Refraction – Snell’s Law – Critical Angles

When a ray of light passes from a medium into a less dense medium (with a smaller index of refraction),
the refracted ray bends away from the normal. At a particular angle of incidence, the angle of refraction is
90°, and the refracted ray points along the surface of the medium.

A critical angle is the angle of incidence that causes the refracted ray to point along the surface of the
interface ( R  90 °).

Critical Angle 

Total Internal Reflection 

Total internal reflection is the effect that occurs when an angle
of incidence exceeds the critical angle. When this happens,
there is no refracted ray, and all of the incident light is reflected
back into the medium it came from following the law of
reflection.

Example: Light travels from water to air. The angle of incidence which
results in a refracted angle of 90° is called the critical angle.
 Any angle greater than the critical angle will result in total internal reflection.

sin 1 v1 1 n2
Formulas to remember:   
sin  2 v2 2 n1
Examples:

1. What is the critical angle for an air-Lucite interface if the index of refraction of Lucite is 1.51?

2. What is the critical angle for a water-Lucite interface if the index of refraction for water is 1.33 and of Lucite is
1.51?

3. The critical angle for a certain liquid-air interface is 51.2º. What is the index of refraction of the liquid?

Critical Angle Problems:

1. What is the critical angle for an air-glass interface if the index of refraction of glass is 1.50? (41.8⁰)

2. What is the critical angle for a water-Lucite interface if the index of refraction of water is 1.33 and of Lucite is
1.51? (61.8⁰)
3. The critical angle for a certain liquid-air interface is 48.8⁰. What is the index of refraction of the liquid? (1.33)

4. The speed of light in a clear liquid is 0.75c. What is the critical angle of the liquid? (49⁰)

5. A laser beam strikes the top surface of a block of glass at an angle θ 1

and the refracted beam undergoes total internal reflection at the left
vertical surface of the block as shown in the diagram. The index of
refraction of the glass is 1.52.

a) If the block is surrounded by air, find the maximum value of θ1.

b) If the block is surrounded by water (n=1.33), find the maximum value of θ1.

6. In the following diagram, the index of refraction for ice is 1.31 and the index of refraction for oil is 1.45. The
index of this type of glass is 1.52.

a) If the angle θ1 of the incident ray is 36°, find the angle θ4 of the emergent ray.

b) If total internal reflection occurs at the interface between the ice and air, find the critical angle of the incident ray.