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A ray of light is moving from a material having a high indexof refraction into a material with a lower index of refraction.

(a) Is the ray bent toward the normal or awayfrom it?
toward the normal
awayfrom the normal

User Marquita
by
7.3k points

1 Answer

1 vote

Answer:

Away from the normal

Step-by-step explanation:

The direction toward which the ray of light bend can be found by using Snell's law:


n_1 sin \theta_1 = n_2 sin \theta_2

where

n1, n2 are the index of refraction of the first and second medium


\theta_1, \theta_2 are the angle of the incident and refracted ray with respect to the normal to the surface

Here, the ray of light moves from a material with high index of refraction to a material with lower index, therfore we have


n_1 > n_2

Re-arranging Snell's equation we get


sin \theta_2 = (n_1)/(n_2) sin \theta_1

and since


(n_1)/(n_2)>1

we find


sin \theta_2 > sin \theta_1\\\theta_2 > \theta_1

which means that the ray of light bends away from the normal.

User Razzer
by
8.9k points
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