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Refractive Index of some common Liquids

Some common fluids and their refractive indexes

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The Refractive Index  - n - of a medium is a measure for how much the speed of light is reduced inside the medium. The speed of light in a medium can be expressed as

v  = c / n         (1)

where

v = speed of light in the medium

c = speed of light in air or vacuum - approximately 3x108 meters per second

n = refractive index

The Refractive Index of common liquids are indicated in the table below:

Fluid Refractive Index
- n -
Acetic Acid 1.37
Acetone 1.36
Alcohol, ethyl (ethanol) 1.36
Alcohol, methyl (methanol) 1.33
Alcohol, propyl 1.38
Benzene 1.50
Carbon disulfide 1.63
Carbon tetrachloride 1.46
Chloroform 1.44
Decane 1.41
Dodecane 1.41
Ether 1.35
Ethylene glycol 1.43
Fluorine (freon) refrigerant R-11 1.37
Fluorine refrigerant R-12 1.29
Fluorine refrigerant R-22 1.26
Furan 1.47
Heptane 1.38
Hexane 1.37
Octane 1.40
Propane 1.34
Propylene 1.36
Propylene glycol 1.43
Toluene 1.49
Turpentine (wood) 1.47
Water 1.33

Example - Speed of Light in Water

The speed of light in water can be calculated as

v  = (3 108 m/s) / 1.33

    = 2.26x108 m/s

 

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Related Topics

  • Material Properties Material properties - density, heat capacity, viscosity and more - for gases, fluids and solids

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