A ray of light in air has an angle of incidence to the normal of 45° into a piece of glass (1.5). What is the angle of refraction?
To find the angle of refraction, we can use Snell's Law. Snell's Law relates the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction of a ray of light passing from one medium to another. It is given by the equation:
n1 * sin(theta1) = n2 * sin(theta2),
where n1 and n2 are the refractive indices of the initial and final mediums, and theta1 and theta2 are the angles of incidence and refraction, respectively, with respect to the normal.
In this case, the ray of light is traveling from air (n1 = 1) to glass (n2 = 1.5), with an angle of incidence of 45°.
Using Snell's Law, we can set up the equation:
1 * sin(45°) = 1.5 * sin(theta2).
Now, let's solve for theta2:
sin(theta2) = (1 * sin(45°)) / 1.5,
sin(theta2) = sin(45°) / 1.5,
theta2 = arcsin(sin(45°) / 1.5).
Using a calculator, we can find:
theta2 ≈ arcsin(0.7071 / 1.5) ≈ 29.1°.
Therefore, the angle of refraction is approximately 29.1° in the piece of glass with a refractive index of 1.5.