You have a layer of glass with a refractive index of 1.5 and the glass is surrounded by air. A light ray shines into the glass and Total Internal Reflection occurs at the glass-air boundary. What is the critical angle?

This question tests your knowledge of Snell's law, Total Internal Reflection (TIR) and the fact that the refractive index of air is 1 (which should be memorised as it is in the exam). The critical angle is the angle at which TIR occurs, which can be calculated with the equation from Snell's law that relates angle of incident and refraction with the two refractive indices. The trick here is to use the angle of refraction as 90 degrees to apply the condition of TIR.

KC
Answered by Kelvin C. Physics tutor

2789 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

Explain how a standing wave is formed


what would be the mass required to keep an object with a mass of 250kg orbiting at a constant distance of 100km with a linear velocity of 100m/s?


An electrical heater supplies 500J of heat energy to a copper cylinder of mass 32.4g Find the increase in temperature of the cylinder. (Specific heat capacity of copper = 385 J*kg^-1*Celsius^-1


How can a car be changing velocity yet not changing speed?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences