Refraction 1

Copyright Mark Jordan

Davitt College,
Castlebar
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1

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Normal

Refraction
i
r

cid
n
I

ay
r
t
en

Ray of light travelling from less

dense medium (e.g. air) to more
dense medium (e.g. glass) changes
direction or bends called
Refraction.
A normal (90o) to point where the
light enters dense medium (glass)
shows ray bending into the normal.

Re
fr

ac

ted

ra
y

Air
Glass

Angle of
incidence

Angle of
refraction

Normal

Refraction

Air
Glass

Angle of
refraction Light ray travelling from a more
dense medium (glass) to a less
dense medium (air) bends away
r
from the normal - Snells Law
again applies i.e. sin i sin r
Refraction is the bending of
a wave at the boundary
when it is going from one
medium to another

We can verify
Snells Law with
an Experiment

Angle of
incidence

Using a ray box and a block of glass record the values for
the angle of incidence & angle of refraction as shown.
5

Find the sine of angles of incidence and refraction and record

i/ o

r/o

sin i

sin r

35o

23o

0.57

0.39

40o

26o

0.64

0.44

45o

29o

0.7

0.49

50o

32o

0.76

0.53

55o

34o

0.81

0.56

60o

36o

0.86

0.59

65o

38o

0.90

0.62

Draw graph of sin i (y- axis) against sin r (x-axis)

6

Draw graph of sin i (y-axis) against sin r (x- axis)

(0.68, 1.0)

Straight line graph through the origin proves Snells

Law
i.e. Sin i Sin r
n
=
k
=
pe
o
l
S
(0.14, 0.2)

Choose coordinates on
Refractive index (n) =
line
7

sin i
sin r

= 1.48

Waves going from air

to glass at angle other
than 90o
velocity decreases
frequency remains
constant
Wavelength
decreases (from c = f )

c
n
c

r= 90

Air

Air

Glass

Glass

i
light ray
travelling from
more dense to less
dense medium
refraction
occurs
refracted ray
bends away from
the normal.

Air
Glass

ic

As the angle of
incidence gets
bigger, angle of
refraction gets
bigger &
eventually
becomes 90o. This
angle of incidence
is called the
critical angle
9

i r

Angle of
incidence becomes
bigger than the
critical angle
then..
Total internal
reflection occurs

Refraction
r=

Air
Glass

It is possible to calculate the

refractive index using the
critical angle

90

c
sin c
n
sin 90
sin 90
n
sin c
1
n
sin c
glass

As the angle of
incidence gets bigger,
the angle of refraction
gets bigger &
eventually becomes 90o.
This angle of incidence
is called the critical
angle

air

10

air

glass

11

Critical angle of glass in

prism 41.9o (approx)

Light from air to glass at 90o

No Refraction

450
450

450
450

Light attempting to go from

glass to air but angle of
incidence greater than critical
angle.
Total Internal Reflection
Light from glass to air at 90o
No Refraction
12

Critical angle of glass in

prism 41.9o (approx)

Light from air to glass at 90o

No Refraction
Light attempting to go from
glass to air but angle of
incidence greater than critical
angle.

450

Total Internal Reflection

450

Light from glass to air at 90o

No Refraction

13

Mirage

Li
gh
tr
ay

Cool air

sf

----

ro
m

Total Internal Reflection of light from sky

sk
y

High density

Warm air
Hot air

Low density
Hot ground
14

Refraction

Apparent
depth
Real
depth

Glass of
water
15

n = Real depth
Apparent depth

Optic Fibre
Glass cladding of
low refractive index

16

Glass core of high

refractive index

Glass of high refractive index

Glass of low refractive index
N

Normal

17