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Q.What is the speed of light in a denser medium of polarising angle 30∘30^\circ?

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2019Subjective· 1mImportance★★★★★est
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We use Brewster's Law, interpreting the polarizing angle to find the refractive index of the denser medium, and then use the definition of refractive index to calculate the speed of light. The speed of light in the denser medium is 1.732×108 m/s\boxed{1.732 \times 10^8 \, \text{m/s}}.

Concept and Intuition

When unpolarized light is incident on the interface between two transparent media, the reflected light is completely plane-polarized if the angle of incidence is equal to the polarizing angle, also known as Brewster's angle (ipi_p). At this specific angle, the reflected ray and the refracted ray are perpendicular to each other.

Brewster's Law states the relationship between the polarizing angle (ipi_p) and the refractive index (nn) of the denser medium relative to the rarer medium:

tan⁡ip=n\tan i_p = n

This formula is typically applied when light travels from a rarer medium (like air, with n≈1n \approx 1) to a denser medium (with n>1n > 1). For a denser medium, its refractive index nn must be greater than 1. This implies that tan⁡ip\tan i_p must be greater than 1, which means the polarizing angle ipi_p must be greater than 45∘45^\circ.

Watch out

If a problem states a "denser medium" but gives a polarizing angle ip<45∘i_p < 45^\circ (like 30∘30^\circ in this question), using n=tan⁡ipn = \tan i_p would result in n<1n < 1. A refractive index less than 1 implies the medium is optically rarer than the incident medium (e.g., air), which contradicts the "denser medium" description. In such cases, it is conventionally understood that the refractive index of the denser medium is given by n=cot⁡ipn = \cot i_p. This interpretation ensures that n>1n > 1 for ip<45∘i_p < 45^\circ, making the problem physically consistent with a denser medium. This is equivalent to considering the polarizing angle for light travelling from the denser medium to the rarer medium.

Once the refractive index (nn) of the medium is determined, the speed of light (vv) in that medium can be found using the fundamental definition of refractive index:

The refractive index nn of a medium is the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum (cc) to the speed of light in the medium (vv):

n=cvn = \frac{c}{v}

The speed of light in vacuum, cc, is approximately 3×108 m/s3 \times 10^8 \, \text{m/s}.

Step-by-step Solution

  1. Identify the given information and the goal.

    We are given the polarizing angle ip=30∘i_p = 30^\circ.

    We need to find the speed of light in the denser medium, vv.

  2. Determine the refractive index of the denser medium. …

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