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Light traveling in ice (n = 1.31) is incident on air at an angle of 35 degrees. What is the angle of refraction?

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Final answer:

When light travels from one medium to another, it changes direction due to refraction. The angle of refraction can be found using Snell's law, which relates the angles of incidence and refraction and the indices of refraction of the two mediums. In this case, the angle of refraction is approximately 25.4 degrees.

Step-by-step explanation:

When light travels from one medium to another, it changes direction due to refraction. The angle of refraction is determined by Snell's law, which states that the ratio of the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction is equal to the ratio of the indices of refraction of the two mediums.

In this case, light is traveling from ice (n = 1.31) to air. The angle of incidence is given as 35 degrees. To find the angle of refraction, we can use Snell's law:

sin(angle of incidence) / sin(angle of refraction) = n2 / n1

Plugging in the values, we have:

sin(35) / sin(angle of refraction) = 1 / 1.31

Solving for the unknown angle of refraction, we get approximately 25.4 degrees.

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