Refraction and Snells Law

Refraction and Snell’s Law
Intro to Refraction
• Take 3 cups from the front, labeled 1,2,3.
• Observe each straw through the side of the cup as
you slowly turn the cup. DO NOT STIR THE
CONTENTS!
• Write down your observations.
• In which container does the straw appear broken?
• Are all amounts of break the same?
• When does the straw not appear to be broken?
Refraction of Light
• Refraction- light
bends or changes
direction at the
boundary of
between two
media.
Refraction
• The beam in the first
medium is called the
incident ray. The incident
ray hits the boundary at
an angle of incidence.
• The beam in the second
medium is called the
refracted ray. The
refracted ray leaves at an
angle of refraction.
• Note that when light
moves from air to
water it bends
toward the normal,
making the angle of
incidence greater
than the angle of
refraction.
Archer Fish
• How does light behave from water to air?
• http://videos.howstuffworks.com/animal-plan
et/27704-fooled-by-nature-archer-fish-video.h
tm
Angle of Refraction
• Light bending toward the normal indicates the
speed is slower
• Light bending away from the normal indicates
the speed is faster
• The changing speed is what causes the change in
direction!
• When light strikes a surface along the
perpendicular, the angle of incidence is zero, and
the angle of refraction is also zero.
Snell’s Law
• Snell’s law describes the relationship between the
angle of incidence and the angle of refraction.
• The degree to which light is bend depends on the
medium and the density of the medium.
• Snell’s Law states that the ratio of the sine of the
angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of
refraction is a constant.
• For light going from a vacuum into another medium,
the constant, n, is called the index of refraction.
Equation for Snell’s Law
•Snell’s
Law is written as:
n = index of refraction
i = angle of incidence
r= angle of refraction
• The equation can also be written as
Where is the index of refraction of the medium in

which the incident ray travels and is the index of
refraction of the medium in which the refracted ray
travels
Index of Refraction
• Each material has a specific index of refraction
Medium Index of Refraction
Vacuum 1.00
Air 1.0003
Water 1.33
Ethanol 1.36
Crown Glass 1.52
Diamond 2.42
Example 1
A light beam in air hits a sheet of crown glass at
an angle of 30.0°. At what angle is the light
beam refracted?
Homework: p. 487 # 1-5, p. 509 # 67-69

Optical Density and the Speed of Light
• The speed of light is dependent on the

properties of the medium.
• Optical density determines how much energy
is absorbed and re-emitted in a medium and
determines the speed of the light in that
medium.
• The higher the optical density, the slower the
light wave.
Index of Refraction
• The
index of refraction is also a measure of a
medium’s optical density. (As the optical
density increases the value of n increases)
• In this case, n, represents how much slower
the light travels in the medium as compared to
a vacuum.
• The index of refraction can be determined
using the following equation:
Example 2
What is the speed of light in chloroform
(n=1.51)?
Total Internal Reflection
• Remember: a light wave is transporting energy!
• When light hits a boundary some energy is
transmitted to the new medium, some energy is
reflected.
• Total internal reflection occurs when all light is
reflected, and there is no refracted ray
• This can only occur when light travels from a
higher density to a lower density
• Total internal reflection occurs as the angle of
incidence caused the angle of refraction to lie
along the boundary of the media.
• The critical angle is defined as the angle of
incidence that provides an angle of refraction of 90
degrees.
• A ray that is greater than
the critical angle cannot
leave the medium and all
of the light is reflected.
• Diamonds sparkle
because most of the light
rays hitting the stone are
internally reflected . . . • The cut of the diamond
Diamond has a high is also important
index of refraction.
Calculating Critical Angle
Equation for calculating critical angle
nr n2
sin  c  
ni n1
Calculating Critical Angle
What is the critical angle for crown glass?
1.0003
sin  c 
1.52
  41.1
Example 3
What is the critical angle for diamond?
nair
sin  c 
ndiamond
1 .0003
sin  c   23 .3 deg rees
2 .52
Fiber Optics
• Fiber optic cables
transmit information in
pulses of light (similar
to Morse code)
• Used in
telecommunications,
computer networking,
by mechanics, and
doctors.
MIRAGE
Atmospheric Refraction
• Mirages, floating images that appear in the
distance, are due to the refraction of light in the
Earth’s atmosphere.
• On hot days, a hot layer of air is in contact with
the ground with cooler air above it
• Light travels faster in the hot air
• This increase in speed causes a bending of the
light rays
• The image appears upside down to the observer
Mirages
• Mirages are formed by refracted light
(they are not tricks of the mind).
• When a hot road appears to be wet, light
from the sky is being refracted through a
layer of hot air
Dispersion of Light
• The separation of light into its spectrum is
called dispersion.
• Red light is bent the least, while violet light is
bent the most.
• The index of refraction depends on the color,
or frequency, of light.
• A rainbow is a natural dispersion of light

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Refraction and Snell’s Law

Where is the index of refraction of the medium in

Crown Glass 1.52

Homework: p. 487 # 1-5, p. 509 # 67-69

• The speed of light is dependent on the

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