Question

A finely cut diamond sparkles because of its ________ .

• A. hardness
• B. high refractive index
• C. emission of light
• D. absorption of light

Answer 1

The correct option is B high refractive index

Due to the high refractive index of diamond, its critical angle is very small. Due to this, most of the light entering the diamond is trapped inside and suffers multiple total internal reflection. It then, escapes the diamond from different surfaces causing it to sparkle.