Total Internal Reflection Video Lessons

Concept

Problem: Consider the internal reflection of light at the interface between water and ice.What is the minimum critical angle, in degrees, at which you will get total reflection at this interface? θc= _______Values are for medium: nwater= 1.333 ; nice= 1.309

FREE Expert Solution

Snell's law:

$\overline{){{\mathbf{\eta }}}_{{\mathbf{1}}}{\mathbf{s}}{\mathbf{i}}{\mathbf{n}}{{\mathbf{\theta }}}_{{\mathbf{1}}}{\mathbf{=}}{{\mathbf{\eta }}}_{{\mathbf{2}}}{\mathbf{s}}{\mathbf{i}}{\mathbf{n}}{{\mathbf{\theta }}}_{{\mathbf{2}}}}$

The critical angle is the angle of incidence in the optically denser medium for which the light ray is refracted parallel to the boundary of the medium. That is, the angle of refraction is 90°.

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Problem Details

Consider the internal reflection of light at the interface between water and ice.

What is the minimum critical angle, in degrees, at which you will get total reflection at this interface? θc= _______

Values are for medium: nwater= 1.333 ; nice= 1.309