If the refractive index of a medium is greater than 1, what happens to the speed of light in that medium?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
If the refractive index of a medium is greater than 1, what happens to the speed of light in that medium?
It increases
It decreases
It remains the same
It becomes infinite
The speed of light in a medium is given by v = c/n, where n is the refractive index. If n > 1, then v < c, meaning the speed decreases.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: If the refractive index of a medium is greater than 1, what happens to the speed of light in that medium?
Solution: The speed of light in a medium is given by v = c/n, where n is the refractive index. If n > 1, then v < c, meaning the speed decreases.
Steps: 7
Step 1: Understand that the speed of light in a vacuum is the fastest speed possible, denoted as 'c'.
Step 2: Know that when light travels through different materials (mediums), its speed can change.
Step 3: Learn about the refractive index, denoted as 'n'. It is a number that tells us how much the speed of light decreases in a medium compared to a vacuum.
Step 4: If the refractive index 'n' is greater than 1 (n > 1), it means that light travels slower in that medium than in a vacuum.
Step 5: Use the formula v = c/n to find the speed of light in the medium, where 'v' is the speed of light in the medium.
Step 6: Since 'n' is greater than 1, when you divide 'c' by a number greater than 1, the result 'v' will be less than 'c'.
Step 7: Conclude that if the refractive index is greater than 1, the speed of light in that medium decreases.
