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Every material that interacts with light has a refractive index. In many industries, a refractive index measurement is used to check the purity and concentration of liquid, semi-liquid and solid samples. Liquids and semi-liquid samples can be measured with high accuracy (e.g. down to - / + 0.00002).

The refractive index of a liquid is generally measured by the use of critical angle refractometers such as the Abbe refractometer and the Pulfrich refractometer.

Refractive index can be defined as the speed of light in vacuum divided by the speed of light in a medium. The speed of light in a medium depends upon the properties of the medium. Higher the refractive index, higher is the density of the medium and slower is the speed of light in that specific material or medium.

The symbol n₂ denotes the absolute Refractive Index. For example, the water refractive index is 1.33, which means the speed of light in water is 1.33 times lesser than the speed of the light in vacuum. Optically denser medium is a medium, which has a higher value of the refractive index.

The refractive index is a ratio of the speed of light in a medium relative to its speed in a vacuum. ... This is because as light travels through another medium other than a vacuum, the atoms of that medium constantly absorb and reemit the particles of light, slowing down the speed light travels at.

refractive index is the sum of sine of angle of incidence and sine of angle of reflection . And in other words it can also be written as snells law considering the angle of dispersion and prism..Jul 4, 2019

To calculate the refractive index, the speed of light is considered in two mediums. The symbol "n" denotes the refractive index. n₁₂ =. Speed of Light in 2nd medium/ Speed of light in 1st medium

It may be noted that refractive index is a characteristic of the pair of the media and also depends on the wavelength of light, but is independent of the angle of incidence. The angle of refraction of light depends on the refractive index of the mediums and the angle of incidence.

Refractive index of the second medium (in which the refractive ray travels) with respect to the first medium (in which the incident ray travels) is the ratio of sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction. So, in this case, the refractive index is sin 30 / sin 60, which calculates to 1/root 3=1/1.732, equal to 0.6.