Question

The refractive index of a rarer medium with respect to a denser medium is.....

Answer 1

Answer:

B) Smaller Than 1

Explanation:

Snell's Law states that the ratio of the sines of incidence and refraction is equal to the ratio of the phase of velocities in the two phases. When light travels from a rarer medium like air to a denser medium like water, the light would be refracted towards the normal line. For example, the refractive index of air with respect to glass is represented as;

sin i / sin r

If light rays travel from glass which is a denser medium to a rarer medium which is air, the light rays would bend away from the normal line, and then the angle of refraction would be greater than the angle of incidence. So, the refractive index of the rarer medium which is air with respect to the denser medium which is glass will be smaller than 1.