A light ray is passing through water towards the boundary with a transparent solid at an angle of

Question

A light ray is passing through water towards the boundary with a transparent solid at an angle of 56.4”. Thelight refracts into the solid at an angle of refraction of 42.1". Determine the index of refraction of the unknownsolid.

Answer 1

The equation to use is n_w sin θ_w = n_s sin θ_s, where n_w and n_s are the indices of refraction for water and the solid respectively; θ_w and θ_s are the angles for water and the solid respectively.

Solving for n_s yields n_s = n_w sin θ_w / sin θ_s.

I got n_s = 1.65 ( using 1.33 for the index of refraction of water)