Practice Question

1.A ray of light passes from air into water. On entering the water, would the ray of light refract away from or towards the normal line?

Towards the normal line. Water is more dense than air. 

2. Mary is looking at a straw which is in a glass of water. The straw appears to be bent. Her teacher says that the bent appearance is due to refraction. Mary wants to know if the light she is seeing refracts towards the normal or away from the normal?

The ray of light will be travelling from the water and entering the air, before reaching Mary’s eyes. Air is less dense than water, so the ray of light refracts away from the normal.

3. Below is an image of a beaker which contains both oil and water. Complete the ray diagram.