Question

A beam of green light has a wavelength of 500nm in a vacuum and a wavelength of 331nm in Plexiglas. What is the refractive index of Plexiglas?

a) 1.51

b) 1.67

c) 1.80

d) 2.34

Answer 1

The refractive index of Plexiglas can be calculated using the formula n = c/v, where n is the refractive index, c is the speed of light in vacuum, and v is the speed of light in the material. Substituting the given values, we can calculate that the refractive index of Plexiglas is approximately 1.64.

Step-by-step explanation:

The refractive index of a material can be calculated using the formula n = c/v, where n is the refractive index, c is the speed of light in vacuum, and v is the speed of light in the material. In this case, the wavelength of the green light in Plexiglas is 331 nm, so the speed of light in Plexiglas can be calculated as v = c/λ. Substituting the values, we get v = (3.00 x 10^8 m/s) / (331 x 10^(-9) m) = 9.06 x 10^8 m/s. Now we can calculate the refractive index using the formula mentioned earlier: n = c/v = (3.00 x 10^8 m/s) / (9.06 x 10^8 m/s) = 1.64. Therefore, the refractive index of Plexiglas is approximately 1.64.