Refractive index Definition and 280 Threads

  1. S

    Refractive index change in Piezoelectric material

    Hello all, whether the Refractive index of piezoelectric materials (Example: Polyvinylidene fluoride-PVDF ) changes by the application of pressure, strain or force ?
  2. arpon

    Path of Light in Time-Varying Refractive Index: Straight or Curved?

    Homework Statement Suppose, light is passing through a liquid whose refractive index is time-varying. What will be the path of light ray ? Will it be a straaight line or curve ?Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution I think, it will be a straight line.
  3. R

    Refractive Index change with Wavelength & Carrier Concentration

    I need to calculate the refractive index of a semiconductor material over a wavelength range (1×10-5m - 1×10-9m) and with different values of electron and hole carrier concentrations (i.e. n/p doped). I found this equation that relates those parameters: n+ik = √ [ (εm -...
  4. S

    Vessel with liquids having different refractive index

    1.Problem: A vessel is quarter filled with a liquid of refractive index A. the remaining parts of the vessel is filled with an immiscible liquid of refractive index 3A/2. The apparent depth of the vessel is 50% of the actual depth. the value of A is? 1)1 2)3/2 3)2/3 4)4/3 Solution: 1...
  5. S

    Relation between refractive index and density of material

    Hello all, I had clarified that refractive index of material such as(aluminium, copper, lead, teflon)changes with the temperature. the refractive index change even for this temperature range: -196 to 25°C ? I need to know like any law which gives a direct relationship between 1)the density and...
  6. S

    Does the Refractive Index of Materials Change with Temperature and Wavelength?

    Hello all, I want to know that refractive index of materials like cooper, zinc, aluminium, teflon, PMMA varies with the application of heat from room to 100°C and for negative temperatures 77k to 300k. thanks in advance.
  7. jfizzix

    Why no transparent materials with large refractive index?

    I know that the refractive index is determined by a material's dielectric constant and magnetic permeability. It's also true that we can treat the refractive index as a complex function with the imaginary part giving you an absorption spectrum. You can then get the index of refraction from...
  8. M

    Snell's Law: From n sin theta to n1sintheta1 = n2sintheta2

    Hi, I'm new to the forum as I'm struggling to find answers with an internet search. I've seen Snell's Law stated as n sin theta = constant. How does this arise from its more familiar form of n1sintheta1 = n2sintheta2? I can't work it out. Thanks for reading!
  9. D

    Is refractive index on each side of the parallelepiped the same?

    Refractive index on each side of a rectangular cube parallelepiped: n1, n2, n3 Is this correct: n1=n2=n3? http://image.bayimg.com/01c243801d8868097dbe98fb599b0d6aa9fb2e7d.jpg
  10. P

    The complex refractive index vs. permittivity

    I have a process of thought and would like to run past some other minds to point out if I am incorrect in my thinking. I am looking into conductivity in high frequencies and a lot of papers I am looking up list a complex refractive index. They list something as in nAg = 0.1453 + j11.3587...
  11. L

    Group Index dependence on refractive index

    In Ng (the group index for a range of wavelengths), there is an index of refraction n used, but if the medium is dispersive, meaning n is a function of wavelength λ, which n is used? Is it some kind of an average? Or does n not change much over this range of wavelengths? if it doesn't change...
  12. A

    Optimizing Refractive Index for Bright and Even Side Glow in Solid Core Object

    Hi All, I'm trying to create something which has a solid, cylindrical, non-reflective core (assume the core is made out of a black rubber similar to that of a car tyre for instance and 20m in length, but only 1cm in diameter), which has a translucent or transparent plastic layer (or several...
  13. J

    Photonic density of state in matter

    I'm a beginner in quantum optics. I always become confusing when the material's refractive index is complex. This time is about the photonic density of states. We know that if the material is not absorbing or dissipative, meaning the refractive index is a real number, the local photonic density...
  14. D

    Measuring refractive index of water

    Does anyone know any good experimental techniques of measuring refractive index of water?
  15. spareine

    Exploring the Refractive Index of Asphalt: Polarization and Brewster's Angle

    Asphalt in roads sometimes appears very black through polarizing glasses. I imagine it is possible to measure the angle of reflection with the highest degree of polarization, θ (Brewster's angle), for asphalt. For transparent materials, the refractive index is related to θ, n = tan θ. Is the...
  16. M

    Light's Refractive Index & Phase Change: Explained

    Consider a plane beam of light is falling normally on a material with thickness (d) and refractive index (n), the light partially transmits and partially reflects the light, so the light transmitting the light travels a distance (2nd) coming out of the material have a phase change of ∏ always...
  17. J

    Effective refractive index when two transparent medium are joined in s

    Dear All, If two layers of thickness d1 and d2 stacked on each other and having their absolute refractive index n1 and n2 . Can we find effective refractive index of the combination with this data? Thanks in advance. Jayesh.
  18. M

    How to calculate refractive index from reflectance values

    Greetings. how to calculate the refractive index, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient values from the reflectance data. And also suggest me how to measure the transparency of glass. Is there any relation between transparency and refractive index Thanks in advance
  19. B

    Laser to determine effect of sucrose concentration on refractive index

    Hi! I want to conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of sucrose concentration on refractive index using a laser pointer however I would like to complicate this experiment as this is just a simple how x affects y experiment. It may also seem to straight forward as obviously higher...
  20. K

    Refractive Index by Pressure/Temperature

    The refractive index of H2 = 1.0001594 under the following conditions : P = 101325 Pa T = 273.15 K I cannot find any source for the refractive index of gases under any other conditions 3 Questions : a. What is the pressure gradient for the refractive index? b. What is...
  21. J

    Refractive Index - Lens question

    Homework Statement A double concave lens has equal radii of curvature of 15.1 cm. An object placed 14.2 cm from the lens forms a virtual image 5.0 cm from the lens. What is the index of refraction of the lens material? A. 1.98 B. 1.9 C. 1.84 D. 2.06 Homework Equations 1/f = (n – 1 ) (1/R1...
  22. M

    Focal length of a sphere with refractive index gradient

    Homework Statement We take a sphere (1mm) which has a parabolically changing refractive index, which is given in a function. Homework Equations Depending on the gradient of the refractive in the sphere, how does it correlates with the focal length. The Attempt at a Solution I...
  23. P

    Find Refractive Index of Liquid for Observer with Velocity

    hello i have this question " a liquid has refractive index (n). find the refractive index of this liquid for an observer if the liquid have a velocity (v) to this observer " i have my solution in an attachment please look at it and tell me if it is the right solution thank you...
  24. O

    Refractive index of a 1M sorbitol solution

    I would like to find the refractive index of a 1M sorbitol solution. Is there any resource out there that lists refractive indexes? Is there any way to calculate this? Thank you
  25. M

    Data for metal oxides on complex refractive index in the infrared

    I want to use the ray tracing software ZEMAX to calculate reflection and absorption using thin metal oxide coatings on for example plastic materials. For this I need is the real and imaginary part of the refractive index in the wavelength region 1-10 micrometer for the metal oxides ZnO, ITO...
  26. O

    Refractive index- will it travel back along the same way?

    Refractive index----- will it travel back along the same way? From the picture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RefractionReflextion.svg If I travel a light ray from n2 to n1 , I think the light ray will travel in the opposite direction shown in the first picture. But what about the...
  27. adjacent

    What factors affect the refractive index of a medium?

    Refractive index depends on the speed of light traveling through that medium.It also depends on the wave length of light.If refractive index of water is 1.33,then for which wavelength is this?
  28. A

    Relationship between the refractive index and absorption

    Hello, I was wondering is there a relation between the refractive index of the material and the amount of light the material absorbs (e.g. the higher n means higher absorption)? If so what is then a relation between the intensity of the light and the refractive index? p.s. I am trying to...
  29. H

    Refractive Index: Why is it Same in Vacuum for All Lightwaves?

    refractive index of vacuum is 1 so from this law: n=c/u,we see that u of any light will be equal with c=3*10^8. When two lights(Red(r),Blue(b)) run into the water,red will run faster because refractive index for this lightwave is less than refractive index of blue. So we see that...
  30. Y

    Schwarzschild metric in terms of refractive index

    This is a spin off from another thread: First there are a couple of mathpages http://mathpages.com/rr/s8-04/8-04.htm and http://mathpages.com/rr/s8-03/8-03.htm that discuss the refractive index model and highlights the differences. The first obvious objection is that the 'medium' must have...
  31. S

    Relation between refractive index and model equation

    Fact: The refractive index depends on the medium. Also, in general, to study the pulse propagation in a medium, there is a governing model equation (e.g. Non linear Schrodinger equation). My question is: Will there be any relation between the model equation and the refractive index? Why...
  32. S

    How does optical density relate to mass density and refractive index?

    Hello I am preparing a lesson on refraction and I've come across a confusing point. In a book I have read, it was said that the optical density of a material is proportional to the refractive index. That is, the greater the optical density, the greater the refractive index. I have however...
  33. Saitama

    Optics - Find the refractive index

    Homework Statement An object is located at a distance R from a sphere of radius R. The final image is formed at the same distance R on the other side of the sphere. Calculate the refractive index of the material of the sphere.Homework Equations Since we are dealing with refraction at spherical...
  34. K

    Relating absorbance wavelengths and refractive index

    Dear All, thank you for your attention. I am a Biologist and I was wondering if it is possible to translate absorbance λ values into a refractive index value? I found out about the sellmeier equation however it appears to require coefficients that have to be experimentally determined...
  35. N

    Dependence of refractive index

    Why does light slow down in glass?Can anybody explain why speed of light is slow in glass than in vacuum?
  36. R

    Stressed about Physics Exam Help with refractive index concept

    7. The figure shows the path of a portion of a ray of light as it passes through three different materials. What can be concluded concerning the refractive indices of these three materials. (A) n1 < n2 < n3 (B) n1 > n2 > n3 (C) n3 < n1 < n2 (D) n2 = n1 > n3 (E) n1 = n2 < n3 The...
  37. N

    Refractive index of two fluids when mixed

    Hi all! I was wondering what will happen if you have two aqueous solutions with the same refractive index and you mix them? Would you end up with the same refractive index as the both solutions or will the refractive index change? In my case I'm using a aqueous 40% wt. potassium...
  38. P

    Refractive index experiment/finding error on graphs

    I'm writing a physics practical report on the refractive index of glass. We performed an experiment in which we measured the incident angle and the refractive angle of light entering a glass block. When plotting sin(ϴa) against sin(ϴg) with the y-intercept as 0 (to satisfy snell's law...
  39. A

    Refractive Index: Light Speed & Distance Perception

    The light travel by it's in a straight line in vacuum, but when we see through the glass the glass has a refractive index which slows down the speed of light so when I see through the glass I don't see the actual distance. Moreover, the gases particles has refractive index and slows down the...
  40. P

    Calculation of thin film thickness from complex refractive index

    Hello, I want to ask how can one calculate the thickness of a thin film (or each of the thin films in a stack of 3-4 thin films on one another) when - complex refractive index of each thin film is known (n and k). This refractive index is obtained from a single wavelength ellipsometer and...
  41. D

    Value of the constant in 'variation of refractive index'

    In optics, given the below formula nλ= A + B/λ2 + C/λ4 +... where A, B and C are constants. From the above relationship we can deduce that as the wavelength λ increases, the variation of refractive index nλ decreases. How do we measure the constant value of A,B and C at the first...
  42. D

    Optical trap Raman - oil refractive index matching

    I have a Optical trap that collects Raman. With Glass cover-slips we use a 1.51 refractice index oil (DF cargille). The trap works but glass has high auto-fluorescence at our excitation wavelength(785 nm9), the weak Raman can't be detected. So we use synthetic fused silica cover-slips with a...
  43. S

    How Does the Refractive Index Influence Light Interaction with Metals?

    When a light wave of the form E=E0eiω hits the surface of a metal, the refractive index if given(considering restoring force of metal atoms and damping equal to 0), by n2=1-p2/ω2 where p=plasma frequency and ω= frequency of the wave. In the case where n2<0, n is complex. and hence the light wave...
  44. M

    Refractive index of different colors

    Homework Statement I have to design an experiment to determine the difference in refractive indices for different colors. Assume you have : color filters,glass block Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I want to do it buy shining a white laser light through...
  45. C

    Refractive Index of Gold at Microwave Frequencies

    Hi, can anyone help me out with the refractive index of pure gold at microwave freguencies? (Specifically something close to 2.4 GHz, or your average household microwave oven) Much obliged!
  46. V

    Calculating refraction in continuous refractive index

    Homework Statement The problem is page 5 on: http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/olympiad/Downloads/PastPapers/Paper3_2010_.pdf I will just summarise the question: The refractive index of space,n, at a distance r from the sun is given by √(1+5920/r). The light from a distant star is deflected by a...
  47. P

    Proof That {sin i/sin r} = Refractive Index

    Refractive index = {speed of light in vacuum}/[speed of light in the medium] This value also equals the ratio{sin i/ sin r} Is there any mathematical proof showing that {sin i/ sin r}= {speed of light in vacuum}/[speed of light in the medium]
  48. mikeanndy

    Physical significance of Refractive index

    What is the physical significance of Refractive Index(RI) ?
  49. E

    Knowing the Refractive Index of a Prism using Microwave Transmitter

    Homework Statement A prism of 90-45-45 was placed between a microwave receiver and transmitter. What steps should I take to know the index of refraction of the prism given that its material is not transparent to microwave? I positioned the prism so that a side of the prism is perpendicular to...
  50. P

    Standing waves and refractive index question. help needed

    Homework Statement Two optically flat glass plates, 16.0 cm long, are in contact at one end and separated by 0.0200 mm at the other end. The space between the plates is occupied by oil with index of refraction 1.45. The index of refraction of the glass plates is 1.55. The plates are...
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