Answer to Question #46983 in Optics for victor

Question

The critical angle for total internal reflection at an air-water interface is approximately 48 degrees. In which of the following situations will total internal reflection occur?
light incident in water at 40 dgrees
light incident in water at 55 dgrees
light incident in air at 40 dgrees
light incident in air at 55 dgrees

Answer 1

Solution
Total internal reflection is the reflectionof the total amount of incident light at the boundary between two media. It
occurs when light wave crosses a boundary between materials with different
kinds of refractive indices and travels from a medium with a higher (in this
case it is water) to one with a lower refractive index (in this case it is
air). So, if the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle total
internal reflection occurs.
Hence the answer is light incident inwater at 55 degrees.