A beam of light passes from zircon to quartz at an incident angle of 8°. What is the angle of refraction?

1 Answer
A08
Jan 4, 2017

9.4^@, rounded to one decimal place.

Explanation:

Refractive index of Zircon and Quartz varies as below

Zircon: 1.81 - 2.024
Quartz: 1.544 - 1.553

For this problem the refractive indices of samples are assumed as lowest.

From Snell's law we know that when a beam passes from a medium 1 having refractive index n_1 making and angle theta_1 to medium 2 having refractive index n_2, angle of refraction theta_2 is given by the equation

n_1 sin theta_1 = n_2 sin theta_2

Inserting given values we get

1.81 sin 8^@= 1.544 sin theta_2
=> sin theta_2=(1.81 sin 8^@)/1.544
=> theta_2=sin^-1 ((1.81 sin 8^@)/1.544)
=9.4^@, rounded to one decimal place.

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