Question

Refractive index of kerosene oil is 1.44 and that of water is 1.33. A ray of light enters from kerosene oil to water. Where would light ray bend and why?

Answer 1

Hint: In order to answer the question, firstly we should check whether the given substance is more denser than the other. And according to the optics, light bends away from normal when it travels from denser to rarer medium.

Complete step by step solution:
According to the refractive index of kerosene oil and of water, Kerosene oil is optically more denser than the water. And according to optical science, when light travels from optically denser medium to an optically rarer medium, the light ray moves or bends away from normal due to refraction, here normal is the perpendicular drawn to the surface of the mediums at the point where the light leaves one medium and enters the other medium.
Its because, when a ray of light goes from a denser medium to rarer medium, the speed of ray of light increases or it speeds up whereas when a ray of light goes from a rarer medium to denser medium, the speed of ray of light decreases or it slows down. So, we can say that a ray of light travels from a denser medium to a rarer medium, speeds up and bends away from the normal but when a ray of light travelling from a rarer medium to a denser medium slows down and bends towards the normal.

Note:
Specifically, the higher the frequency of the light, the more it bends, it essentially experiences a higher index of refraction when its frequency is higher. This phenomenon is most evident when white light is shone through a refracting object. The most iconic example of this is white light through a prism.