Answer to Question #147630 in Physics for uvyuhj

Question

Light traveling from water into crowd glass, strikes the crown glass at an angle of 41.7 degrees. What is the angle of refraction?

Answer 1

We can find the angle of refraction from the Snell's Law:

$$n_isin\theta_i=n_rsin\theta_r,$$

here, $n_i=1.33$ is the index of refraction of the incident medium (or the water), $n_r=1.52$ is the index of refraction of the refractive medium (or the crown glass), $\theta_i=41.7^{\circ}$ is the angle of incidence, $\theta_r$ is the angle of refraction.

Then, from this equation we can calculate the angle of refraction:

$$\theta_r=sin^{-1}(\dfrac{n_isin\theta_i}{n_r}),$$ $$\theta_r=sin^{-1}(\dfrac{1.33\cdot sin41.7^{\circ}}{1.52})=35.6^{\circ}$$

Answer:

$\theta_r=35.6^{\circ}$