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Parbat
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how does refraction of light take place?And why does it always shift towards the normal while traveling from rarer to denser medium,why not away from normal?
Parbat said:how does refraction of light take place?And why does it always shift towards the normal while traveling from rarer to denser medium,why not away from normal?
Andy Resnick said:Conservation of momentum.
Parbat said:If it is conservation of momentum,then why doesn't the light bend away from the normal
with the same angle it bends towards normal?there would also be conservation of momentum,is'nt it?
Here is as good an explanation that I know of. Read the paragraph titled "Refraction" at this link:Parbat said:how does refraction of light take place?And why does it always shift towards the normal while traveling from rarer to denser medium,why not away from normal?
I am sure the OP meant denser in the sense of having a higher refractive index, not in the mass-per-unit-volume sense of the word.Bob S said:The density of the inert transparent fluorocarbon FC-75 is 1.76 (MORE than water), and the index of refraction is 1.276 (LESS than water). Denser liquids do not always have a higher index of refraction.
Refraction of light is the bending of light as it passes through different mediums, such as air, water, or glass. This occurs because light travels at different speeds in different mediums, causing it to change direction.
When light passes through a medium with a different density, the speed of light changes, causing it to bend. This is due to the change in the medium's refractive index, which is a measure of how much light is bent in that medium.
The refraction of light is affected by the angle at which the light enters the medium, as well as the difference in refractive indices between the two mediums. The wavelength of light also plays a role, with shorter wavelengths (such as blue light) being bent more than longer wavelengths (such as red light).
The law of refraction, also known as Snell's law, states that the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the refractive indices of the two mediums.
Refraction of light is used in a variety of everyday objects, such as eyeglasses, lenses, and prisms. It is also used in optical instruments such as microscopes and telescopes, as well as in the production of fiber optics for communication and medical imaging.