Friday, June 20, 2008

Refraction of Light by 2E1 Shahir

For thousands of years, people have noticed that a straight stick placed obliquely in water appears to be broken at an angle where it enters the water. This is the origin of the term "refraction," which means literally "broken back."

Refraction is the change of light that changes direction when it passes from one medium to another.

refraction occurs when light waves travel from a medium with a given refractive index to a medium with another.

At the boundary between the media, the wave's phase velocity is altered, it changes direction, and its wavelength increases or decreases but its frequency remains constant.

For example, a light ray will refract as it enters and leaves glass.the understanding of this concept led to the invention of lenses and the refracting telescope

from a less dense material to a denser material, light will slows down and refracted towards the normal, while from denser material into a less dense material, light speeds up and is refracted away from the normal.

The refractive index of a transparent optical medium, also called the index of refraction, is the factor by which the phase velocity is decreased relative to the velocity of light in vacuum, assuming linear propagation

effects of refraction are : -it causes an object to be nearer than it actually is when a transparent material is on top - a stick will appear to be bent inside a bearker filled with water.

From this topic, i have learned that refraction happens in our everyday life. It causes effects that are very unusual and refraction is an interesting topic to learn.

key points : -refraction happens when light changes direction when it passes from one medium to another -it causes effects that are unusual.

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