Question

Statement: Diamond glitters because of its high refractive index.
State whether the given statement is true or false
A.True
B.False

Answer 1

Hint: Diamond is a rare, naturally occurring mineral composed of carbon. Diamond is the hardest known natural substance. It is also chemically resistant and has the highest thermal conductivity of any natural material. Diamond also has special optical properties.

Step by step answer: In optics, the refractive index of a material is a dimensionless number that describes how fast light travels through the material. The reflective index of diamond is 2.417. It is a very high value of refractive index.
Due to high refractive index the critical angle of diamond is very small so that most of the light incident on the diamond is totally internally reflected repeatedly and diamond sparkles.
Hence the Statement” Diamond glitters because of its high refractive index” is true.

So,Option (A) is correct.

Additional Information: Refraction takes place when light or any other radiation changes medium. Refractive Index indicates a material’s ability to refract light Refractive Index is a value calculated from the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to that in a second medium of greater density. It has no unit. Refractive index variable is most commonly symbolized by the letter n or n' in descriptive text and mathematical equations.

Note: Students may confuse between reflection and refraction. Both are different phenomena. Reflection can simply be defined as the reflection of light when it strikes the medium on a plane. Refraction can be defined as the process of the shift of light when it passes through a medium leading to the bending of light.