Question

Write the mathematical equation describing Snell's law.

Answer 1

Step 1:

• Snell's law states that for light rays traveling through a pair of the medium in contact, the ratio of sine angle of the incident to sine angle of refraction is constant.
• Therefore, $\frac{\sin i}{\sin r}=Cons\tan t$
• The constant in the above equation refers to the refractive index of the second medium relative to the first medium. We can write it as $n_{21}$.

Step 2:

Hence, the mathematical equation of this law (Snell's Law) can be written as,

$$\begin{gathered} \frac{\sin i}{\sin r}=n_{21} \\ \Rightarrow \frac{\sin i}{\sin r}=\frac{n_2}{n_1} \end{gathered}$$