Interpreting the index of refraction

[SaintJude]

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Does an index of 1.33 mean that light travels 33% slower in water than it does in air/vaccuum?

And if a question stem said this "Light travels 250% faster in air than it does in diamond" One should then deduce that the index of refraction of diamond is 2.5?

Edit: More importantly...Could one figure out the index of refraction for silk if the stem question said :"Light travels 20% faster in silk than it does in diamond (n=2.5)"? Did anyone get that the index of refraction of silk should then be approx. 3.5?

 

[milski]

Does an index of 1.33 mean that light travels 33% slower in water than it does in air/vaccuum?

Yes.

And if a question stem said this "Light travels 250% faster in air than it does in diamond" One should then deduce that the index of refraction of diamond is 2.5?

Yes.

Edit: More importantly...Could one figure out the index of refraction for silk if the stem question said :"Light travels 20% faster in silk than it does in diamond (n=2.5)"? Did anyone get that the index of refraction of silk should then be approx. 3.5?

3.5 would not make sense. If it travels faster in silk, its refraction index will be closer to one than 2.5, not further away. And yes, you can calculate it. Just calculate the speed of light in silk, considering that it's c/2.5 in diamond and in silk it's 20 % more than that.

 

[SaintJude]

Oh, right it's 2.08.😳 Man, I need to make sure simple arithmetic doesn't affect my math on MCAT day! And I definetely should have realized that the index of refraction would be lower than that of diamond.

 

[milski]

Oh, right it's 2.08.😳 Man, I need to make sure simple arithmetic doesn't affect my math on MCAT day! And I definetely should have realized that the index of refraction would be lower than that of diamond.

When is the big day?

 

[SaintJude]

Early May! Will finish content review next week. Planning on finish all Kaplan's & TPR practice, before moving on to practice exams for late March--April. Feeling excited/ overwhelmed. 🙂