Solution: Optic Stuff

Problem (1)

You're lying at the edge of the Atalantic shore staring out at the ocean when you notice a sailbaot moving out to sea. If the top of its mast is 30 feet above the water, at what distance will the mast disappear from your sight? Assume your eye is at water level, there are no waves, the sun is shining, and the birds are singing. 

Solution:

mast

 

Problem (2)

The table below is from the Geodetic Leveling section of the older FGCC Standards and Specifications for Geodetic Control Networks. Why do you think that minimum ground was specified for the line of sight?

Solution:

The boundary layer above the ground is denser atmosphere and also subject to disturbances in the form of heat waves, It's most prevalent, but not limited to, sunny days. Increasing the clearance redices the effect.

 

Problem (3)

The image of an object located 90 cm in front of a thin lens comes to focus 30 cm on the opposite side. What is the focal length of the lens? 

Solution:

focal dist

 

Problem (4)

In which direction from an instrument's position is refraction minimal?

Solution:

 refract2

The direction would be directly vertical. The ray passes through the least amount of atmosphere and is perpendicular to all its density layers. At any other orientation, a light ray is bent because it intersect layers at an angle.

 

Problem (5)

You're standing at the edge of a dock on a lake looking in the water when you spot a walleye. Your eye is 6 ft above the water and your line of sight to the fish intersects the water 8 ft horizontally from the dock. If the fish is 2 ft below the surface and the refractive indices of air and water are 1.000293 and 1.3325, respectively, how far is the fish from the dock's edge?

 Solution:

 

refract

Problem (6)

How much is a horizontal light ray displaced passing through a 10 mm thick glass plate (nf = 1.305) that is rotated 30° from vertical? 

plate 1

plate 1a