The Smartphone Camera Trick · AI Generator #GEN-86A5EB6B
Physics · optics
Problem
A physics student discovers that when she holds her smartphone camera at a specific angle above a calm lake surface, the reflection of the sky appears completely dark in the camera image, while the sky itself remains bright. She measures this critical angle to be 53.1° below the horizontal (i.e., 53.1° from the surface of the water). The camera is detecting light that has traveled from the sky, reflected off the water surface, and then entered the camera lens. What is the refractive index of water? (Assume the refractive index of air is nair=1.00.)