1.1 The Propagation of Light

Speed of light slowing inside a medium, the index of refraction that follows from it, and the ray, wave, and photon pictures of how light travels.

University Physics Volume 3, 1.1 The Propagation of Light

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7 exercises

1.1 Exercise 1

the table shows that ethanol and fresh water have very similar indices of refraction. By what percentage do the speeds of light in these liquids differ?

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1.1 Exercise 2

Under what conditions can light be modeled like a ray? Like a wave?

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1.1 Exercise 4

Does the fact that the light flash from lightning reaches you before its sound prove that the speed of light is extremely large or simply that it is greater than the speed of sound? Discuss how you could use this effect to get an estimate of the speed of light.

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1.1 Exercise 7

What is the speed of light in air? In crown glass?

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1.1 Exercise 9

In what substance in the table is the speed of light $2.290 \times 10^{8} \text{m}/\text{s}?$

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1.1 Exercise 11

Components of some computers communicate with each other through optical fibers having an index of refraction $n = 1.55 .$ What time in nanoseconds is required for a signal to travel 0.200 m through such a fiber?

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1.1 Exercise 13

How far does light travel underwater during a time interval of $1.50 \times 10^{−6} \text{s}$ ?

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