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When light is incident on an interface between two materials, the angle of the refracted ray depends on the wavelength, but the angle of the reflected ray does not. Why should this be?

Short Answer

Expert verified

This is true because refraction occurs in two different medium while reflection occurs in the same medium.

Step by step solution

01

Fermat’s principle statement

Fermat's principle states that the path taken by a ray between two given points is the path that can be traveled in the least time.

02

Different medium in refraction, while one medium in reflection

As per Fermat鈥檚 principle, the reflected beam will always be refracted at the same angle it hit the surface because then it will propagate in the same material it came from i.e., its propagation speed remains the same. When the ray enters the second surface, it will get refracted differently for each wavelength because the way different wavelengths interact with dipoles of the material is itself different. Lower wavelengths i.e., higher frequencies interact with dipoles weaker and the refractive index is lower.

Therefore, when light is incident on an interface between two materials, the angle of the refracted ray depends on the wavelength, but the angle of the reflected ray does not.

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