Question

Light in vacuum is incident on the surface of a glass slab. In the vacuum the beam makes an angle of 38.0° with the normal to the surface, while in the glass it makes an angle of 26.0° with the normal. What is the index of refraction of the glass?

Answer 1

Answer:

n_glass = 1.404

Explanation:

In order to calculate the index of refraction of the light you use the Snell's law, which is given by the following formula:

$n_1sin\theta_1=n_2sin\theta_2$         (1)

n1: index of refraction of vacuum = 1.00

θ1: angle of the incident light respect to normal of the surface = 38.0°

n2: index of refraction of glass = ?

θ2: angle of the refracted light in the glass respect to normal = 26.0°

You solve the equation (1) for n2 and replace the values of all parameters:

$n_2=n_1\frac{sin\theta_1}{sin\theta_2}=(1.00)\frac{sin(38.0\°)}{sin(26.0\°)}\\\\n_2=1.404$

The index of refraction of the glass is 1.404