CALCULATION OF ANGLE OF INCIDENCE

In Physics, the angle of incidence can be depicted as the angle formed in between a ray propagated
on a surface and the line normal to the point of occurrence on the same surface. When a ray of light
falls upon the surface f a mirror, it reflects in return. A ray of light strikes a surface at a specific
point. The line straight up from that point, at 90 degrees to the surface, is known as the normal. The
angle of ncidence is the angle formed by the normal and the light ray. W need to study in detail the c
ncept of reflection of light to understand the angle of incidence. This article will deliver you
information about the angle of incidence along with some important concepts related t this topic.
Here are ome key points regarding the angle of incidence:

1. The incident ray is the ray that strikes first upon the smooth surface of the mirror.

2.The reflected ray is the ray that drives away from the point of an incident of the ray.

3. The point of incidence is the place where the ray of light is propagated.

4. A normal is known as a perpendicular line that is drawn from the same point.

LAW OF REFLECTION

The law of reflection states that the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface of
the mirror all lie in the same plane. Furthermore, the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of
incidence. . Both angles are measured with respect to the normal to the mirror.

LAW OF REFRACTION

The law of refraction, which is generally known as Snell's law, governs the behaviour of light-rays as
they propagate across a sharp interface between two transparent dielectric media.Consider a light-
ray incident on a plane interface between two transparent dielectric media. The law of refraction
states that the incident ray, the refracted ray, and the normal to the interface, all lie in the same
plane; n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2

1
THE ANGLE OF INCIDENCE FORMULA

We can find the angle of incidence by using Snell’s Law.

According to this law,

Sin i/Sin r = nr/ni

Here, i = the angle of incidence.

r = the angle of refraction.

ni = the index in the incident medium.

nr = the index in the refracting medium.

By rewriting the equation so the angle of incidence is isolated, the following formula is found:

θ1=arcsin(n2/n1sinθ2)

There is a special case in which the angle of incidence allows light to be refracted at an angle of 90°.
This angle is known as the critical angle. The critical angle can be found by plugging in 90° for the angle
of refraction and solving for the angle of incidence. Since sin90° is equal to 1, then one can find the
critical angle using the following formula:

θ1=arcsin(n2/n1)

HOW TO FIND ANGLE OF INCIDENCE

Example

A beam of light passes from air into a pool of water. The light is refracted towards the normal line at
an angle of 30°. What was the angle of incidence?

2
SOLUTION

From Snell's law

n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2

According to the question, it was said that the light is incident from air into water so air has n1=1.0
and water has n2=1.33. It was also said that the angle of incidence is θ1=30⁰. IF you plug in these
values into Snell's law, you get:

1.0×sin30⁰=1.33×sinθ2

0.5=1.33sinθ2

0.5/1.33=1.33sinθ2/1.33

0.37594=sinθ2

θ2=arcsin(0.37594)

θ=22.08⁰

SOLAR DAY LENGTH

On Earth, a solar day is around 24 hours. However, Earth's orbit is elliptical, meaning it's not a
perfect circle. That means some solar days on Earth are a few minutes longer than 24 hours and
some are a few minutes shorter.

HOW THE LENGTH OF A DAY CHANGES OVER THE YEAR

Most people are probably unaware of this but the length of a solar day, which is the natural day
measured by the rising and setting of the Sun isn’t always 24 hours. It varies slightly throughout the
course of the year and the days in mid September are the shortest solar days in the year. This post
discusses this curiosity, which is not widely known.

THE VARIATION IN THE LENGTH OF A DAY

Although a day for practical timekeeping purposes is always 24 hours, the actual length of a solar
day, which is the time difference between two successive occasions when the Sun is at its highest in
the sky, varies throughout the year. As shown in the graph below, it is at its longest, 24 hours 30
seconds, around Christmas Day and is at its shortest, 23 hours 59 minutes 38 seconds, in mid-
September.

3
HOW THE LENGTH OF A DAY DIFFERS FROM THE AVERAGE VALUE OF 24HOURS

The y-axis shows the difference in seconds between the length of a solar day and 24 hours on a given
date measured in seconds. So, for example:

1. 10 means 24 hours 10 seconds.

2. 20 means 24 hours 20 seconds.

3. -10 means 23 hours 59 minutes 50 seconds.

If we look in detail around the middle of September then we get the following:

September 18 is the shortest day of the year, although the difference in day length between
September 18 and the days either side is extremely small.

WHY THE LENGTH OF A SOLAR DAY VARY

The variation in the length of the solar day is not due to the change in the rotation speed of the Earth
around its axis. Although the Earth’s rotation speed does vary and is gradually slowing down. In fact

4
the time for the Earth to turn once on its axis will vary by only 0.005 seconds during a year. Whereas,
the variation in the length of a solar day is both predictable and is much larger.

HOW TO COMPUTE THE LENGTH OF A DAY

The following calculation gives an approximate value for the length of a day from sunrise to sunset
(duration of daylight) for any location.

A screen shot of Walter Fendts applet shows the "nautical triangle" of the celestial sphere for an
observer located at O: North Pole NP, Zenith Ze and star or sun St. The angles in this triangle are: NP
-Ze = 90° - beta, NP-St = 90° - delta, Ze-St = 90° - h

5
h

altitude (elevation) of the sun

beta

geogr. latitude of the observer N: beta > 0°, S: beta < 0°

delta

declination of the sun measured in degrees north and south of the celestial equator N: 0° < delta <
23.5°, S: 0° > delta > - 23.5°

tau

local hour angle of the sun (Greenwich hour angle +/- longitude), measured along the equator from
the meridian S-NP-N of the observer to the hour circle SP-St-NP of the star St.

From spherical trigonometry we get:

sin (h) = sin (beta) * sin (delta) + cos (beta) * cos (delta) * cos (tau)

At sunrise / sunset, with sin (h)=0 and dividing by cos (beta)*cos (delta) we get:

cos (tau) = - tan (beta)*tan (delta)

For |- tan(beta)*tan(delta)| > 1 there is no sunrise or sunset (length of day 0 hours or 24 hours ).

We can approximate the declination of the sun by:

delta = 23.5° * sin [(x/365)*360°]

with x = number of days since vernal equinox (about March 21)

EXAMPLE 1:

June 21, delta=23.5°, beta=48° (Vienna), we get tau = 118.9°

corresponding to 7.93 hours (since tau=360° corresponds to 24 hours)

The Sun rises 7.93 hours before transit (culmination) and sets 7.93 hours after,

length of solar day is 15,85 hours,

exact value (from "Sun, Moon & earth Applet") is: 16.07 hours.

EXAMPLE 2:

December 21, delta=-23.5°, beta=48° (Vienna), we get tau = 61.1°

6
corresponding to 4.07 hours (since tau=360° corresponds to 24 hours)

Sun rises 4.07 hours before transit (Culmination) and sets 4.07 hours after,

length of solar day is 8.15 hours,

exact value is: 8.36 hours.

SUN PATH DIAGRAM

Sun path diagrams can tell you a lot about how the sun will impact your site and building throughout
the year. Stereographic sun path diagrams can be used to read the solar azimuth and altitude for a
given location.

STEREOGRAPHIC SUN PATH DIAGRAMS

Note that these stereographic diagrams are not exactly like a fish-eye photo: such an image would
be flipped left-to-right. These diagrams are from the point of view of the sky looking down at the

7
ground, you can superimpose it on a map or a plan of the building without being confused. (You can
see this by following the hour lines from east to west on the diagram).

AZIMUTH LINES

Azimuth angles run around the edge of the diagram.

ALTITUDE LINES

Altitude angles are represented as concentric circular dotted lines that run from the center of the
diagram out.

DATE LINES

Date lines start on the eastern side of the graph and run to the western side and represent the path
of the sun on one particular day of the year.

HOUR LINES/ANALEMA

Hour lines are shown as figure-eight-type lines that intersect the date lines and represent the
position of the sun at a specific hour of the day. The intersection points between date and hour lines
give the position of the sun.

8
9