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PhysicsHigh School12 min

Light Refraction

Compare incoming and refracted rays for air, water, glass, and diamond.

Air n=1Water n=1.33NormalIncident rayθ1=35°Refracted rayθ2=25.5°

Live Values

n1

1

n2

1.33

Refracted angle

25.5°

Incident angle

35°

Formula

n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2

θ2 = 25.5°

Try this

Try to create total internal reflection.

For total internal reflection, start in a higher-index medium and enter a lower-index medium.

Refraction explanation

What happened?

The ray changed direction at the boundary between media.

Why?

The bending depends on each medium's refractive index and the incident angle.

Learning Objectives

  • Light bends toward the normal in denser media.
  • Light bends away in less dense media.
  • Total internal reflection can occur.

Tags

Snell's lawNormal lineIndexReflection