Chapter 72 of 2364 min read

Total internal reflection and prisms

Why this is asked: Total internal reflection needs two conditions together: light going from a denser to a rarer medium, and the angle of incidence exceeding the critical angle (sin C = 1/n) — higher refractive index gives a smaller critical angle, which is why diamond traps light so well.

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Test yourself

•A light ray enters through a right-angled prism at point $P$ with the angle of incidence $3 0^{\circ}$ as shown in the figure. It travels through the prism parallel to its base $B C$ and emerges along the face $A C$ . The refractive index of the prism is:

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