Question

A student measures the speed of yellow light in water to be 2.00x10^8

Answer 1

NOTE: The given question is incomplete.

The complete question is given below.

A student measures the speed of yellow light in water to be 2.00 x 10⁸ m/s. Calculate the speed of light in air.

Solution:

Speed of yellow light in water (v) = 2.00 x 10⁸ m/s

Refractive Index of water with respect to air (μ) = 4/3

Refractive Index = Speed of yellow light in air / Speed of yellow light in water

Or,  The speed of yellow light in air = Refractive Index × Speed of yellow light in water

or,                                           = (4/3) × 2.00 x 10⁸ m/s

or,                                           = 2.67 × 10⁸ m/s ≈ 3.0 × 10⁸ m/s

Hence, the required speed of yellow light in the air will be 3.0 × 10⁸ m/s.