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. | + | '''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: |
− | + | ||
− | + | <math>n_1 \sin{\theta_1} = n_2 \sin{\theta_2}</math><br/> | |
− | + | <math>v_1 \sin{\theta_1} = v_2 \sin{\theta_2}</math> | |
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | where: | |
+ | :<math>n_1</math> and <math>n_2</math> are the [[Index of refraction|indices of refraction]] in media 1 and 2, respectively | ||
+ | :<math>v_1</math> and <math>v_2</math> are the speeds of light in media 1 and 2 | ||
+ | :<math>\theta_1</math> and <math>\theta_2</math> 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. | |
− | [[ | + | [[Category:Physics]] |
+ | [[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.