Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
| Case study: Mirage in deserts |
![]() |
|
To a distant observer, the light appears to be coming from somewhere below the ground. The observer naturally assumes that light is being reflected from the ground, say, by a pool of water near the tall object. Such inverted images of distant tall objects cause an optical illusion to the observer. This phenomenon is called mirage. This type of mirage is especially common in hot deserts. Based on the above facts, answer the following question: |
A diamond is immersed in such a liquid which has its refractive index with respect to air as greater than the refractive index of water with respect to air. Then the critical angle of diamond-liquid interface as compared to critical angle of diamond-water interface will
Options
depend on the nature of the liquid only
decrease
remain the same
increase
Advertisements
Solution
increase
Explanation -
`1_(mu"d") = 1/(sin "C") = (mu_"d")/(mu_1)`, `ω_(mu"d") = 1/(sin "C'") = (mu_"d")/(mu_ω)`
µ1 > µω
Thus C > C'
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Why does the Sun look reddish at sunset or sunrise ?
Describe briefly using a diagram how sunlight is polarised ?
A converging mirror M1, a point source S and a diverging mirror M2 are arranged as shown in figure. The source is placed at a distance of 30 cm from M1. The focal length of each of the mirrors is 20 cm. Consider only the images formed by a maximum of two reflections. It is found that one image is formed on the source itself. (a) Find the distance between the two mirrors. (b) Find the location of the image formed by the single reflection from M2.

Locate the image of the point P as seen by the eye in the figure.

A point source is placed at a depth h below the surface of water (refractive index = μ). (a) Show that light escapes through a circular area on the water surface with its centre directly above the point source. (b) Find the angle subtended by a radius of the area on the source.
A paperweight in the form of a hemisphere of radius 3.0 cm is used to hold down a printed page. An observer looks at the page vertically through the paperweight. At what height above the page will the printed letters near the centre appear to the observer?
Fill in the blank and rewrite the completed statement:
Very fine particles mainly scatter ______ light.
Rainbow is the phenomenon due to ______.
A short pulse of white light is incident from air to a glass slab at normal incidence. After travelling through the slab, the first colour to emerge is ______.
Between the primary and secondary rainbows, there is a dark band known as Alexandar’s dark band. This is because ______.
- light scattered into this region interfere destructively.
- there is no light scattered into this region.
- light is absorbed in this region.
- angle made at the eye by the scattered rays with respect to the incident light of the sun lies between approximately 42° and 50°.

