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AP Physics 2
13.3 Refraction
IntermediateMCQConceptual15.2k
A triangular prism with an apex pointing upward and a horizontal base at the bottom. A single incoming light ray enters the left face from the upper-left, bending downward as it enters the prism. Inside the prism, the ray travels downward and to the right toward the opposite face. Upon exiting the right face, the ray bends further downward away from its original straight-line trajectory, pointing toward the bottom-right. A dashed line extends the path of the original incoming ray straight through the prism to illustrate the angle of deviation \(\theta\) between the original path and the exiting ray. No other labels, lines, text, or axes appear.
Light ray refracting through a liquid-filled triangular prism.
A hollow triangular glass prism with very thin walls and apex angle \(A\) is filled with a liquid of index of refraction \(n_l\). A ray of monochromatic light in air (\(n_{\text{air}} = 1.0\)) enters the left face of the prism at a fixed angle of incidence, travels through the liquid, and exits through the right face, deviating downward toward the base by a total angle \(\theta\). If the liquid is replaced with a denser liquid that has a greater index of refraction \(n_l' > n_l\), how does the total deviation angle \(\theta\) change, and why?

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