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.

Answered by Kelvin C. Physics tutor

1934 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

Explain why an object moving around a circle is said to be accelerating when it has no resultant force acting upon it.


A pellet of mass 8.8 g embeds itself in a wooden block of 450 g which is suspended by a light in-extensible string. After the collision the block reaches a max height of 0.63 m. Calculate the initial velocity of the pellet.


Calculate the resistance of a uniform wire of diameter 0.5mm, length 2m and resistivity 1.7x10^-8Ωm.


Why is an object moving in a circle at a constant speed said to be accelerating?


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 2013–2024

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy