Light travelling through differing mediums

  • Thread starter Thread starter fmdk
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Light
AI Thread Summary
When light travels from water to air at an angle, Snell's Law is essential for determining the angle of refraction. This law states that the ratio of the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction is equal to the ratio of the speeds of light in the two mediums. The refractive indices of the mediums, calculated from the speed of light in each, play a crucial role in this relationship. Key factors to consider include the angle of incidence and the refractive indices of both water and air. Understanding these principles allows for accurate predictions of light behavior at the interface.
fmdk
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
If light traveling in water hits an interface with air at angle x, what is the angle it will make when traveling in air?

what factors do i need to consider for this apart from:

different lights travel at different speeds

different mediums will affect angle of incidence
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The thing you're looking for is probably called "Snell's law" (named after a Dutch scientist with the fancy Latin name Snellius):
\frac{\sin \theta_1}{\sin \theta_2} = \frac{c_1}{c_2} = \frac{n_2}{n_1}
where n_i = c / c_i and c_i is the speed of light in medium i (and c in vacuum).
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
Back
Top