A student performs a refraction experiment with a semicircular transparent block. In the first part of the experiment, they measure the angle α\alphaα between the normal to the flat surface ABABAB of the block and the refracted ray. They record:
α=36∘ \alpha = 36^\circ α=36∘In the second part of the experiment, they position the block and trace a line CFCFCF representing the emergent ray from the flat surface ABABAB. They measure the acute angle β\betaβ between the flat edge ABABAB and the line CFCFCF as:
β=53∘ \beta = 53^\circ β=53∘Calculate the angle θ\thetaθ between the line CFCFCF and the normal to the flat edge ABABAB.
The student suggests that angle α\alphaα should be equal to angle θ\thetaθ. State whether these experimental results support this suggestion and justify your answer.
State two practical precautions that the student should take when placing and viewing pins in this ray-trace experiment to ensure accurate results.
100 exam-style questions on CIE IGCSE Physics 3.2.2 Refraction of light. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.