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Class – X (Physics)
Ch – 9 REFRACTIVE INDEX NUMERICALS
1. The refractive index of medium ‘X’ with respect to medium ‘Y’ is 2/3 and refractive
index of medium ‘Y’ with respect to medium ‘Z’ is 4/3. Find the refractive index of
medium ‘Z’ with respect to medium ‘X’.
2. The refractive index of water with respect to air is 4/3. What is the refractive index of
air with respect to water?
3. The refractive index of glass with respect to air is 1.65 and that of water w.r.t air is
1.33. Calculate refractive index of water w.r.t to glass.
4. In an experiment with a glass slab, a student observed that a ray of light incident at
an angle of 60 ͦ with the normal on one face of the slab, after refraction, strikes the
opposite face of the slab before emerging out in air making an angle of 45 ͦ with the
normal. Draw a labelled diagram to show the path of this ray. What would be the value
of angle of refraction and angle of emergence?
5. Refractive index of water and glass w.r.t air are 1.33 (or 4/3) and 1.50 (or 3/2)
respectively. Calculate refractive index of glass w.r.t water and refractive index of water
w.r.t glass.?
6. The absolute refractive index of 2 media ‘A’ and ‘B’ are 2.0 and 1.5 respectively. If the
speed of light in medium ‘B’ is 2 × 10 8 m/s, calculate the speed of light in: (i) vacuum (ii)
medium ‘A’.
7. The absolute refractive index of glass and water are 4/3 and 3/2 respectively. If the
speed of light in glass is 2 × 108 m/s, calculate the speed of light in: (i) vacuum (ii) water.
8. If the angle of incidence (i) for a light ray in air be 45 ͦ and the angle of refraction (r) in
glass be 30 ͦ, find the refractive index of glass w.r.t air.
9. Refractive index of water w.r.t. air is 1.33. What is the value of refractive index of air
w.r.t. water?
10. Refractive index of glass is 1.5. What does it mean?
MCQs based on refractive index:
1. The refractive index of a material depends upon
(a) Temperature (b) Wavelength of light
(c) Nature of the material (d) All the above
2. When light travels from glass to water separated by a sharp boundary then it
(a) proceeds undeviated (b) bends towards the normal
(c) bends away from the normal (d) is reflected back
3. A cut diamond sparkles because of
(a) it's hardness
(b) it's high refractive index and small value of the critical angle
(c) it's high refractive index and high value of the critical angle
(d) it's very low refractive index
[Link] of light is maximum in
(a) diamond (b) water
(c) glass (d) vacuum
5. Refractive index of glass with respect to air is 1.9. What is the refractive index of air
with respect to glass?
(a) 1 (b) 1.9
(c) 0.526 (d) 0.776
6. The cause of twinkling of stars is :
(a) periodic bursts of light from the stars
(b) interference of sunlight with the star light
(c) partial absorption of light in the atmosphere
(d) refractive index fluctuation in the atmosphere
7. When a light ray travels from air to water separated by a sharp boundary it:
(a) proceeds undeviated
(b) bends towards the normal
(c) bends away from the normal
(d) is totally internally reflected
8. The refractive index of glass with respect to air is 3/2. The refractive index of air with
respect to glass is:
(a) 3/1 (b) 3/2
(c) 2/3 (d) 1/3
Answers :
1. d
2. c
3. b
4. d
5. c
6. d
7. b
8. c
