A cubic container is filled with a liquid whose refractive index increases linearly from top to bottom. Which of the following figures may represent the path of a ray of light inside the liquid?
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Question

A cubic container is filled with a liquid whose refractive index increases linearly from top to bottom. Which of the following figures may represent the path of a ray of light inside the liquid?

G1 Physics · Accepted Answer

Derived solution: Step 1: Use Snell’s law at each plane interface. For paraxial viewing through a plane surface, apparent depth = real depth × n(observer)/n(object medium). Step 2: Test each statement independently using these relations and the data/figure. Step 3: The statements that satisfy the required optical conditions are A: Image 1; D: Image 4. Hence the correct answer is A,D.