A student investigates the refraction of light using glass prisms.
A ray of light in air is incident on the surface of a triangular glass prism. At the point of incidence, a normal line is drawn perpendicular to the prism boundary. Define the following angles:
Identify which of these angles is the angle of incidence and which is the angle of refraction.
The refractive index of a specific type of glass is 1.521.521.52. A ray of light travels from inside this glass block out into the air (refractive index 1.001.001.00). The angle of incidence at the glass-air boundary is 28.0∘28.0^\circ28.0∘.
Calculate the angle of refraction in the air. Give your answer to one decimal place.
A beam containing both red and blue light is incident on the prism.
(i) State which color, red or blue, experiences a larger refractive index in glass. (ii) Describe how the path of the red light inside the prism differs from the path of the blue light.
216 exam-style questions on CIE IGCSE Physics 3.2 Light, covering 3.2.1a Reflection of light, 3.2.1b Images in a plane mirror, 3.2.2 Refraction of light, 3.2.2a Refraction of light, 3.2.2b Total internal reflection, 3.2.2c Refractive index and critical angle, 3.2.2d Optical fibres, 3.2.3a Converging and diverging lenses, 3.2.3b Ray diagrams and the nature of images, 3.2.3c Virtual images and the magnifying glass, 3.2.3d Correcting long-sightedness and short-sightedness, and 3.2.4 Dispersion of light. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.