Question

Light passes from air→glass →quartz→ice at an initial 46° angle of incidence.

a. Use Snell's Law to calculate the angles of refraction at each boundary

Answer 1

Using Snell's Law, we can calculate the angles of refraction at each boundary: air to glass, glass to quartz, and quartz to ice. The angle of refraction at each boundary can be found by using the indices of refraction of the respective media and applying Snell's Law.

Step-by-step explanation:

Using Snell's Law, we can calculate the angles of refraction at each boundary. Snell's Law states that the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the indices of refraction of the two media.

Let's calculate the angles of refraction:

1. From air to glass: Assuming the index of refraction of air is 1, and the index of refraction of glass is 1.5, we can use Snell's Law to find the angle of refraction. We have: sin(46°)/sin(angle of refraction at glass) = 1/1.5. Solving for the angle of refraction at glass, we find that it is approximately 30.55°.
2. From glass to quartz: Assuming the index of refraction of glass is still 1.5, and the index of refraction of quartz is 1.7, we can use Snell's Law again to find the angle of refraction. We have: sin(30.55°)/sin(angle of refraction at quartz) = 1.5/1.7. Solving for the angle of refraction at quartz, we find that it is approximately 27.28°.
3. From quartz to ice: Assuming the index of refraction of quartz is still 1.7, and the index of refraction of ice is 1.3, we can use Snell's Law once more to find the angle of refraction. We have: sin(27.28°)/sin(angle of refraction at ice) = 1.7/1.3. Solving for the angle of refraction at ice, we find that it is approximately 36.25°.