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    Refraction of Light

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    jojo
    This document discusses the phenomenon of refraction of light. It begins by defining refraction as the bending of light when passing from one medium to another. It then provides examples of light refracting when going from air to glass or water to air. The document introduces key terms used to describe refraction like incident ray, normal, angle of incidence, and angle of refraction. Snell's law is presented, which relates the sine of the angles of incidence and refraction. Refractive index is defined as a measure of how much light slows down in a medium, and examples of refractive indices for various materials are given. The relationship between refractive index and speed of light is explained. Finally, examples of refraction in everyday phenomena

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Refraction of Light

    Uploaded by

    jojo
    31 views21 pages
    This document discusses the phenomenon of refraction of light. It begins by defining refraction as the bending of light when passing from one medium to another. It then provides examples of light refracting when going from air to glass or water to air. The document introduces key terms used to describe refraction like incident ray, normal, angle of incidence, and angle of refraction. Snell's law is presented, which relates the sine of the angles of incidence and refraction. Refractive index is defined as a measure of how much light slows down in a medium, and examples of refractive indices for various materials are given. The relationship between refractive index and speed of light is explained. Finally, examples of refraction in everyday phenomena

    Original Title

    9.Refraction

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    This document discusses the phenomenon of refraction of light. It begins by defining refraction as the bending of light when passing from one medium to another. It then provides examples of light refracting when going from air to glass or water to air. The document introduces key terms used to describe refraction like incident ray, normal, angle of incidence, and angle of refraction. Snell's law is presented, which relates the sine of the angles of incidence and refraction. Refractive index is defined as a measure of how much light slows down in a medium, and examples of refractive indices for various materials are given. The relationship between refractive index and speed of light is explained. Finally, examples of refraction in everyday phenomena

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    31 views21 pages

    Refraction of Light

    Uploaded by

    jojo
    This document discusses the phenomenon of refraction of light. It begins by defining refraction as the bending of light when passing from one medium to another. It then provides examples of light refracting when going from air to glass or water to air. The document introduces key terms used to describe refraction like incident ray, normal, angle of incidence, and angle of refraction. Snell's law is presented, which relates the sine of the angles of incidence and refraction. Refractive index is defined as a measure of how much light slows down in a medium, and examples of refractive indices for various materials are given. The relationship between refractive index and speed of light is explained. Finally, examples of refraction in everyday phenomena

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 21

    Refraction of light

    John says,
    When hunting a fish under water, you
    should aim your spear directly at the
    fish.
    Do you agree?
    Yes, of course.
    No, because the fish is actually located
    somewhere else.
    No, because size of objects changes when
    they are put under water.

    When sunlight falls on the water surface,


    which of the following occur(s)?

    It is reflected back to the air.


    It refracts into the water.
    It is absorbed by water and
    turned into heat.

    Introduction
    Refraction is the bending of light
    when the light passes from one medium
    to another.
    air
    glass

    Introduction
    Useful words to describe refraction of light
    incid
    e

    air
    glass

    angle of
    incidence
    nt ra
    y

    normal

    angle of
    refraction

    Introduction

    From a less dense to a denser medium


    e.g. from air to glass
    incid
    e

    nt ra
    y
    air
    glass

    normal

    Light is bent towards the normal.

    Introduction

    From a denser to a less dense medium

    e.g. from water to air

    normal
    water
    air

    refra
    c

    ted r
    ay

    Light is bent away from the normal.

    Relation between angle of incidence


    and angle of refraction
    sin i

    i = angle of incidence
    r = angle of refraction
    sin r

    O
    straight line passing through the origin
    sin i is directly proportional to sin r.

    Laws of refraction
    The incident ray, the refracted ray,
    and the normal all lie in the same plane.
    incid
    e

    nt ra
    y

    air
    glass
    glass

    normal

    Laws of refraction
    The ratio of the sin i to sin r is constant.
    i.e. sin i = constant
    sin r
    This is called Snells law.
    In general,

    n1 sin 1 = n2 sin 2

    Refractive index
    A measure of the speed of light in a
    particular substance.
    Material
    Refractive index
    Glass

    1.5 1.7

    Water

    1.33

    Perspex

    1.5

    Diamond

    2.42

    Refractive index and speed of light


    vacuum (or air)
    3 108 m

    distan
    ce tha
    t light
    travel
    in 1 s

    water (n = 1.33)
    2.25 108 m
    glass (n = 1.5)
    2 108 m
    diamond (n = 2.42)
    1.25 108 m

    Refractive index and speed of


    distan
    light
    ce tha
    t

    vacuum (or air)


    3 108 m

    water (n = 1.33)
    2.25 108 m

    travel

    light
    in 1 s

    fastest

    glass (n = 1.5)
    2 108 m

    Refractive index
    Speed of light

    diamond (slowest
    n = 2.42)
    1.25 108 m

    Example
    A ray of light passes from air into water.
    Angle of incidence = 30
    What is angle of refraction in water?
    nwater = 1.33
    30
    air
    water

    Example
    Applying Snells law, nw sin w= na sin a
    1.33 sin w = 1 sin 30
    sin w = sin 30/1.33 = 0.376
    30
    air
    water

    w = 22.1
    22.1

    Examples of refraction of light


    a

    Bent chopstick
    The chopstick appears bent because
    of refraction

    Examples of refraction of light


    b

    Shallower in water

    The depth that the object is


    actually at is called the real
    depth.
    I
    O

    real
    depth

    Examples of refraction of light


    c Flickering objects in hot air
    The object you see through the
    unstable hot air appears blurred and
    flickering.

    Q1 True or false: Light slows


    True or false: Light slows down when it
    enters a material from air.
    (T/F)

    Q2 True or false: If light travelled


    True or false: If light travelled at the same
    speed in all materials, refraction would still
    occur when it passes from air to water.
    (T/F)

    Q3 True or false: If the speed of


    True or false: If the speed of light in raindrop
    is equal to that in air, there would be no
    rainbows.
    (T/F)

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