How fast does light travel through jello?

Answer 1

For this to work you would need a cuboid shaped block of jello, with as flat a surface as possible and no impurities within it.

Using a light source with a very narrow beam, (Ray box or preferably a Laser pointer, i suppose you would need one of a color that would show up in the jello) shine it at an angle from the normal (a line perpendicular to the plane the light is shining on) and measuring the angle of the incident beam (i) and then the angle of the beam as it has been refracted within it (r).

Then calculate: sin i/sin r this will give you the refractive index.

The speed of light within Jello= (1/refractive index of jello)x c (speed of light)

Answer 2

What a wonderful age we live in ! I actually found the refractive index of jello

with a quick on-line search. The reference I went to said it's 1.38 .

Of course, the properties of the jello are going to change somewhat depending

on the moisture content, i.e. whether you mix it stiff or sloppy, and then how

long you leave it in the fridge. It may even depend on the flavor, I don't know.

But whatever the refractive index of your substance is, that's the ratio of the

speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in that substance.

So let's say that the refractive index of your jello, today, is actually 1.38 .

Then the speed of light through it is

299,792,458 meters per second / 1.38 =

217,240,911.6 meters per second

Do you realize what we have here ? ! ? What a beautiful science-fair project . . . . .

figure out a way to mold jello in the shape you want, and smooth enough, and

make big jello optical lenses ! A jello magnifying glass. A jello telescope.

A jello graphic camera !

Answer 3

The human cornea is probably about the same as jello.

The speed of light in the cornea ≈ 226 000 km/s