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A magician during a show makes a glass lens with n = 1.47 disappear in a trough of liquid. The refractive index of the liquid is ______.

Asked in GSEB Board August 2020 · Lens maker's formula and power

Answer: (2) 1.47

Step-by-step solution

Given: a glass lens of refractive index 1.47, to be made invisible in a liquid.

Idea: a clear object is seen only because light bends where it enters and leaves. Stop the bending and there is nothing to see.

In a liquid, 1/f = ((nₗₑₙₛ)/(n_liquid)-1)(1/(R₁)-1/(R₂)).

The radii are fixed, so the power is zero only when n_liquid = nₗₑₙₛ = 1.47.

Then light crosses both surfaces without deviating, no boundary can be seen, and the lens vanishes -- glycerine over ordinary crown glass is the classroom version of the trick.

So the liquid has refractive index 1.47.

Why the other options are wrong

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