An oil film floats on a water surface.The indices of refraction for water and oil,respectively,are 1.333 and 1.466.If a ray of light is incident on the air-to-oil surface at an angle of 40.0° with the normal,what is the angle of the refracted ray in the water?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Using Snell's Law at both interfaces, first calculate the angle of refraction in the oil using n_air * sin(40°) = n_oil * sin(θ_oil). Then, use Snell's Law again at the oil-water interface: n_oil * sin(θ_oil) = n_water * sin(θ_water). Solving these gives θ_water ≈ 28.8°.

An Oil Film Floats on a Water Surface