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Byrne
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You are standing on the edge of a pool and a person is swimming towards you under the water. Before the person is close enough to reach the critical angle of your line of sight, what would you see?
The critical angle in optics is the angle of incidence at which light traveling from a denser medium to a less dense medium is refracted along the boundary between the two mediums, resulting in an angle of refraction of 90 degrees. This means that the light is no longer able to pass through the boundary and is instead totally internally reflected.
The critical angle can be calculated using Snell's law, which states that the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the indices of refraction of the two mediums. The critical angle can then be found by setting the angle of refraction to 90 degrees and solving for the angle of incidence.
The critical angle is affected by the indices of refraction of the two mediums, with a higher index of refraction resulting in a smaller critical angle. It is also affected by the wavelength of light, with longer wavelengths having a higher critical angle. Additionally, the surface roughness of the boundary between the two mediums can also affect the critical angle.
The critical angle is important in various applications of optics, such as in fiber optics, where it is used to ensure that light remains trapped inside the fiber and is not lost through the boundary. It is also used in total internal reflection microscopy, which allows for high resolution imaging of biological samples.
No, the critical angle cannot be greater than 90 degrees. This is because once the angle of refraction reaches 90 degrees, the light will be totally internally reflected and will not pass through the boundary between the two mediums. Any angle of incidence greater than the critical angle will result in total internal reflection.