Refraction and total internal reflection

AI Thread Summary
When a mixture of red and violet light hits a glass-air interface, the indices of refraction are n(red)=1.52 and n(violet)=1.538. The critical angle for violet light is calculated to be 40.56 degrees, while for red light it is 41.14 degrees. Since the incident angle of 40.85 degrees is greater than the critical angle for violet light, total internal reflection occurs for violet light, preventing it from entering the air. In contrast, red light, with a higher critical angle, can enter the air. Thus, only red light exits into the air while violet light is totally internally reflected.
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A mixture of red and violet light is incident on a glass-air interface. The indices of refraction for red and violet light in glass are n(red)=1.52 and n(violet)=1.538. What color of light enters the air?

http://www.webassign.net/cj8/q_10.gif

attempt to solve:
I found that the critical angle for the violet light is 40.56 degrees and 41.14 degrees for the red. If the critical angle for the red light is larger, shouldn't there be total internal reflection?

Thanks in advance!
 
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At which angle does total reflection happen? Greater or lower than the critical angle?

ehild
 
ehild said:
At which angle does total reflection happen? Greater or lower than the critical angle?

ehild

Greater than the critical angle, right? That is what I'm getting but this problem is confusing. I must be doing something wrong.
 
The light enters at the glass-air interface at 40.85° angle. For which light is this angle greater than the critical one?

ehild
 
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