Consider three media P , Q and R with refractive indices 1 , 1.25 , and 1.5 , respectively. The medium Q having a thickness of 5 cm is placed between extended media P and R as shown in the figure. An object O is placed at the center of medium Q . If viewed from medium P near the normal direction, the apparent depth of O is h₁ . For similar observation from medium R , the apparent depth is h₂ . The value of |h₁-h₂| ,

Step-by-step solution

The object O is placed at the center of medium Q , which has a thickness of 5 cm . Therefore, the actual depth of the object from both the P-Q interface and the Q-R interface is: d = 5 2 = 2.5 cm The formula for apparent depth when viewed from a medium of refractive index n_ observer into a medium of refractive index n_ object is given by: h_ app = d n_ observer n_ object When viewed from medium P ( n_P = 1 ), the apparent depth h₁ of the object in medium Q ( n_Q = 1.25 ) is: h₁ = 2.5 n_P n_Q = 2.5 1 1.25 = 2.5 4 5