Types of Refraction
The refraction of light occurs in different ways depending on the medium through which the light travels.
- Refraction from denser to rarer medium – When light rays pass through rarer to a denser medium, the light rays bend towards the normal. Due to this the angle of refraction is smaller than the angle of incidence. e.g. In the case when light rays pass from air to water or from air to glass, it bends towards normal. It is because of the reason that the speed of light rays reduces while passing from air to glass or water.
- Refraction from rarer to denser medium – When light rays pass from denser to rarer medium, the light rays bend away from the normal. Due to this the angle of refraction becomes more than the angle of incidence. e.g. In case when light rays pass from water to air or glass to air, light rays bend away from the normal. The speed of light rays becomes greater while passing from glass or water to air.
Refraction of Light
Refraction is an important term used in the Ray Optics branch of Physics. Refraction of light is defined as the change in direction or the bending of a wave passing from one medium to another due to the change in speed of the wave. Some natural phenomena occurring in nature where refraction of light takes place are the twinkling of stars, the formation of mirages and Rainbows, Optical illusions, and many more. The major cause of refraction to occur is the change in the speed of waves in different mediums, which is different due to the difference between the densities of the mediums. e.g. the speed of light in a vacuum is maximum. Snell’s Law provides a quantitative description of the amount of bending of a wave, that depends on the refractive index of the two mediums. Let’s learn more about refraction like the Laws of Refractions, Causes of Refraction, Types of Refraction, Examples, and Applications of Refractions in the article below.
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