A windshield contains 2.00 mm thick glass with an index of refraction of 1.518 and is coated with a 0.700 μm thick layer of methanol (n=1.329). There is air surrounding the whole system (as the only car not surrounded by Earth’s atmosphere is the one Elon Musk shot into space in 2018). A ray of sunlight passes through the air and impinges on the methanol layer with an angle of 30.0° relative to the normal. a) What is the angle of refraction of the light at the air→methanol interface? b) What is the speed of light in methanol? c) Is there total internal reflection at the methanol→ glass interface? Explain.
Refraction of Light
Refraction is a change in the direction of light rays when they travel from one medium to another. It is the bending of light when it goes through different media.
Angle of Refraction
Light is considered by many scientists to have dual nature, both particle nature and wave nature. First, Particle nature is one in which we consider a stream of packets of energy called photons. Second, Wave nature is considering light as electromagnetic radiation whereas part of it is perceived by humans. Visible spectrum defined by humans lies in a range of 400 to 700 nm wavelengths.
Index of Refraction of Diamond
Diamond, the world’s hardest naturally occurring material and mineral known, is a solid form of the element carbon. The atoms are arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. They exist in a huge variety of colours. Also, they are one of the best conductors of heat and have a very high melting point.
A windshield contains 2.00 mm thick glass with an index of refraction of 1.518 and is coated with a
0.700 μm thick layer of methanol (n=1.329). There is air surrounding the whole system (as the only car
not surrounded by Earth’s atmosphere is the one Elon Musk shot into space in 2018). A ray of sunlight
passes through the air and impinges on the methanol layer with an angle of 30.0° relative to the normal.
a) What is the angle of refraction of the light at the air→methanol interface?
b) What is the
c) Is there total internal reflection at the methanol→ glass interface? Explain.
d) What wavelength(s) of visible light will be only weakly reflected off of the air→ methanol
interface? Note that visible light is from 380-750 nm and that “weakly reflected” means less light
reaches an observer’s eye than would be normally expected.
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