Refraction Definition and 751 Threads

Homework Statement Find the index of refraction n of the rectangle using x, d, and θ. http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/6079/snellslaw.jpg Homework Equations n1*sin(θ1)=n2*sin(θ2) The Attempt at a Solution Is it possible to solve this problem given the relevant data? What I...

high All, Just got to thinking, if we have a beam of light normal to a flat surface, and the surface is that of an object which has a variable refractive index across the transverse beam direction, will some of the light be bent away from the normal on the other side of the object? i.e. if...

Homework Statement Hi I have this little problem bothering. The question goes like this: A ray enters an equilateral glass prism of refractive index 1.55 at the midpoint of one side of the prism at an angle of inceidence of 35 degrees. a. Sketch this arrangement and show that the angle of...

Why does the frequency of light wave doesn't change during refraction ?

Homework Statement A light beam of wavelenght 500nm travels from A to B in vacuum. (AB = 10mm) If we put a glass sheet with n=1.5 and 1mm thick, calculate how change the number of periods. Calculate the phase lag too. Homework Equations k0 = 2Pi/λ (vacuum) k= k0·n The Attempt...

So I understand that light "slows down" in a refractive medium. This obviously would increase the density of photons within the medium. Also, from what I understand, photons do contribute slightly to the effects of gravity. Now, suppose we take two purely theoretical mediums of equal volume...

Homework Statement A source of yellow light in air is observed by a diver inside water. If the wavelength of yellow light in air is 6000A, then find its wavelength and colour as observed by the person. I found out the wavelength inside the water as 4500A. The colour must change as the...

When light changes its medium of propagation, its speed changes. This causes light to change direction (because of the principle of least action). My question is at the atomic level. The change in the speed of light happens because when an atom absorbs a photon, it then takes a little while to...

An isosceles prism of angle 120* has a refractive index 1.44.Two parallel monochromatic rays enter the prism parallel to each other as shown in figure.the ray emerge from the opposite faces- (A)Are parallel to each other (B)are diverging (C) make an angle 2[sin^ -1(0.72)-30*] with each other...

Hi When we have a complex index of refraction, the real part determines the phase-change of the incoming wave and the complex part attenuates the wave. When we e.g. want to find the phase velocity using v = c/n, when should we use the real part of n or the modulus of n? Niles.

7. (a) A material having an index of refraction n = 1.30 is used as an antireflective coating on glass with an index of refraction n = 1.50 as shown. (i) What is the phase shift for the reflection at the interface between air and the coating (interface 1)? (ii) What is the phase shift...

I know that electromagnetic waves travel slower in general through denser materials than through less dense materials. Sound waves, however, are the opposite. The formula for light refraction is the ratio of the sines of the incidence angles equals the respective speeds of light through the...

Homework Statement A ray of light travels across a glass-to-liqued interface. If the indices of refraction for the liquid and glass are, respictevly 1.75 and 1.52, what is the critical angle at this interface? Homework Equations critical angle = inverse sin (n2/n1) The Attempt at a...

Homework Statement Snells Law of refraction Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution n1sinx=n2sinx is an extremely easy equation but i get confused as to which sinx to put my n's to and viseversa. can someone explain to me please?!

Homework Statement I have tried to solve the displacement sideways of an lightray through a medium with snells law. The question is how much does the ray travel in x-direction in the new medium with width D. It says in the text that one should use pytagoras but I can't seem to understand...

Homework Statement 1.a) Design an astronomical telescope with an angular magnification of +5 (pay attention to + sign !) and length of 16 cm, i.e. compute fobjective and focular). Homework Equations M=-(f_objective/f_ocular) L=f_ocular+f_objective The Attempt at a Solution...

Homework Statement A ray of light is passed through a prism and the critical angle is measured a) If the critical angle for the glass-air boundary is 41 degrees, calculate glasses refractive index b) the same system as before is used, but this time we measure the refractive index of juice...

Hello; For my physics investigation I'm investigating a relationship between wavelength and index of refraction for a medium exhibiting normal dispersion. The medium is borosilicate glass (BK7). However, I'm encountering some problems that I didn't expect. For example, directing a red ray of...

Homework Statement We have a parallel, transparent plate. The plate has an incidence of refraction that is dependent on a transverse coordinate. (i.e. the plate is perpendicular to z direction, and the refractive index changes along x direction) n(x) = 1.5/(1 - x/0.13) It is observed...

Why does sun appear elliptical during sunset and sunrise? I have read that when the Sun (or Moon) is near the horizon, the rays from the lower edge are bent more than the rays from the upper edge. This produces a shortening of the vertical diameter, causing the Sun to...

Why does refraction occur? I know that it's because light travels at different speeds in different mediums, but I don't see how that would cause a light wave to bend. I found "the wave must continuous across a boundary, which requires that the phase of the wave be constant on any given plane" at...

Pretty straightforward question I hope. When the ray crosses into the material it will be refracted (ie. it's path changes direction). What is the explanation of this? All I have really been taught so far is that it does. I gather that it depends on the dielectric constant of a material but I...

why does the direction of light change during refraction if the speed changes?how are speed and direction related?

Hi everyone I'm having a bit of trouble solving this question. If anyone can help that would be awesome Homework Statement Rank the materials in the diagram according to their refractive indices from greatest to smallest (see attachment) The attempt at a solution The greater the...

Homework Statement A thick-walled spherical shell made of transparent glass(n=1.50) has internal radius R and external radius 2R. The central cavity and region surrounding the shell are filled with air (n=1.00). The center of symmetry of the object is located at the origin of an xy coordinate...

Homework Statement In order to determine the refractive index of a transparent plate of glass, a microscope is first focussed on a tiny scratch on the upper surface and the barrel position is recorded. Upon further lowering the microscope barrel by 1.87mm , a focussed image of the...

Hello; I have learned that the law of refraction is n = sinI/sinR, where n is the refractive index, I is the angle of incidence, and R is the angle of refraction. But why is it sinI/sinR, and not simply angle I/angle R if it is identifying the ratio between the two angles? I have heard...

Hello, while making my tea and watching the spoon inside the glass (with water), I start questioning myself what really is refraction. On class they just told me refraction is because light goes slower in a medium, so it bends according to Snell's Law. What is Snell's Law? Light bends to a...

Varying index of refraction Experiment (URGENT) I have a experiment that measures the index of refraction. (see references for a better explanation) Basically is like this: You have a cell made of glass with water. You put unmixed sugar (or other thing) on it, creating a gradient of index of...

how does refraction of light take place?And why does it always shift towards the normal while traveling from rarer to denser medium,why not away from normal?

A ray of light travels through a medium with an index of refraction n_{1} and strikes an layered medium such that the index of refraction is n_{2}=ky+1 where y is the depth of the medium and k is a constant. If it hits at an angle of \theta_{1} with respect to the normal, find the angle...

Hey guys, I need some notes on refraction please I don't know anything on it. Also I need to how to get ( draw ) the image of an object behind a mirror step by step please. That would really help me guys.

Hi, I know I've seen this question on this site before, but it didn't explain how to do it. I don't even know where to begin... Q: Consider the optical interface between crown glass and ethanol. b) White light travels from crown glass into ethanol. If the angle of incidence in crown glass...

A mixture of red and violet light is incident on a glass-air interface. The indices of refraction for red and violet light in glass are n(red)=1.52 and n(violet)=1.538. What color of light enters the air? http://www.webassign.net/cj8/q_10.gif attempt to solve: I found that the critical angle...

http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/nanostructured-metamaterial-enables-invisibility-cloak?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IeeeSpectrum+%28IEEE+Spectrum%29 "We can even have amplification of light instead of its absorption. Here, for the...

Template? mmk... 1. Problem... (with intro) Let's start with a camera. We know that a camera uses a lens to refract incoming light into parallel rays that travel to the sensor (or film). Like so: http://a.imageshack.us/img508/2370/camerau.png The problem I'm going to ask about revolves around...

Why do waves spread out after emerging from a narrow (\leq\lambda) opening? Also, why do waves change direction at boundaries between regions where the wave speed differs? I have tried to find answers to these questions by searching on the Net, but with no luck.:-(

Homework Statement If you dive without goggles, you can't see very clearly. Why? Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I guess the reason is water around the eyes refracts the ray so that the image produced in the eye is blur. Right? But why when using goggle we can see...

First, I want to say sorry for my english, cause I do not live in an english-speaking country.:rolleyes: 1. Homework Statement Here the problem definition: There is a person which has a body height of 1.7m and is standing in front of a cylindrical aquarium, which is 4 meters high. It is...

Is there a way to visually determine whether refraction or interference is the cause of the iridescent effect observed in rainbows, oil films/bubbles, insect shells/wings, cds/dvds, etc.? This question arose from when I was looking at thin films of minerals through a microscope. The slide was...

Homework Statement Consider a cylindrical piece of material of a constant thickness d and radius r = a, but made out of a material with position-dependent index of refraction. How must the index of refraction vary with radial distance r such that the cylindrical piece act as a lens with a focal...

Homework Statement [PLAIN]http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/3072/refractiong.jpg The apparent angle from the water is 53 degrees, but what is the actual angle from the water? Homework Equations n1 * sin i = n2 * sin r The Attempt at a Solution I think the real problem here...

Homework Statement A ray of pure yellow light reaches the surface of a pond at an angle of incidence of 60°. What angle does it make with the normal inside the water? Speed of light in air = 300,000,000 m/s Speed of light in water = 225,000,000 m/s So the Refractive index μ = 1.33...

Homework Statement A Lens maker desires to make a lens of focal length 30 cm. in air. The equipment in the shop is set to make lens faces of 20 cm. a. What index of refraction should the lens material have to produce this focal length? b. What would the focal length of this lens be...

Ok i get that hotter air is less dense , but when light goes from hot air to colder air we are dealing with the same atoms it is just that the photon will have less collisions , why would the angle of re-emission change for the photon just because it is having less or more collisions in the...

Does a magnetic field refract when it enters into a different medium?

Homework Statement A plane electromagnetic wave refracts in a nonuniform medium. The ray trajectory is known, y = a \left[ 1 - \left( \frac{x}{2a} \right)^2 \right] where a=const. a) Plot y(x) b) From the slope of the curve find the angle \theta \left( y \right) which the...

Homework Statement Given a three layer model ------------------------------------------------- v_1=1.5km/s ------------------------------------------------- v_2=1.3km/s ------------------------------------------------- v_3=2.0km/s Assume a ray goes through layer 1 and hits the interface...

Assume we have a plane of oscillating charges described by x=xoei(omega)t. The total field is given by E=- \frac{\etaq}{2\epsilonc}i\omegaxoei\omega(t-z/c) . (Can someone point me to a website where I can learn to type in these formulas and not not have them suck?) Ignore that weird looking x^o...

Homework Statement The diagram shows a curved convex surface with radius of curvature R separating two media with differing refractive indices of n_{1} and n_{2} Show that the matrix representing refraction at this surface is...