To ensure that the deviation of the mean ray is zero, a flint glass prism and a crown glass prism are to be combined. For the mean ray, the refractive indices of the flint and crown glasses are 1.620 and 1.518 , respectively. Determine the refracting angle of the crown prism if the flint prism has a refracting angle of 6.0^ .

Step-by-step solution

For a combination of prisms to produce zero deviation for the mean ray, the net deviation must be zero. The deviation produced by a thin prism is given by = ( - 1)A . The condition for zero deviation is: _c = _f ( _c - 1)A_c = ( _f - 1)A_f Given: _c = 1.518 _f = 1.620 A_f = 6.0^ Substituting the given values into the condition: (1.518 - 1)A_c = (1.620 - 1) 6.0^ 0.518 A_c = 0.620 6.0^ 0.518 A_c = 3.72^ A_c = 3.72^ 0.518 A_c 7.18^ Rounding to one decimal place, we get 7.2^ .