A piece of glass is immersed in water . If a light ray enters the glass from the water with an angle of incidence greater than zero, in which direction is the ray bent?
Most glass has an index of refraction greater than that of water. Consider Snell's law.
When a light ray enters the glass from water at an angle of incidence greater than zero, the ray is bent towards the normal to the surface. This effect is known as refraction. The normal is an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface where the light ray enters the glass.
When a light ray passes through different substances, such as water and glass, it will change direction due to a phenomenon called refraction. Refraction occurs when light travels from one medium to another, and its speed and direction change.
To understand which direction the light ray will bend when entering the glass from water, we need to refer to Snell's Law. Snell's Law 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 velocities or refractive indices of the two substances.
In this scenario, the light ray is entering the glass from water. We know that glass has a higher refractive index than water, which means light travels slower in glass compared to water. As a result, the light ray will bend towards the normal line (a line perpendicular to the surface) when entering the glass. This means the ray will bend towards the line perpendicular to the surface where the glass and water meet.
To determine the exact angle of refraction, we would need to know the angle of incidence and the refractive indices of water and glass. By using Snell's Law and applying the appropriate equation, we can calculate the angle of refraction.