Light is incident along the normal to face AB of a glass prism of refractive ind

Question

Light is incident along the normal to face AB of a glass prism of refractive index 1.56, as shown in the figure.

Part A
Find alpha_max, the largest value of the angle alpha such that no light is refracted out of the prism at face AC if the prism is immersed in air.
Express your answer in degrees. Ignore any reflections from the surface BC.
alpha_max =50.1 m degrees

i have part A = 50.1 now whats B


Part B
Part B
Find alpha_max, the largest value the angle alpha can have without any light being refracted out of the prism at face AC if the prism is immersed in water (with index of refraction 1.33).
Express your answer in degrees. Ignore any reflections from the surface BC.

Explanation / Answer

The light passes undeviated through face AB When it arrives at face AC, it must make the "critical angle " with the normal there To find the critical angle "c" for this glass:- refractive index = 1 / sin (c) 1.58 = 1 / sin(c) sin(c) = 1 / 1.58 = 0.6329 So angle c = 39.26 degrees. This makes angle alpha = 90 - c = 90 - 39.26 Angle alpha = 50.74 degrees.

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