Monochromatic light of wavelength 589 nm is incident from air on a water surface. What are the wavelength, frequency and speed of (a) reflected, and (b) refracted light? Refractive index of water is 1.33.
What are the wavelength, frequency and speed of reflected light?
For reflected light: Wavelength = 589 nm, Frequency = ¹⁴ Hz, Speed = ⁸ m/s
What are the wavelength, frequency and speed of refracted light? Refractive index of water is 1.33.
For refracted light: Wavelength = 443 nm, Frequency = ¹⁴ Hz, Speed = ⁸ m/s
Explanation
The textbook states that when monochromatic light is incident on a surface separating two media, both reflected and refracted light have the same frequency as the incident frequency. For reflected light, since it remains in the same medium (air), all three parameters remain unchanged. For refracted light entering water, the speed decreases (v = c/n) and wavelength decreases proportionally (λ' = λ/n), while frequency remains constant.