Does the refractive index for a given pair of media depend on the angle of incidence
Answers
Refractive index of an object is property of that object. It's totally independent of angle of incidence of light.
Refractive index is measure of how much the speed of light is slowed when passing through a material possessing refractive index other than one,because refractive index is one for air/vacuum in which speed of light is 'c'.
To understand it in a better way,consider the given example:
Suppose u r running in a field which has uniformly distributed hurdles and blockages everywhere,so no matter if u start running in straight motion or in zigzag motion or at any other angle, u will face the same amount of hurdles and blockages everywhere no matter at what angle u start to run. So,this is exactly the same case as with light when incident on a object with uniformly distributed refractive index .
Hope this helps..
The refractive index for a given pair of media is a constant because , according to Snell's law, the ratio of sine of angle of incidence to sine of angle of refraction is constant which is equal to the refractive index.
This means that for any angle of incidence, the angle of refraction will automatically adjust itself to keep a constant ratio.
Amazing isn't it ! ^_^
Hope this helps you !