Question

Sort the following media in ascending order based on their absolute refractive index.

• A. Vacuum
• B. Air
• C. Human eye lens
• D. Water
• E. Crown glass

Answer 1

The refractive index of any medium can be calculated as the ratio of speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in the medium. The speed of light is the maximum in vacuum i.e. $3\times {10}^8{\text{m s}}^{-1}$. The absolute refractive indices of vacuum, air, water, human eye lens, and crown glass are $1,1.00029,1.33,1.4$ and $1.54$ respectively.