Chapter 4 – Refraction of light

1. A ray of light in air is incident on an air-to-glass boundary at an angle of 30. degrees

with the normal. If the index of refraction of the glass is 1.65, what is the angle of the
refracted ray within the glass with respect to the normal?
a. 56 degrees
b. 46 degrees
c. 30. degrees
d. 18 degrees

Answer – D

2. A beam of light in air is incident at an angle of 35 degrees to the surface of a rectangular

block of clear plastic (n = 1.5). The light beam first passes through the block and re-
emerges from the opposite side into air at what angle to the normal to that surface?
a. 42 degrees
b. 23 degrees
c. 35 degrees
d. 59 degrees

Answer – C

3. Refractive index of the 2nd medium is less than 1, what can you conclude from it?
a. 1st medium is denser than 2nd medium.
b. 2nd medium is denser than 1st medium.
c. Both mediums are equally dense.
d. None of the above.

4. A light ray in air enters and passes through a block of glass. What can be stated with
regard to its speed after it emerges from the block?
a. speed is less than when in glass
b. speed is less than before it entered glass
c. speed is same as that in glass
d. speed is same as that before it entered glass

Answer – D

5. What is the unit of refractive index?

Refractive index is the ratio of velocity of light in two media and hence it is a mere number without any unit.

6. List out the factors on which the refractive index of a medium depends.

Answer: The refractive index of a medium depends on

1) the nature of the medium
2) the colour or wavelength of the incident light
7. What are the law of refraction?

8. Which diagram correctly shows a ray of light passing through a rectangular glass block?

Answer - A

9. A ray of light passes through a window. Which path does it take?

Answer – C
10. A student is determining a quantity called the refractive index of the material of a
transparent block.
Fig. 1.1 shows the ray-tracing sheet that the student is producing. ABCD is the outline of
the transparent block, drawn on the ray-tracing sheet.

Fig 1.1

(a)

(i) Draw the normal NN' to side AB, extended to cross side DC, so that the
normal is
2.0 cm from A. Label the point F where NN' crosses AB. Label the point G
where
NN' crosses DC.

(ii) Draw the line EF at an angle of 30° to the normal and to the left of the
normal NN'.
E is a point outside the block and above AB on the ray-tracing sheet.
(b) Read the following passage, taken from the student’s notebook and
then answer the
questions that follow.

(i) Draw a line joining the positions of P3 and P4. Continue the line until it
meets CD.
Label this point H.

(ii) Measure and record the length a of the line GH.

a = ......................................................

(iii) Draw the line HF.

(iv) Measure and record the length b of the line HF.

b = .................................................. [3]

(c)
Extend the straight line EF through the outline of the block to a point J.
The point J must
be at least 5 cm from the block. The line EJ crosses the line CD. Label this
point K.

(i) Measure and record the length c of the line GK.

c = ......................................................

(ii) Measure and record the length d of the line FK.

d = ......................................................

(iii) Calculate the refractive index n of the material of the block using the
equation
cb
n=
ad
.
n = ..................................................

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