Back Snell's Law Lenses Ray Optics Light Physics Contents Index Home Show
In the ray traced image above several clear glass spheres refract light from varied positions within a checkerboard tiled room. Refraction occurs when a light ray changes mediums. Light traveling from air and going into water would be an example of light changing mediums. The speed of light changes when it changes mediums. In almost every case the direction of the light ray changes also. An aside: In relativity physics we say that the speed of light is always measured to be the same value regardless of the frame of reference, and this speed is, therefore, constant. In that context, though, we are speaking of the speed of light in free space traveling through a perfect vacuum. Here, discussing ray optics refraction, we are dealing with light traveling through a medium, like air or water, and judging its speed through that medium through a frame of reference at rest with the medium -- the lab. In the picture above light rays coming from the walls and floor change direction as they go from air into the glass spheres, and they change direction again when they exit the glass spheres and renter air. This causes the checkerboard patterns to be distorted. Anyone who has ever looked through any type of curved piece of glass has seen a similar phenomena. At first we will look at a simple refraction, one that happens at a flat boundary. To the left is a picture of such a situation. Here a single ray of light strikes a boundary between two mediums and is refracted. Note that the angle of refraction is smaller than the angle of incidence. Here are descriptions for the terms in the above diagram:
The above picture demonstrates the general behavior of a light ray as it travels from air into some transparent medium such as water or glass. We will often describe the light beam as bending toward the normal or away from the normal. The following picture, much like the one directly above, shows light bending toward the normal. Again, this is the general behavior for light going from air into water or glass. Here light bends toward the normal. The red arrow is meant to show what we mean by the phrase 'bending toward the normal.' Notice that in these conditions the angle of refraction is smaller than the angle of incidence. This next picture shows light bending away from the normal. This would be the general behavior for light going from water or glass into air. Here light bends away from the normal. The red arrow is meant to show what we mean by the phrase 'bending away from the normal.' Notice that in these conditions the angle of refraction is larger than the angle of incidence. The situations where light bends away from the normal can become more complicated than those where light bends toward the normal. This is because the angle of incidence can become large enough so that the angle of refraction, being even larger, can reach 90 degrees. This eliminates the possibility that the ray will enter the refracted medium. These conditions demonstrate what is known as a critical angle. Almost all of the time when light changes mediums, it changes direction. However, if it strikes the interface with an angle of incidence of 0 degrees, then no bending will occur. The picture at the left shows this Also, there are a few conditions where light travels from one medium into another and does not bend for any angle of incidence. This happens when the two mediums are different substances, but have the same optical density. This situation will be covered in the explanation of Snell's law, which has its own section. Back Snell's Law Lenses Ray Optics Light Physics Contents Index Home
When light passes from a less dense to a more dense substance, (for example passing from air into water), the light is refracted (or bent) towards the normal.
A demonstration of refraction can be conducted at home in a dark room. All that is needed is a flashlight, a clear glass filled with water and a small mirror. Figure adapted from Ahrens, 1994
Refraction is the bending of light (it also happens with sound, water and other waves) as it passes from one transparent substance into another. This bending by refraction makes it possible for us to have lenses, magnifying glasses, prisms and rainbows. Even our eyes depend upon this bending of light. Without refraction, we wouldn’t be able to focus light onto our retina. Change of speed causes change of directionLight refracts whenever it travels at an angle into a substance with a different refractive index (optical density). This change of direction is caused by a change in speed. For example, when light travels from air into water, it slows down, causing it to continue to travel at a different angle or direction. How much does light bend? The amount of bending depends on two things:
Refractive index of some transparent substances
All angles are measured from an imaginary line drawn at 90° to the surface of the two substances This line is drawn as a dotted line and is called the normal. If light enters any substance with a higher refractive index (such as from air into glass) it slows down. The light bends towards the normal line. If light travels enters into a substance with a lower refractive index (such as from water into air) it speeds up. The light bends away from the normal line. A higher refractive index shows that light will slow down and change direction more as it enters the substance. LensesA lens is simply a curved block of glass or plastic. There are two kinds of lens. A biconvex lens is thicker at the middle than it is at the edges. This is the kind of lens used for a magnifying glass. Parallel rays of light can be focused in to a focal point. A biconvex lens is called a converging lens. A biconcave lens curves is thinner at the middle than it is at the edges. Light rays refract outwards (spread apart) as they enter the lens and again as they leave. Refraction can create a spectrumIsaac Newton performed a famous experiment using a triangular block of glass called a prism. He used sunlight shining in through his window to create a spectrum of colours on the opposite side of his room. This experiment showed that white light is actually made of all the colours of the rainbow. These seven colours are remembered by the acronym ROY G BIV – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Newton showed that each of these colours cannot be turned into other colours. He also showed that they can be recombined to make white light again. The explanation for the colours separating out is that the light is made of waves. Red light has a longer wavelength than violet light. The refractive index for red light in glass is slightly different than for violet light. Violet light slows down even more than red light, so it is refracted at a slightly greater angle. The refractive index of red light in glass is 1.513. The refractive index of violet light is 1.532. This slight difference is enough for the shorter wavelengths of light to be refracted more. RainbowsA rainbow is caused because each colour refracts at slightly different angles as it enters, reflects off the inside and then leaves each tiny drop of rain. A rainbow is easy to create using a spray bottle and the sunshine. The centre of the circle of the rainbow will always be the shadow of your head on the ground. The secondary rainbow that can sometimes be seen is caused by each ray of light reflecting twice on the inside of each droplet before it leaves. This second reflection causes the colours on the secondary rainbow to be reversed. Red is at the top for the primary rainbow, but in the secondary rainbow, red is at the bottom.
Use these activities with your students to explore refration further:
Learn more about different types of rainbows, how they are made and other atmospheric optical phenomena with this MetService blog and Science Kids post. Learn more about human lenses, optics, photoreceptors and neural pathways that enable vision through this tutorial from Biology Online. |