Question

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

Answer 1

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.