# How do you calculate the absolute index of refraction?

Ainsley Zimmerman 2022-05-10 Answered
How do you calculate the absolute index of refraction?
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garcialdariamcy4q
Absolute refractive index is the refractive index when a light ray passes from air to the given medium or from a medium to air.
We thus apply Snell's law as follows(for a ray going from air to a medium),
${n}_{a}\mathrm{sin}i={n}_{m}\mathrm{sin}r$
where ${n}_{m}$ is the refractive index of the medium
${n}_{a}$ is the refractive index of air
i is the angle of incidence
r is the angle of refraction
Make ${n}_{m}$ the subject in the above equation
$⇒{n}_{m}=\frac{{n}_{a}\mathrm{sin}i}{\mathrm{sin}r}$
${n}_{a}=1$
$⇒{n}_{m}=\frac{\mathrm{sin}i}{\mathrm{sin}r}$
Also, another definition says that