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Understanding Light Refraction Basics

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5 views1 page

Understanding Light Refraction Basics

Uploaded by

virapatel3174
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Refraction of Light

What light can do at a boundary (between two materials):


1.​ Reflect (bounce back)
2.​ Be absorbed
3.​ Refract (bend) into the new medium
Refraction
●​ Refraction = light bending when it moves from one material to another.
●​ Happens because light changes speed in different materials.
Index of Refraction (n)
●​ Tells you how much a material slows down light.
●​ Formula: n=c/v
-​ c = speed of light in air/vacuum
-​ v = speed of light in the material
●​ Higher n = light slows more = bends more.
Optical Density
●​ How much a material slows down and absorbs light.
●​ More optical density → higher n → slower light.
Snell’s Law
●​ Used to calculate how much light bends.
●​ Formula: n₁sinθ₁ = n₂sinθ₂
-​ θ₁ = angle of incidence
-​ θ₂ = angle of refraction
How Light Bends
●​ Low → High n (eg. air → water):
-​ Light bends toward the normal.
●​ High → Low n (water → air):
-​ Light bends away from the normal.
Important Notes
●​ Light only bends at the boundary, not inside the material.
●​ Bigger n = more bending.

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