A critical angle of 24.4 degrees applies to:
a) light travelling from air into diamond
b) light travelling from diamond into air
c) light travelling from water into diamond
d) light travelling from diamond into water
Would the answer be a)?
Yes, the correct answer would be (a) light traveling from air into diamond.
To determine this, you need to understand the concept of critical angle. The critical angle is the angle of incidence at which light traveling in a medium reaches the boundary with another medium and is refracted along the boundary.
In this case, the critical angle is 24.4 degrees, which means that any light entering the diamond from the air at an angle greater than 24.4 degrees will be totally internally reflected back into the diamond. This is because the refractive index of diamond is higher than that of air.
For options (b), (c), and (d), the critical angles would be different because the refractive index changes depending on the medium. So, light traveling from diamond into air, from water into diamond, or from diamond into water would have different critical angles.