What is the role of atmospheric refraction in a sunset?

[cris9288]

Homework Statement

Explain, with the relevant equations and a clearly labeled figure, what is actually happening as you view a sunset. Make sure to include a clearly labeled ray diagram for full credit.

Homework Equations

n1sin(θ1) = n2sinθ2

1/f = 1/o + 1/i

The Attempt at a Solution

This was a midterm problem that I got wrong. We are having an extra credit quiz tomorrow and this is the only problem I don't have solved.

My attempted solution involved using snells law, in both equation and diagram form. However I was given no credit as I had the "wrong approach". I'm guessing I should be using a ray diagram, but I'm unsure how to set up the f and i variables. Since the sun is very far away from the sun, I can set o in my lens equation to infinity. This would make the focal length equal to the image distance, but this really doesn't make any sense to me. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[tiny-tim]

welcome to pf!

hi cris9288! welcome to pf!

Explain, with the relevant equations and a clearly labeled figure, what is actually happening as you view a sunset. Make sure to include a clearly labeled ray diagram for full credit.
…
My attempted solution involved using snells law, in both equation and diagram form.

i suspect your diagram was bad

can you show us (or describe) your diagram?

(and you don't seem to be mentioning colour)

 

[rude man]

Thing is, the atmosphere represents a medium with continuously varying index of refraction, both as a function of atmospheric density and dispersion (n varies with f).