Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-2-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/11/b/solution

Regard the refraction angle as a function of the angle of incidence, . Implicit differentiation of Snell's law gives . Differentiating the deviation angle gives . An interior stationary point therefore satisfies
The stationary deviation of a primary rainbow ray is a minimum: differentiating again and using Snell's law gives . At the stationary point, , and hence for a positive interior refraction angle. This minimum is responsible for the concentration of emerging light rays near the primary rainbow direction.

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