Question

The speed of light in an unknown medium is measured to be 2.76 x 108 m/s. What is the index of refraction of the medium

Answer 1

Answer:

The refractive index can be calculated using the following equation:

n

=

c

v

where

v

represents the speed of light in a particular medium.

c

is the speed of light in vacuum which equals to

3

×

10

8

m

s

n

is the refractive index of the medium.

When substituting the values in the above equation:

n

=

c

v

=

3

×

10

8

m

s

2.76

×

10

8

m

s

=

1.09

.

Thus, the index of refraction of the medium is

1.09

.

Answer 2

Answer:

The refractive index of unknown medium is 1.087.

Explanation:

Given: speed of light in unknown medium, $v=2.76*10^{8}ms^{-1}$

The refractive index of a medium is the ratio of of velocity of light in vacuum to  velocity of light in that medium. It is a dimensionless number.

Therefore,   $n=\frac{c}{v}$

where $c=3*10^{8}ms^{-1}$

So, the refractive index of unknown medium:

  $n=\frac{3*10^{8}ms^{-1}}{2.76*10^{8}ms^{-1}}$

∴   $n=1.087$

Therefore, the refractive index is 1.087.