When a light wave enters a medium with a different refractive index,

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When a light wave moves from one medium to another with a different refractive index, several properties can change, but not all change simultaneously.

Option 1: 'its frequency and wavelength change.' This is incorrect because the frequency of light remains constant when crossing a boundary between media. Only the wavelength changes due to the change in speed.

Option 2: 'its speed and frequency change.' This is wrong because the frequency stays the same across the boundary; only the speed changes and, correspondingly, the wavelength adjusts to conserve frequency.

Option 3: 'its speed and wavelength change.' This is correct. The speed of light decreases or increases depending on the second medium, and the wavelength correspondingly shortens or lengthens so that the frequency remains unchanged.

Option 4: 'its speed, frequency, and wavelength change.' This is incorrect for the same reason as Option 2: frequency does not change across the boundary, so listing it as changing is false.

In summary, the boundary affects speed and wavelength but not frequency, due to the requirement that the wave’s frequency remains continuous across the interface and the relationship v = fλ ties speed to wavelength for a given frequency.

When a light wave enters a medium with a different refractive index,Single choice

Similar Questions

Light refracts when traveling from air into glass because light

A ray of light passes from air into glass at an angle. What happens to the direction of the light ray?

Refaction is when…

What happens to light when it passes through a prism?

Refraction results from differences in light's

A straight glass rod appears to bend when placed in a beaker of water. What is the best explanation for this phenomenon?

What occurs as a ray of light passes from air into water?

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Homework AI Solver

Stylized AI Paper Writer

Plagiarism Checker Assistant

Citation AI Academic Writing Tool

In-Class Translation Assistant

AI Note Generator

AI Quiz Answers

Past Exam Questions from University Test Bank

Smart Practice Assistant

Adaptive Practice

Making Your Study Simpler