Light passes from air into water at an angle of incidence of 40.8°. Determine the angle of refraction in the water.

Answer 1

The index of refraction is defined as u = sin I / sin r, where I is the angle of incidence and r the refraction angle. This makes the approximation that u of air is 1.00. Solve for r as follows.

r = arcsin ( I / u) = arcsin (0.653 / 1.333) = 29.3 degrees.