When does Snell's law fail?

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(B) Snell's law is given by the formula $n_1 \sin(i) = n_2 \sin(r)$,where $i$ is the angle of incidence and $r$ is the angle of refraction.When light

Vedclass · Accepted Answer

When light is incident normally on the surface of a refracting medium.

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(B) Snell's law is given by the formula $n_1 \sin(i) = n_2 \sin(r)$,where $i$ is the angle of incidence and $r$ is the angle of refraction.When light is incident normally (perpendicularly) on the surface,the angle of incidence $i = 0^\circ$.Since $\sin(0^\circ) = 0$,the equation becomes $n_1(0) = n_2 \sin(r)$,which implies $\sin(r) = 0$,so $r = 0^\circ$.In this case,the law does not provide a unique relationship between the refractive indices and the angles because the ratio $\frac{\sin(i)}{\sin(r)}$ becomes $\frac{0}{0}$,which is undefined.

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