Plot of Fresnel reflection coefficients n11 n215 100 80 Refl

Plot of Fresnel reflection coefficients n1=1 n2=1.5 100 80 Reflection 60 coefficients 40 20 Incidence angleei Plot for transmission coefficients, n1-1 ·2.1.5 1.0 Transmission ratios 0.4 0.2 0.0

Solution

Fresnel equation gives the indication of how a ray of light behaves when moving from one medium to another.

Observations:

1. The light ray when Rp reaches zero when the angle of incidence is 56 degree.

2. This angle of incidence is called the Brewster\'s angle.

3. The light is fully refracted at Brewsters angle for a Polarised light ray Rp.

4. Usually the Rp value is not zero for certain materials like Metals and Semiconducters.

In diagram (b) the angle of incidence is 60 degrees which means when Rs value reaches brewsters angle it undergoes refraction as shown in the diagram.

It is also evident that the ray of light is moving from a lighter medium to denser medium.

For glass, the refractive index is approximately 1.5 and for air it is 1.Hence n1=1 < n2=1.5 hence the ray here is moving to a denser medium from a lighter medium.