What is Relative Refractive index?
Answers
Relative refractive index is the ratio of speed of light in one object to speed of light in different object.
To find relative refractive index,
Divide speed of light in medium 1(c) by speed of light in medium 2 (v)
n = c/v
Absolute refractive index is speed of light in vaccum to speed of light in any other medium.
It can also be defined as the measure of how much a ray of light can bend after entering into one medium from another.
Refractive index is a dimensionless quantity.
Another formula for finding refractive index is
sin i / sin r = n
sin i = angle of incidence
sin r = angle of refraction
n = refractive index
The higher the refractive index, the lower the speed of light.
Refractive index of some materials
Air - 1.0
Water - 1.3
Diamond - 2.42
Ethanol - 1.35
Answer:
Speed of light in medium 1 / Speed of light in medium 2