PhysicsLAB Practice Problems
Sample Refraction Exercises


Directions: On this worksheet you will examine several situations dealing with properties of light as it travels through transparent media.

Question 1  A beam of light traveling in air has an angle of incidence of 37.0º when it enters a medium which has an index of refraction of 1.35.
What is the angle of refraction of the beam inside the medium?
Question 2  If the wavelength of the beam of light in air is 476 nm, then what is its wavelength while traveling through the medium?
Question 3  If part of the beam of light reflects off the surface of the medium, what is the angle between the refracted beam and the reflected beam?
Question 4  Referencing the following image, the angle labeled q3 is the critical angle of the medium. Will the reflected ray shown also be internally reflected when it strikes the upcoming vertical interface or will it be refracted back out into the air?
Question 5  What is the frequency of the light as it is traveling through the medium?


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