Chapter 9: Problem 25

The speed of light in a certain kind of glass is exactly the same as the speed of light in benzene-a liquid. Describe what happens when light passes from benzene into this glass, and vice versa.

Short Answer

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Answer: When light passes from benzene into the certain kind of glass, or vice versa, it will not change direction since the speed of light remains the same in both media. This is due to the fact that the angles of incidence and refraction are equal, as determined by Snell's law, which leads to no bending of the light at the interface of the two media.

Step by step solution

State the problem

We are given that the speed of light is the same in benzene and a certain kind of glass. We need to describe what happens when light passes from benzene into the glass, and from the glass into benzene.

Understand the phenomenon of refraction

Refraction is the phenomenon where light waves change direction when they pass from one medium to another, due to the change in speed of light in different media. The angle of incidence and the angle of refraction (the angles formed between the light ray and the normal to the surface) are related by Snell's law, which is given by: n1 * sin(θ1) = n2 * sin(θ2) where n1 and n2 are the indices of refraction for the first and second media, and θ1 and θ2 are the incident and refracted angles, respectively.

Determine the indices of refraction for both media

The index of refraction (n) of a medium is given by the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum (c) to the speed of light in the medium (v): n = c / v Since the speed of light is the same in both the glass and benzene, their indices of refraction will be the same.

Apply Snell's law to the situation

Since the indices of refraction for benzene and the glass are equal, Snell's law for this scenario becomes: n * sin(θ1) = n * sin(θ2) We can cancel out the indices of refraction, and we are left with: sin(θ1) = sin(θ2) This means that the angles of incidence and refraction will be equal. In other words, when light passes from benzene into the glass, or vice versa, the angles of incidence and refraction will be the same.

Conclude the description of the phenomenon

When light passes from benzene into the certain kind of glass, or vice versa, it will not change direction since the speed of light remains the same in both media. This is due to the fact that the angles of incidence and refraction are equal, as determined by Snell's law, which leads to no bending of the light at the interface of the two media.

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The speed of light in a certain kind of glass is exactly the same as the speed of light in benzene-a liquid. Describe what happens when light passes from benzene into this glass, and vice versa.

Short Answer

Step by step solution

State the problem

Understand the phenomenon of refraction

Determine the indices of refraction for both media

Apply Snell's law to the situation

Conclude the description of the phenomenon

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