Question

The absolute refractive index of diamond, crown glass, water and air are $2.42$, $1.52$,$1.33$ and $1.00029$ respectively. Which is optically denser between

a. crown glass and water?

Answer 1

1. The absolute refractive index is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum and in the given medium.
2. The absolute refractive index should never be less than 1.
3. The material with a higher refractive index is termed an optically denser medium.
4. Crown glass has a higher refractive index than water. The speed of light in the crown glass is lower than the speed of light in water.

Hence, crown glass is optically denser than water.