HC Verma Chapter 18 Problem 3 – Lateral shift through glass slab

Given

Slab thickness t=10 cm, n=1.5, incident angle 45 deg

Find

Lateral shift d

Formula

d = t sin(i – r)/cos r

Solution

r: sin r = sin45/1.5 = 0.4714, r = 28.1 deg; d = 10 x sin(16.9)/cos(28.1) = 2.91/0.882 = 3.30 cm

Answer

d = 3.3 cm

Diagram / Concept

Lateral shift is perpendicular displacement of emergent ray

Notes

Slab displaces but does not change direction of ray