---
title: "A spherical air bubble with index of refraction \\(n_{\\text{air}} = 1.00\\) is submerged in water with index of refraction \\(n_{\\text{water}} = 1.33\\). A beam of parallel light rays traveling horizontally through the water approaches the air bubble, as shown in the diagram. Which of the following claims correctly describes the behavior of the light rays after passing through the bubble and provides the correct physical justification?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/116846/"
date_modified: "2026-08-04T06:09:51+00:00"
---

# A spherical air bubble with index of refraction \(n_{\text{air}} = 1.00\) is submerged in water with index of refraction \(n_{\text{water}} = 1.33\). A beam of parallel light rays traveling horizontally through the water approaches the air bubble, as shown in the diagram. Which of the following claims correctly describes the behavior of the light rays after passing through the bubble and provides the correct physical justification?

A spherical air bubble with index of refraction \(n_{\text{air}} = 1.00\) is submerged in water with index of refraction \(n_{\text{water}} = 1.33\). A beam of parallel light rays traveling horizontally through the water approaches the air bubble, as shown in the diagram. Which of the following claims correctly describes the behavior of the light rays after passing through the bubble and provides the correct physical justification?

![A horizontal schematic showing a circular cross-section of a spherical air bubble submerged in water. The region surrounding the circle is labeled 'Water (n = 1.33)' and the interior region inside the circle is labeled 'Air (n = 1.00)'. A horizontal dashed line represents the central optical axis passing through the center of the circle. Three parallel horizontal light rays, drawn as solid arrows pointing to the right, approach the left side of the bubble through the water: one along the central axis, one above it, and one below it. At the top incident ray's contact point on the circular boundary, a dashed line extending radially outward from the center represents the surface normal vector. No refracted rays, transmitted rays, or images are shown. No other labels, lines, text, or axes appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1785823791-3p7X2B.jpg)

- **A.** The light rays converge because a convex spherical boundary always bends parallel incident rays toward the central axis.
- **B.** The light rays converge because light bends toward the surface normal when traveling into a medium with a lower index of refraction.
- **C.** The light rays diverge because light bends away from the surface normal when passing from water into the lower-index air inside the bubble.
- **D.** The light rays diverge because total internal reflection occurs at all points across the front surface of the air bubble, preventing rays from entering.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/116846/*