Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Light travels through air at 300 million ms−1. On entering water it slows down to 225 million ms−1. Calculate the refractive index of water.
Solution
Here, mediums 1 and 2 are air and water, respectively.
Now,
Refractive index of water = Speed of light in air / Speed of light in water
= 300 million ms−1 / 225 million ms−1
= 1.33
Therefore, refractive index of water is 1.33.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
The velocity of light in a medium is 1.5 x 108 m/s. What is the refractive index of the medium with respect to air, if the velocity in air is 3 x 108 m/s?
You are given kerosene, turpentine and water. In which of these does the light travel fastest? Use the information given in Table.
| Material medium |
Refractive index | Material medium | Refractive index |
| Air | 1.0003 | Canada Balsam | 1.53 |
| Ice | 1.31 | – | – |
| Water | 1.33 | Rock salt | 1.54 |
| Alcohol | 1.36 | – | – |
| Kerosene | 1.44 | Carbon disulphide | 1.63 |
| Fused quartz |
1.46 | Dense flint glass |
1.65 |
| Turpentine oil | 1.47 | Ruby | 1.71 |
| Benzene | 1.50 | Sapphire | 1.77 |
| Crown glass |
1.52 | Diamond | 2.42 |
The speed of light in water is 2.25 × 108 m/s. If the speed of light in vacuum be 3 × 108 m/s, calculate the refractive index of water.
The refractive index of glass for light going from air to glass is .
The refractive index for light going from glass to air will be:
(a) `1/3`
(b) `4/5`
(c) `4/6`
(d) `5/2`
The refractive indexes of four substances P, Q, R and S are 1.77, 1.50, 2.42 and 1.31 respectively. When light travelling in air is incident on these substances at equal angles, the angle of refraction will be the maximum in:
(a) substance P
(b) substance Q
(c) substance R
(d) substance S
Define the term absolute refractive index. The absolute refractive index of diamond is 2.42. What is the meaning of this statement? Refractive indices of media A, B C and D are given below:
|
Media |
Refractive index |
|
A |
1.33 |
|
B |
1.44 |
|
C |
1.52 |
|
D |
1.65 |
In which of these four media is the speed of light (i) minimum and (ii) maximum ?
Find the refractive index of medium C with respect to medium B.
Solve the example.
If the absolute refractive indices of glass and water are 3/2 and 4/3 respectively, what is the refractive index of glass with respect to water?
Refractive index of diamond with respect to glass is 1.6 and absolute refractive index of glass is 1.5. Find out the absolute refractive index of diamond.
Absolute refractive indices of diamond and water are 2.42 and 1.33 respectively. Find the value of refractive index of water w.r.t. diamond.
- Explain why the refractive index of any material with respect to air is always greater 1.
- In the figure below a light ray travels from air into the semi-circular plastic block. Give a reason why the ray does not deviate at the semi-circular boundary of the plastic block.
- Complete the ray diagram of the above scenario when the light ray comes out of the plastic block from the top flat end.
