9.6 A prism is made of glass of unknown refractive index. A parallel beam of light is incident on a face of the prism. The angle of minimum deviation is measured to be 40°. What is the refractive index of the material of the prism? The refracting angle of the prism is 60°. If the prism is placed in water (refractive index 1.33), predict the new angle of minimum deviation of a parallel beam of light.

Hint: \(\mu=\frac{sin\frac{A+\delta _{m}}{2}}{sin\frac{A}{2}}\)
Step 1: Find the refractive index of the prism.
Let the refractive index of the material of the prism = 
The refractive index of the prism is given by:

μ'=sinA+δm2sinA2
=sin60+402sin602=sin50sin30=1.532

the new angle of minimum deviation be the new angle of minimum deviation for the same prism when it is placed in water.
The refractive index of glass with respect to the water is given by:

μgw=μ'μ=sinA+δm'2sinA2
sinA+δm'2=μ'μsinA2
sinA+δm'2=1.5321.33×sin60°2=0.5759

A+δm'2=sin-10.5759=35.16°
60°+δm'=70.32°
 δm'=70.32°-60°=10.32°

Hence, the new minimum angle of deviation is 10.32°.