light travels from ethanol intro crown glass. what's the brewster angle in this situation? illustrate your answer with a light ray diagram. what's the signifcance of this angle of incidence?
n1=1.36for ethanol
nR=1.52 for crown glass
tanangleB=nR/ni
=1.52/1.36
=1.12 (48.2 degrees)
the only thing that I have in the diagram is the face that both the incident and reflected rays are 48.2 degrees in the ethanol..not even sure if that is right.
not sure how to draw it or what the signicance is....please explain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster%27s_angle
To illustrate the Brewster angle and its significance, we need to create a light ray diagram. Here's how you can draw it:
1. Draw a vertical line to represent the interface between the ethanol and crown glass.
2. Label the top part as "ethanol" and the bottom part as "crown glass."
3. Draw a light ray coming from the left-hand side, representing the incident ray in the ethanol.
4. As you correctly mentioned, the angle of incidence, which is also the Brewster angle, is 48.2 degrees. So, draw the incident ray at an angle of 48.2 degrees to the normal line (a line perpendicular to the interface).
5. At the interface, draw a dotted line perpendicular to the interface. This is the normal line.
6. Draw the reflected ray from the interface. According to the law of reflection, the reflected ray will be at an equal angle but in the opposite direction to the incident ray. So, draw the reflected ray at 48.2 degrees to the normal line, on the opposite side of the incident ray.
7. Finally, label all the angles, including the angle of incidence (48.2 degrees) and the angle of reflection (also 48.2 degrees).
The significance of the Brewster angle, in this case, is that when light strikes the ethanol-crown glass interface at this angle, the reflected light will be completely polarized (vibrating in a single plane). This means that the reflected light will contain only electric field components perpendicular to the plane of incidence. Therefore, the Brewster angle is important in applications like polarized sunglasses and anti-glare coatings, where it helps to eliminate unwanted reflections and enhance visibility.