A light beam in the air hits a sheet of crown glass at an angle of 34.2o. At what angle is the light beam refracted?
air- 1.0003
To find the angle at which the light beam is refracted, we need to use Snell's law, which states that the ratio of the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction is equal to the ratio of the speeds of light in the two mediums.
The formula for Snell's law is:
n1*sin(theta1) = n2*sin(theta2)
Where:
n1 = refractive index of the medium where the light is coming from (in this case, air)
theta1 = angle of incidence
n2 = refractive index of the medium where the light is entering (in this case, crown glass)
theta2 = angle of refraction
Given:
n1 = 1.0003 (refractive index of air)
theta1 = 34.2° (angle of incidence)
We need to find theta2, the angle of refraction.
First, we need to determine the refractive index of crown glass. The refractive index of crown glass is approximately 1.52.
Now we can use Snell's law to find theta2:
1.0003 * sin(34.2°) = 1.52 * sin(theta2)
Rearranging the equation to solve for theta2:
sin(theta2) = (1.0003 * sin(34.2°)) / 1.52
theta2 = arcsin((1.0003 * sin(34.2°)) / 1.52)
Using a scientific calculator, we can calculate theta2 to be approximately 19.4°.
Therefore, the light beam is refracted at an angle of approximately 19.4° when it passes from air to crown glass.