A light ray passing through a prism having a prism angle of 60^ is observed to deviate by 30^ . What limit can be placed on the refractive index based on this data?

Step-by-step solution

The minimum deviation _ min for a prism is always less than or equal to any observed deviation . Given the prism angle A = 60^ and an observed deviation = 30^ , we have _ min 30^ . The refractive index of the material of the prism is given by: = ( A + _ min 2 ) ( A 2 ) Since _ min 30^ and the sine function is increasing in this interval: ( 60^ + 30^ 2 ) ( 60^ 2 ) 45^ 30^ 1 2 1 2 2