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A light ray traveling in a medium with a refractive index of 1.6 strikes a bound

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Question: A light ray traveling in a medium with a refractive index of 1.6 strikes a boundary with air at an angle of 50°. What will be the outcome?

Options:

  1. Total internal reflection occurs.
  2. Light is refracted into the air.
  3. Light is absorbed.
  4. Light is scattered.

Correct Answer: Total internal reflection occurs.

Solution: 

The critical angle for this scenario is approximately 38.7°. Since 50° is greater than the critical angle, total internal reflection occurs.

A light ray traveling in a medium with a refractive index of 1.6 strikes a bound

Practice Questions

Q1
A light ray traveling in a medium with a refractive index of 1.6 strikes a boundary with air at an angle of 50°. What will be the outcome?
  1. Total internal reflection occurs.
  2. Light is refracted into the air.
  3. Light is absorbed.
  4. Light is scattered.

Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions

A light ray traveling in a medium with a refractive index of 1.6 strikes a boundary with air at an angle of 50°. What will be the outcome?
  • Step 1: Understand that a light ray travels through different materials, and the refractive index tells us how much the light bends when it enters a new material.
  • Step 2: Identify the refractive index of the first medium, which is given as 1.6.
  • Step 3: Recognize that the light ray is moving from the medium (with a refractive index of 1.6) to air (which has a refractive index of approximately 1.0).
  • Step 4: Calculate the critical angle using the formula: critical angle = arcsin(n2/n1), where n1 is the refractive index of the first medium (1.6) and n2 is the refractive index of air (1.0).
  • Step 5: Plug in the values: critical angle = arcsin(1.0/1.6). This gives us a critical angle of approximately 38.7°.
  • Step 6: Compare the angle of incidence (50°) with the critical angle (38.7°). Since 50° is greater than 38.7°, total internal reflection will occur.
  • Step 7: Conclude that when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, the light will not pass into the air but will reflect back into the medium.
  • Refraction and Total Internal Reflection – Understanding how light behaves at the boundary between two different media, particularly when the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle.
  • Critical Angle Calculation – Calculating the critical angle using the refractive indices of the two media involved.
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