- #1
greedo
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 [tex]\beta\leq30[/tex]. It's trajectory fits on an ellipse with major axis a and minor axis b.
a) Give [tex]n(z)=?[/tex]
b) What is the trajectory of a ray of light that starts with angle [tex]2\beta[/tex] ?
Homework Equations
From functional analysis we derived that in this situation:
[tex]\frac{n[z]}{\sqrt{1+z'[x]^2}}=\text{constant}[/tex]
The Attempt at a Solution
What I have problems with is expressing u and v in terms of beta,a and b. If I could do that then I could give the equation for the ellipse, order it for z[x] and insert it into the equation in 2. I was supposed to do this in an exam in about half an hour, so it has to have a simple solution that I cannot see even after looking at it for hours.
I have made a drawing
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