- #1
Issy
- 6
- 1
As revision for my upcoming physics exam, I'm doing an old exam paper from a previous year of the course, for which the answers aren't published. However, I'm stuck on a basic angle of refraction question:
"A light ray makes an angle of 35degrees to the surface of an oil layer. [A diagram is attached, which shows the light ray traveling through air until it hits the oil surface]. The air's n=1.00, and the oil''s n=1.47. What is the angle of refraction of the light ray in the oil?"
It's a multichoice answer, and the answers are A) 35degrees, B) 56.1degrees, C) 55.9degrees, D) 33.9degrees, and E) 67.7.
However when I use the n1*sin(theta1) = n2*sin(theta2) method, my answer is always equal to 22.97degrees? Which is equal to none of the multichoice answer values? And because there are no published answers, I can't check the correct answer.
Have I done something wrong? Or is there a mistake in the exam paper? Thank you for any and all help!
[P.S. my calculator is definitely set in degrees.]
Relevant equations:
n1*sin(theta1) = n2*sin(theta2)
The attempt at a solution:
1 * sin(35) = 1.47 * sin(theta2), therefore sin-1 (sin(35)/1.47) = theta2 = 22.97degrees.
"A light ray makes an angle of 35degrees to the surface of an oil layer. [A diagram is attached, which shows the light ray traveling through air until it hits the oil surface]. The air's n=1.00, and the oil''s n=1.47. What is the angle of refraction of the light ray in the oil?"
It's a multichoice answer, and the answers are A) 35degrees, B) 56.1degrees, C) 55.9degrees, D) 33.9degrees, and E) 67.7.
However when I use the n1*sin(theta1) = n2*sin(theta2) method, my answer is always equal to 22.97degrees? Which is equal to none of the multichoice answer values? And because there are no published answers, I can't check the correct answer.
Have I done something wrong? Or is there a mistake in the exam paper? Thank you for any and all help!
[P.S. my calculator is definitely set in degrees.]
Relevant equations:
n1*sin(theta1) = n2*sin(theta2)
The attempt at a solution:
1 * sin(35) = 1.47 * sin(theta2), therefore sin-1 (sin(35)/1.47) = theta2 = 22.97degrees.