We went Sapphire fosicking and found some clear small gems. How do you tell if they are quartz or diamonds?
The time t needed to travel a distance d at a velocity v is given by the formula t = d/v the speed of light in vacuum is c the speed of light in another material is c' = c/n as the sum of the times traveling through the ice and quartz must equal the time in the vacuum if y is the unknown distance light travels in the vacuum d1 is the thickness of ice in meters d2 is the thickness of quartz in meters v1 is the velocity of light in ice = c/n1 = c/1.309 v2 is the velocity of light in quartz = c/n2 = c/1.544 y/c = t d1/(c/n1) = t1 d2 /(c/n2) = t2 t = t1 + t2 y/c = d1/(c/n1) + d2 /(c/n2) y/c = d1n1/c + d2n2/c y = d1n1 + d2n2 y = 0.022(1.309) + 0.013(1.544) y = 0.04887 m y = 4.887 cm
