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Line 13: − − What Snell's Law says is that when light moves from a medium with a high index of refraction to a medium with a low index of refraction it will bend away the normal of the plane dividing the two media. Conversely, when light moves from a medium with a low index of refraction to a medium with a high index of refraction it will bend towards from the normal dividing the two media.
put plain English ahead of obscure equations
'''Snell's Law''' describes how the direction of [[light]] changes when it moves from one medium to another. The two forms of the law are:
'''Snell's Law''' describes how the direction of [[light]] changes when it moves from one medium to another.
What Snell's Law says is that when light moves from a medium with a high index of refraction to a medium with a low index of refraction it will bend away the normal of the plane dividing the two media. Conversely, when light moves from a medium with a low index of refraction to a medium with a high index of refraction it will bend towards from the normal dividing the two media.
The two forms of the law are:
:n<sub>1</sub> sin(θ<sub>1</sub>) = n<sub>2</sub> sin(θ<sub>2</sub>)
:n<sub>1</sub> sin(θ<sub>1</sub>) = n<sub>2</sub> sin(θ<sub>2</sub>)
The index of refraction of a material is inversely proportional to the speed of light in that material, i.e. light will move slower in a material with a high index of refraction than it will in a material with a low index of refraction.
The index of refraction of a material is inversely proportional to the speed of light in that material, i.e. light will move slower in a material with a high index of refraction than it will in a material with a low index of refraction.
[[category: physics]]
[[category: physics]]