Question

How is refractive index relate to the angle of bending of light?

Answer 1

You can use the Snell's law to judge that,

Suppose light falls at air - object interface,the object has a refractive index `mu>1`,so if the angle of incidence is `theta`, and angle of refraction is `phi`,then using Snell's law,

`sin theta = mu sin phi`

or,`sin phi = 1/(mu) sin theta`

Now, `sin theta` is constant, so higher the value of `mu`,lower is the value of `sin phi` and lower is the value of `phi`,and here more bending means,less value of `phi`,see the diagram to get how `phi` is calculated.