Question

A beam of light is incident on a glass plate, n =1.7, and the reflected ray is completely polarized. What is the angle of refraction, in degrees, for the beam?

Answer 1

Given

A beam of light is incident on a glass plate, n =1.7, and the reflected ray is completely polarized.

To find

The angle of refraction

Explanation

Since the refleted ray is completely polarised.

$\begin{gathered} tani=n \\ \Rightarrow i=tan^{-1}(1.7) \\ \Rightarrow i=59.53^o \end{gathered}$

By Snell's law,

$\begin{gathered} \frac{sini}{sinr}=n \\ \Rightarrow\frac{sin59.53^o}{sinr}=1.7 \\ \Rightarrow sinr=0.506 \\ \Rightarrow r=30.39^o \end{gathered}$

Conclusion

The angle of refraction is

$30.39^o$