A ray of light goes from water into air…

Contributed by StemPy Lab

Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.

A ray of light goes from water into air. Its angle in the water is $25^\circ$ . Find the angle of refraction in the air. The refractive index of water is $1.33$ .

Need a reminder? The key ideaShow

Light bends because its speed changes. Into an optically denser material it bends toward the normal; into a rarer one, away from it. Snell's law: $\dfrac{\sin i}{\sin r}$ is a constant for two materials; from air into a material of index $n$ , $\sin r = \dfrac{\sin i}{n}$ .

The worked solution

Have you tried it?

Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.

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