Question

A ray of sunlight is passing from diamond into crown glass; the angle of incidence is 35.80°. The indices of refraction for the blue and red components of the ray are: blue (ndiamond = 2.444, ncrown glass = 1.531), and red (ndiamond = 2.410, ncrown glass = 1.520). Determine the angle between the refracted blue and red rays in the crown glass.

Answer 1

N1 Sin θ1 = N2 Sin θ2 Snell's Law

For blue light

Sin θ2 = N1 / N2 sin 35.8 = 2.444 / 1.531 * .5850 = .9339

θ2 = 69.04 deg

For red light

Sin θ2 = 2.410 /1.520 * .5850 = .9275

θ2 = 68.05 deg

The separation is .01 deg