9.21 At what angle should a ray of light be incident on the face of a prism of refracting angle 60° so that it just suffers total internal reflection at the other face? The refractive index of the material of the prism is 1.524.

9.17 (a) sin i¢c = 1.44/1.68 which gives i¢c = 59°. Total internal reflection takes place when i > 59° or when r < rmax = 31°. Now, (sin i /sin r max max ) = 1.68 , which gives imax ~ 60°. Thus, all incident rays of angles in the range 0 < i < 60° will suffer total internal reflections in the pipe. (If the length of the pipe is finite, which it is in practice, there will be a lower limit on i determined by the ratio of the diameter to the length of the pipe.) (b) If there is no outer coating, i¢c = sin–1(1/1.68) = 36.5°. Now, i = 90° will have r = 36.5° and i¢ = 53.5° which is greater than i¢c. Thus, all incident rays (in the range 53.5° < i < 90°) will suffer total internal reflections.

9.6 A prism is made of glass of unknown refractive index. A parallel beam of light is incident on a face of the prism. The angle of minimum deviation is measured to be 40°. What is the refractive index of the material of the prism? The refracting angle of the prism is 60°. If the prism is placed in water (refractive index 1.33), predict the new angle of minimum deviation of a parallel beam of light.