Refraction Definition and 751 Threads

an insect hovers in a fixed position above the still water of a pond. draw a diagram to show approximately where it appears to be to a fish vertically below it. Okay I am confused between two things ... is it going to appear at a lower height than original or will be at the same height since...

When using a wave tank to create waves that then pass through a gap in a barrier to create refraction that expands out the other side of the gap,, if the depth of the water is increased but the frequency is the same, will the amount of refraction increase or decrease? Basically, when depth in...

Hello! I'm having difficulty solving this problem, I was wondering if you can help me solve it. Light is incident in air at an angle on the upper surface of a transparent plate, the surfaces of the plate being plane and parallel to each other. A ray of light is incident at an angle of 66.0...

i know that refraction is the 'bending' of light as it enters a different medium. what's diffraction? is that when light somehow disperses when it goes really far...? can someone explain them? and why the names are so similar?

I have been doing a science fair project, *As some of you might have noticed by my previous posts* and I am TOTALLY stuck on this part of my lab. So this is basically what happened while I was trying to find out the angle of refraciton of 5 different liquids: After analysis of the...

given is a graph of n(lambda) vs lambda where n is the index of refraction N(1000) =1.45 Estimate Vphase and group velocity using the above info. i know that n = \frac{c}{v_{\phi}} = \frac{ck}{\omega} i can't simply susbtitute into that above relation because the lambda given is that...

I am doing a science fair project on refraction and I am preparing for the regionals and I found a small flaw in my report and I am wondering if any of you guys can help me out here. This is what I wrote: Why do electromagnetic waves warp when it goes through the process of refraction...

Hi! I'm trying to figure out what angel the light-wave will leave the glasprisma (it enters the glasprisma from the air). http://home.tiscali.se/21355861/bilder/prisma1.JPG So I need to use Snell's law n_{1}sin\theta_1 = n_{2}sin\theta_2 n for the glasprisma equals 1.6 So...

I have input rays into a glass plate and output rays for this glass plate also. How can I prove that they are indeed parallel. I'm thinking all I need to do is extend the inout and output rays, and indicate that they are both 180 deg. Visually, they will appear parallel anyways.

Prove mathematically that when a plane mirror is rotated an angle theta about an axis through its center, the angle of deflection of a light is equal to 2theta. How am i to show draw this out? I have already drawn my points and lined up my angles with and without the mirror rotated. I don't know...

Suppose you want to take a photograph of yourself as you look at your image in a flat mirror 1.8 m away. For what distance should the camera lens be focused? You must be ½ the total distance away: since the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, the distance needed to get a...

I'm a little confused. My source says the dielectric constant for water is 80. Then I have the equation that gives the index of refraction as n=\sqrt{\epsilon_r} (since it isn't very magnetic). But the index of refraction for water is 1.33. What am I missing?

One of our lab assignments was to use a lens to focus an arrow-shaped beam of light onto a sheet of paper. We were then told to predict what would happen if we covered up the top/bottom/left/right half of the lens. I predicted that covering the top portion would cause the bottom part of the...

A ray of light strikes a flat block of glass (n=1.5) of thickness 2.0 cm at an angle of 30 degrees with the normal. Find the distance the light is shifted. I found the angle of refraction to be 19.471 degrees. I figured I could find the horizontal distance traveled by rays going through at 30...

Could someone tell me if I did this right? A narrow beam of sodium yellow light, with wavelength 589 nm in vacuum, is incident from air onto a smooth water surface at an angle of incidence of 35.0 degrees. Determine the angle of refraction and the wavelength of the light in water. I did...

Is the following equation which relates to light refraction index and the amount which bounces back been proven experimental or theoretically(mathematicaly)? R = [(n1-n2)/(n1+n2)]

if you were to hit a fish with a laser gun, how would you aim? (provided that laser if faster than light). Pls explain.

if you were to hit a fish with a laser gun, how would you aim? (provided that laser if faster than light). Pls explain.

Calculate the speed of light in a) Diamond (n = 2.42) use 3.00 x 10^8 m/s as the speed of light ...ok how do I do this? Snell's law only let's me find anles or refractive indicies...

Ok so now our class is onto snell's law... We did a few experiments where light refracts when it is passing into a new medium... In an experiment today we were trying to find the total internal refraction, and my friend shined the light at an angle and we observed a spectrum... ? but it...

AP PHYSICS PROBLEM...i forgot the formula, someone help me solve! This won't take lon Light of frequency 6.0 x 1014 hz strikes a glass/air boundary at an angle of incidence, ø1. The ray is partially reflected and partially refracted at the boundary as shown. The indices are shown. (a)...

Does anybody here know the refraction index of paper? I couldn't find any info on this... Any kind will do.

The packet doesn't explain this concept very well, and the book doesn't seem to explain it at all. A glass surface (n = 1.5) is coated with a film with an index of refraction n=1.3. If light of frequency 6x10^14 cps is incident almost normally on the film, find the minimum thickness that...

Is the refraction of light a photon absorption-emission process? If so, why doesn't the beam scatter in all directions?

Why do shorter wave lengths of light (ie:blue light) refract more than longer wave lengths (ie:red light)? and why does light bend not just slow down? what is causing the light to follow and bend with the other light? what is this attraction force caused by? :confused: :confused: :confused:

Hello, will refreactoin index of water or any material will change its refreaction index when temperature changes? What make the speed of light slower in air compare to vacum.

A cylindrical material of radius R = 2.00 m has a mirrored surface on its right half, (as in figure that i have attached below). A light ray traveling in air is incident on the left side of the cylinder. If the incident light ray and exiting light ray are parallel and d = 2.00 m, determine the...

A light ray traveling through a glass medium, index of refraction1.52, is incident on the boundary between the glass and water, index of refraction 1.33 What is the critical angle for the glass at this boundary? What would the critical angle be if the incident medium was air instead of water...

Here is the question: Violet light has a frequency of 7.5 * 10^14 hz and travels from air to glass at an angle of 30 degrees. The index of refraction for violet light is 1.54. A) Find the angle of refraction B) Find the wavelength in air C) Find the wavelength in glass D) What is the...

If Sin(theta r)/Sin(theta i) is reversed from Sin(theta i)/Sin(theta r) = n, what does this mean? I'm quite confused since I'm doing a physics lab, and the class was told to make a graph where we measured angles with polar paper, pins and plexyglass. Could it possibly the index of refraction...

I'm really not sure how to figure these 3 problems out. Can someone please help me. Thanks. 1) A converging lens has a focal length of 85 cm. A 14-cm-tall object is located 121 cm in front of this lens. (a) What is the image distance? (b) What is the image height? Be sure to include the...

In this figure the path of the light passes from air to glass. Calculate the index of refraction n1 = air = 1 n2 = glass = ? Sin theta 1 = 30degrees sin theat 2 is = 20 degrees formula used n2 = n1*sin theta 1 / sin theta 2 sin of 30/ sin of 20 = n2 = 1.46 is this correct hope the...

A ray of light strikes an interface between materials 1 and 2 and enters the new material(2). The angle of incidence is 40 degrees. The index in material 2 is 1.5 times that of material 1. The refraction angle is ( in degrees):

? gravity and refraction I don't know if this is silly, but does gravity refract us towards the earth? :confused:

Another question in the exam today was "What property of light changes when light moves between different mediums, its wavelength of frequency?". I had to flip a coin on this one (like everyone else, this was not taught in class) and went with frequency.

Question: One of the beams of an interferometer, as seen in the figure below, passes through a small glass container containing a cavity D = 1.40 cm deep. When a gas is allowed to slowly fill the container, a total of 230 dark fringes are counted to move past a reference line. The light used...

Numerous texts I've read on eye anatomy/physiology claim that it is the cornea that is responsible for most of the eye's refractive power. Can someone perhaps explain to me how this could be the case? I would have thought that, considering that the tangents to the points of entry and exit of a...

Refraction problems due Midnight! Problem 13. A ray of light traveling in air strikes the midpoint of one face of an equiangular glass prism (n=1.65) at angle of exactly 30.0 degrees. Trace the path of the light ray through the glass and find the angle of incidence of the ray at the bottom of...

problem 4. A ray of light traveling in air strikes a flat 2.00 cm tick block of glass (n=1.50) at an angle of 25.6 degrees with the normal. Trace the light ray through the glass, and find the angle of refraction for light passing from air to glass. Answer in degrees. Note: I don't know...

How do u figure out the ratio of the refraction index if you have to unknown materials, that of which, one is 1.25 greater than the speed of sound.

What does light refraction have to do with the sky being blue (or any color for that matter)? Thanks for any replies.

I did a lab in school where I took a triangular prism and shined light though it. I measured the angle of incidence and angle of refraction for three different angles. The lab question first told me to find the index of refraction of the prism using the two angles. That was easy. The next...

Hi, As the part of a science project, I'm trying to refract communicational radio-waves towards a point. I first thought about using a lens, but because of double refraction when passing through a lens, relatively little refraction is achieved. I thought that if I could create a bubble of...

Hello everyone, I am reviewing for a test tomorrow, and I seem to have come across what would seem like an easy problem, but its answer has eluded me for the time being. I am hoping you guys can help. Horizontal rays of red light (660nm in a vacuum) and violet light (410nm in a vacuum)...

Hi all. I just have a few questions regarding light refraction and reflection. At sunset, the sun seems to be higher in the sky than it really is- correct? What causes this? Which color of light is refracted least by a glass prism? How do each of the colors separate through a prism to...

I have a simple question to which, I assume, the answer will be quite complicated. I asked my physics teacher this question and all he would say was, "It is known." So without beating me to death with physics can anyone tell me why waves diffract? For instance, electron diffraction around a...

So what is it? This is not a homework question. But I anticipate a good discussion.

I've seen the diagrams they write up talking about refraction for ages .. where a light ray goes into a different medium of higher index of refraction at an angle, and then the light ray is bent. And that is used to illustrate Snel's law. I guess I haven't paid close enough attention! I'm...

examples of refraction being abrupt and another that is gradual. been thinking and nothing have popped in my mind? easy examples are ok as long as i get it :)

I need to know the refraction number as well as the density of conventional Polyethylene PE (not HDPE), but i didn't find them anywhere. Can you help me? Thanks Tim