Light is travelling in quartz, which has an index of refraction of 1.458. How fast does light travel in quartz?

1 Answer
Apr 1, 2018

Approximately #2.06*10^8# meters per second.

Explanation:

Well, the equation for the refractive index is:

#n=c/v#

  • #c# is the speed of light in a vacuum

  • #v# is the speed of light through the medium

And so, we get,

#1.458=(3*10^8 \ "m/s")/v#

#v=(3*10^8 \ "m/s")/(1.458)#

#~~2.06*10^8 \ "m/s"#