a substance has coefficient of refraction that depends on direction, a single ray of unpolarized light incident on its surface normally splits in 2 rays - no fewer except in case of specific directions where the 2 coincide, but also no more - which have different, linear, polarization...

How does double refraction work?

Homework Statement A green light is submerged 2.70 m beneath the surface of a liquid with an index of refraction 1.39. What is the radius of the circle from which light escapes from the liquid into the air above the surface? Homework Equations Honestly I didn't even know where to start...

Homework Statement What is the minimum thickness of coating which should be placed on a lens in order to minimize reflection of 401 nm light? The index of refraction of the coating material is 1.31 and the index of the glass is 1.56. Homework Equations I haven't been able to attempt the...

Homework Statement For my lab I beamed a laser through an equilateral triangular prism. The angle of incidence was 13 degrees. The light left the prism at an angle 15 degrees to the normal. How would I calculate the index of refraction of the prism? (air = 1) Homework Equations The...

I have a problem in this question ... and i can't get an answer . Also please mention for which class is this question meant for if you know :) . I tried solving it but can't apply trygnometery to the angle A for the prism . P.S: I couldn't find the homework forum so i asked here :) .

i want to delete the post ..

1. A particular fish tank filled with fresh water (n = 1.33) has a coral reef sticker stuck to the exterior wall outside the fish tank. The tank's walls are 2 cm thick, but a goldfish inside the tank sees the sticker 0.6 cm away from the water-wall interface. What is the index of refraction of...

Refraction is supposed to take place because there is a difference in the speed of light between the two (or more) media. Why doesn't the light continue in the same direction as before but slower (or faster) ? Thanks, Ishan

Homework Statement In the attachment below, a ray of light undergoes total internal reflection in an optical fiber such that the angle θ between the ray and the interface is 47°. Assuming the fiber is surrounded by air, what is the minimum index of refraction necessary for this to occur...

I'm guessing it has to do with electron excitation, and the release of EM waves when the electrons fall back to their ground state, but I am want to learn more about this in detail. I've barely covered Maxwell's Equations and optics in a lower division general physics course, so there's a whole...