Question

What is the speed of light (in m/s) in air? (Enter your answer to at least four significant figures. Assume the speed of light in a vacuum is 2.997 ✕ 108 m/s.) m/s What is the speed of light (in m/s) in polystyrene? m/s

Answer 1

Answer:

The speed of light in air is 2.996x10⁸ m/s, and polystyrene is 1.873x10⁸ m/s.

Explanation:

To find the speed of light in air and in polystyrene we need to use the following equation:

$c_{m} = \frac{c}{n}$

Where:

$c_{m}$: is the speed of light in the medium

n: is the refractive index of the medium

In air:

$c_{a} = \frac{c}{n_{a}} = \frac{2.997 \cdot 10^{8} m/s}{1.0003} = 2.996 \cdot 10^{8} m/s$

In polystyrene:

$c_{p} = \frac{c}{n_{p}} = \frac{2.997 \cdot 10^{8} m/s}{1.6} = 1.873 \cdot 10^{8} m/s$  

Therefore, the speed of light in air is 2.996x10⁸ m/s, and polystyrene is 1.873x10⁸ m/s.

I hope it helps you!