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Physics 11

Name:_______________________ Blk: _____


Lesson 4 - The Speed of Light

The speed limit for the universe appears to be the speed of light in a vacuum, which is
__________________________________________________________________

In air, the speed of light is slightly less, but the difference does not appear until the fourth digit
past the decimal point. For most purposes, the speed of light in a vacuum or in air can be taken
to be _____________________________

Justhowfastisthespeedoflight? Ifaplanetravelsatthespeedofsound,itisconsideredtobe
movingveryfast. Butthespeedofsoundis_____________. Togetaroughideaofhowthis
compareswiththespeedoflight,rounditoffto3x10 2m/s.Theratioofspeedoflighttothespeedof
soundisapproximately
_______________________

The speed of light is about one million times the speed of sound!Totravelthelengthofatypical
classroom,lightwouldtakeonlyabout107s,or0.0000001s.Lightfromthemoontakes1.3sto
reachus,andlightfromthesuntakesabout8.3mintotraveltoearth!
Exercises
1. Iflighttravelsamilliontimesasfastassound,whydoesthesoundfromyourtelevisionset
appeartobe'synchronized'withthepictureyousee?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. Ifabeamoflightcouldbemadetocircletheearth(usingaseriesofmirrors),howlong
wouldittakethelighttocircletheglobeiftheearth'scircumferenceis4.0x107m?Also,how
manytimescouldthebeamoflightcircletheearthinonesecond?

3. Thedistancelighttravelsinoneyeariscalledalightyear.Howmanykilometresaretherein
onelightyear?

4. Whatisthewavelengthofa32MHzcellphonesignal?


Snells Law of Refraction
Refraction is the __________________________ that takes place at __________________________ between two
materials having different indices of refraction. Refraction is due to
________________________________________________________________ as it passes from one medium to another.

The boundary ________________________________________________________________________________

At a boundary, an incident ray can undergo _______________________________ or, in certain situations,


____________________________________________

No bending of the incident ray occurs if it strikes the boundary along the normal.

The ____________________________ is the ray approaching the


boundary. It strikes the boundary at the point of incidence. The _________________________ is the ray
leaving the boundary through the second medium.

The reflected ray is the ray undergoing partial (or total) reflection at the boundary.

The normal is a construction line drawn perpendicular to the boundary at the point of
incidence.

The angle of incidence ( i ) is ______________________________________________________________________________

The angle of reflection ( r ) is ______________________________________________________________________________

The angle of refraction ( R ) is _______________________________________________________________________________

Both Reflection and Refraction occur when the light is incident on a more refractive medium.
Whenever light (or any wave) passes from one medium to another medium it may be
______________________________ from its original path. A Dutch mathematician Willebrord Snell (1591-
1626) discovered that there is an exact relationship between the angle of incidence and the
angle of refraction for light traveling from one medium into another. This relationship is:
sin i
n
sin r
Where n is a constant for a particular medium and is called the ___________________________________.
The index of refraction is measured relative to a vacuum, which is assigned 1.

Examples of indices of refraction:

Water (at 20C) 1.333


Diamond 2.42
Glass 1.5-1.9 (depends upon composition)
Air 1.00029
Ethanol 1.36
Quartz Crystal 1.54

Note: the index of refraction depends upon the color of light used and on the purity,
temperature and composition of the material into which the light is traveling.

Snells Law can be expanded for any situation as follows:


sin i nr
ni sin i nr sin r or
sin r ni
Example1:Lightrayshitaquartzcrystalatanangleofincidenceof25fromair.
Determinetheangleofrefraction?

Example2:Arayoflighttravelingthroughairisincidentuponasheetofcrownglassatan
angleof30.00.Whatistheangleofreflection?

Example3: A light wave traveling in air (refractive index of 1.0) passes into the water in a
swimming pool at an angle of 35 to the normal. Calculate the direction of the light in the
water, given that the refractive index of water is 1.4.

Applying Concepts: Pg. 363 #5, 9 Problems: Pg. 364 #2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 13 ApplicationsPg.365#20,23
Physics 11
Name:_______________________ Blk: _________
Snells Law and Critical Angles Assignement
1. Light entering a block of glass at an angle of incidence of 18.5 leaves the boundary between
the air and the glass at an angle of 12.0. What is the index of refraction of this type of glass?
2. Light is incident on diamond at an angle of 10.0. At what angle will it refract?
3. A beam of light is incident on a sheet of glass in a window at an angle of 30. Describe exactly
what path the light beam will take (a) as it enters the glass and (b) as it leaves the other side
of the glass. Assume n=1.500.
4. Light traveling in air has an angle of incidence of 40 as in passes into diamond. What is the
refracted angle in the diamond?
5. A transparent material has a refractive index of 1.27. What is the angle of incidence in air when
the angle of refraction in the substance is 43?
6. What is the index of refraction of a material if the angle of incidence in air is 50 and the angle
of refraction in the material is 40?
7. A ray of light passes from water into carbon disulphide (n=1.63) with an angle of incidence of
30. What is the angle of refraction in the carbon disulphide?
8. Using Snells Law with n = 1.33 for water and n = 2.42 for diamond determine the angle of
refraction in the diamond for the following situation.

53 water
Diamond
9. Using Snells Law with n = 1.33 for water and n = 2.42 for diamond determine the angle of
refraction in the water for the following situation.

63 diamond
Water
10. a) Green light traveling in air has an angle of incidence of 50 as it passes into a certain glass.
The refracted angle in the glass is 33. What is the refractive index for this type of glass?
b) If the frequency of green light is 5.36 x 1014 Hz, what is the wavelength of green light in
space?
c) What is then the wavelength of this green light in the glass?
11. Calculate the critical angle for diamond.
12. What is the critical angle for a glass that has an index of refraction of 1.500?
13. A certain material has a critical angle of 52.0. What is its index of refraction?
14. Red light having a wavelength of 7.0 x 10-7 m travels at 3.00 x 108 m/s in space. What is the
frequency of this color?

15. a) A certain blue light has a frequency of 6.8 x 1014 s-1. Its wavelength in water is 3.3 x 10-7 m.
What is the speed of this blue light in water?

b) What will be the wavelength of the same blue light in space?

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