- #1
ObliviousSage
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Homework Statement
Index of refraction of air is being treated as 1, index of refraction for water is 1.33.
W is given as 6.1 cm, the problem is to find H.
Homework Equations
By Snell's Law, n1sin[tex]\Theta[/tex]1=n2sin[tex]\Theta[/tex]2.
We can also use at least one of the trigonometric equations, tan[tex]\Theta[/tex]=opposite/adjacent.
The Attempt at a Solution
Since we know n1 and n2, we can reduce the Snell's Law equation to: sin[tex]\Theta[/tex]1=1.33*sin[tex]\Theta[/tex]2.
We can also get that tan[tex]\Theta[/tex]1=6.1/H and tan[tex]\Theta[/tex]2=3.05/H via basic trig, and these can be combined to get tan[tex]\Theta[/tex]1=2*tan[tex]\Theta[/tex]2.
The problem is that I can't see any way to combine any of those equations that will let me isolate a single variable (H, [tex]\Theta[/tex]1, or [tex]\Theta[/tex]2) so that I can find its value and plug it into solve for the other variables.