6.

2 Total internal reflection

 Critical angle, c
• angle of incidence in the medium
of high optical density when the
angle of refraction in the medium
of lower optical density is equal to
90°
• depends on the optical density of
the medium
• as the refractive index of a medium
increases, the critical angle of
medium will decreases.
Activity to determine the relationship between
critical angle and refractive index
As a summary
 Total internal reflection only occurs
when
i. light travels from a medium of high
optical density to a medium of low
optical density
ii.the incident angle is greater than
critical angle.
 Activity to observe
phenomenon total
internal reflection and
determine critical angle of
glass block
Refraction occurs
Critical angle
Total internal reflection
 Activity to observe
phenomenon total
internal reflection in a
water stream
Natural phenomenon
that involve Total
Internal Reflection
 Application that
involve Total
Internal Reflection
Mirror Right angle prism
Which one is the real diamond?
Example 1
Example 2
Diagram 7 shows the structure of a
rear reflector of a bicycle created by a
student. The reflector consists of
identical plastic prisms which have
critical angle of 42° .
(a) What is the meaning
of critical angle?
[ 1 mark]
(b)(i) On Diagram 7,
complete the ray of light
after entering the reflector.
[1 mark]
(ii) Based on the answer in 7(b)(i),
what happens the ray of light after
entering the reflector. Give one
reason for your answer.
[2 marks]
(c) Based on the observation in 7(b)(ii), the
student found that a few modification
should be made so that the reflector reflects
more light. The modification are based on
the following aspects:
(i) The angle of prism used

...........................................................
Reason
...........................................................
[ 2 marks]
(ii) Number of prism used

...........................................................
Reason
...........................................................
[ 2 marks]
(d) Based on the prism in
Diagram 7, calculate the
refractive index of the
plastic prism used.