Difference between revisions of "Snell's Law"

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'''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:
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'''Snell's Law''' describes how the direction of [[light]] changes when it moves from one medium to another.   
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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.
  
:n<sub>1</sub> sin(θ<sub>1</sub>) = n<sub>2</sub> sin(θ<sub>2</sub>)
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The two forms of the law are:
:v<sub>2</sub> sin(θ<sub>1</sub>) = v<sub>1</sub> sin(θ<sub>2</sub>)
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where:
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<math>n_1 \sin{\theta_1} = n_2 \sin{\theta_2}</math><br/>
:n<sub>1</sub> and n<sub>2</sub> are the indices of [[refraction]] in media 1 and 2, respectively
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<math>v_1 \sin{\theta_1} = v_2 \sin{\theta_2}</math>
:v<sub>1</sub> and v<sub>2</sub> are the velocities of light in media 1 and 2, and
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:θ<sub>1</sub> and θ<sub>2</sub> are the angle from the normal of the [[plane]] dividing the 2 media and the ray.
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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.
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where:
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:<math>n_1</math> and <math>n_2</math> are the [[Index of refraction|indices of refraction]] in media 1 and 2, respectively
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:<math>v_1</math> and <math>v_2</math> are the speeds of light in media 1 and 2
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:<math>\theta_1</math> and <math>\theta_2</math> are the angles measured from the normal and the respective ray.
  
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.
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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]]
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[[Category:Physics]]
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[[Category:Optics]]

Latest revision as of 17:49, September 19, 2016

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:


where:

and are the indices of refraction in media 1 and 2, respectively
and are the speeds of light in media 1 and 2
and are the angles measured from the normal and the respective ray.

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.