If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

Main content

Course: MCAT > Unit 3

Lesson 1: Foundation 4: Physical and chemical principles

Light and optics: An experiment with light rays and a prism

Problem

A student is conducting an experiment to explore the angles made by reflected and refracted light. To do this the student uses a laser to fire a ray of light toward a rectangular prism that has an index of refraction of np. The laser light first strikes the surface of the prism at an angle θ1. Some of the light is reflected off of the front diagonal surface of the prism. The rest of the light is refracted through the prism at an angle θ3. This refracted light makes its way to the backside of the prism at an angle θ4 and is refracted once more from the prism into the air at an angle of θ5. This process is represented in the diagram below. Dotted lines are not part of the experiment and are shown in the diagram for reference purposes only. The right angle symbol is used to represent angles of 90. Angles shown in the diagram are not necessarily drawn exactly to proportion.
What is the value of angle θ2?
Choose 1 answer: