![]() Snell’s law in general is applicable to two cases of refraction (a) is when a ray enters a material of larger index of refraction, it bends toward the normal, and (b) when a ray enters a material of smaller index of refraction, it bends away from the normal. This law is called the law of refraction or Snell’s Law in honor of Willebord Snell. Given two media, there is a law that relates the angle of incidence and angle of refraction. The index of refraction, denoted by n is just the ratio of the speed of light c in vaccum to the speed v in the material. Keep in mind that the incident, reflected, and refracted rays as well as the normal line all lie in the same plane. Illustration of light Įverything in Figure 1 is intuitive, so I leave it to you to investigate it. Figure 1 shows a typical ray model of light.įigure1. We only considered specular reflection in the experiment. When light is reflected from a smooth surface, it is specular. ![]() There are two types of reflection: specular and diffuse. On the other hand, we can see objects behind a transparent material because light is refracted, and afterwards reflected. We can see objects the way they are because the reflected light reaches our eyes. When a light wave hits a surface, it is partially reflected and partially refracted or transmitted. Next, I would like to define reflection and refraction. In this experiment, we used the ray model of light to describe the direction of propagation. In short, we can illustrate light as a wave and a particle. On the other hand, light is a particle because the energy associated with its emission and absorption is present in discrete bundles called photons or quanta. In fact, light is an electromagnetic wave, waves that can travel on vacuum. Light is a wave because it has wave properties, such as interference, etc. Light both exhibits a wave and particle nature. The fourth and last one was to have fun doing the experiment :).īefore I start discussing the experiment, I will first give you a heads up on the background of the experiment. Third, was to be able to trace the path of light as it emerges from optical materials of different geometries. Basically, we need to get data from the experiment and apply certain laws to be able to calculate the said index of refraction. Second, was to determine the index of refraction of glass using the optics set-up. In case you are confused, it means exactly what it means, we must be able to determine which light was reflected or refracted using an optical disk. First, was to be able to observe and investigate the reflection and refraction of light using an optical disk. ![]() To start things off, let me state here the objectives of the experiment. ![]() I am telling you, it was freaking awesome. Plus, me and my groupies were able to produce a series of rainbows while doing the experiment. However, the question is, do you know the reason why we see them? As a Physics student, being able to explain the Physics behind such phenomena is pretty cool for me :). You can say, “Meh, what’s so cool about that? I can see reflected and refracted light every day, every week, every year.”. ![]() Previously on our Physics laboratory, we did a cool experiment titled “The Reflection and Refraction of Light”. ![]()
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