A light ray goes from air into water with incidence 60°, water refractive index 1.33. What is the angle in water?

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Multiple Choice

A light ray goes from air into water with incidence 60°, water refractive index 1.33. What is the angle in water?

Explanation:
When light passes from one medium to another, its path bends because its speed changes. This is described by Snell’s law: n1 sin theta1 = n2 sin theta2. Here n1 is about 1.00 for air, the incident angle theta1 is 60°, and n2 for water is 1.33. Solve for theta2: sin theta2 = (n1/n2) sin theta1 = (1/1.33) * sin 60°. Since sin 60° ≈ 0.866, sin theta2 ≈ 0.866 / 1.33 ≈ 0.651. Taking the inverse sine gives theta2 ≈ 40.7°. So the angle in water is about 40.7°, meaning the ray bends toward the normal when entering the denser medium.

When light passes from one medium to another, its path bends because its speed changes. This is described by Snell’s law: n1 sin theta1 = n2 sin theta2. Here n1 is about 1.00 for air, the incident angle theta1 is 60°, and n2 for water is 1.33. Solve for theta2: sin theta2 = (n1/n2) sin theta1 = (1/1.33) * sin 60°. Since sin 60° ≈ 0.866, sin theta2 ≈ 0.866 / 1.33 ≈ 0.651. Taking the inverse sine gives theta2 ≈ 40.7°. So the angle in water is about 40.7°, meaning the ray bends toward the normal when entering the denser medium.

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