DivisionofTechnicalEducationandManagementStudies

AppliedEngineeringScience ESC103

PassExamQuestion Spring2009
Refraction
Fall2002

a) A Light is incident on an equilateral crown glass prism at

a 45.0
o
angle to one face. Calculate the angle which light
emerges from the opposite face.
Assume that n
glass
=1.52.

b) If the space to the right prism is filled with oil of
refractive index 1.6, what angle would the ray leave the glass/oil interface?

c) What angle of incidence would cause the ray to be total internally refracted

Summer2003

The diagram to the right shows a ray of light striking the

surface of oil at an angle of incidence of 65
o
. The light
passes through oil and then through a slab of glass fixed at
an angle of 45
o
to the horizontal.
a) Given that the refractive index of oil is 1.4 and that
of glass is 1.55, determine the path of the light
takes as it emerges through the glass.
b) What incident angle would cause the ray to just be totally internally reflected?


Spring2005

Figure shows a prism being used as a colour separator.
An incident beam containing a combination of red and
blue light is incident on face AB of the separator as
shown. Calculate the following:
(i) The incident angle
blue
that would cause the blue
light to strike the face AC at the critical angle.

(ii) The incident angle
red
that would cause the red light to strike the face AC at the critical
angle.
(iii) State the range of incident angle
blue
that would cause the blue light to be always
totally internal reflected when it strikes face AC.
(iv) State the range of incident angle
red
that would cause the red light to be always totally
internal reflected when it strikes face AC.
(v) Hence find that range of angle that would cause the blue light and the red light to
become separated.

Fall2006

The diagram shows a ray light entering the surface of oil at an unknown angle of incidence
o
.
The light passes through the oil, strikes and enters the glass and is just totally internally
reflected at the glass/air boundary.
a. Calculate the critical at the glass air boundary.
b. Determine the path the light takes as it passes
through the different media stating clearly the
incident angle .
c. If the area below the glass was occupied by
water, determine the path the light would take
with an incident angle of 45
o

Refractive index of Oil n
oil
= 1.43
Refractive index of Glass n
glass
= 1.65
Refractive index of water n
water
= 1.55









Colour Wavelength Refractive index
Red light

red

680 nanometers
n
red
1.500
Blue light

blue
480 nanometers
n
blue

1.520


Fall2004

Fig 2 shows a corner of a rectangular piece of glass ABC. If a
ray of light strikes the glass on side AB enters the glass,
calculate the minimum angle of incidence that would cause
the ray to be totally internally reflected at surface BC.
The refractive index of the glass n
g
= 4/3


Fall2006

a) A penny resting head up on a glass block 2.5cm thick when viewed from above
produces an image 3.25 cm below the top surface of the glass block. Which side of the
penny will be visible in the image and what is the refractive index of the glass?


b) The diagram shows a glass rod partially immersed in a
liquid of refractive index 1.24. If the glass rod has a
refractive index of 1.66 and a ray of light traveling
vertically downwards strikes the glass at an angle of
incident of 40o. Calculate the following:
i) The angle at which the incident ray will
eventually enter the liquid.
ii) What angle of incidence will cause the ray to be
just totally internally reflected at the glass liquid
boundary? What can you say about the angle
that will cause total internal refraction?

Spring2008

The figure shows an inverted glass prism on which one
side has oil and the other water.
a) Determine the path a ray of light would take if
it was incident at an angle of 60
o
to the oil.
b) Calculate what incident angle would cause the
ray to be totally internally refracted at the
glass/water face?