The Angle of Refraction Refraction is the bending of the path of a light wave as it passes across the boundary separating two media. Refraction is caused by the change in speed experienced by a wave when it changes medium. In Lesson 1, we learned that if a light wave passes from a medium in which it travels slow…
In the quiet waters of the Orient, there is an unusual fish known as the Archer fish. The Archer fish is unlike any other fish in that the Archer fish finds its prey living outside the water. An insect, butterfly, spider or similar creature is the target of the Archer fish’s powerful spray of water….
Refraction is the bending of the path of a light wave as it passes from one material into another material. The refraction occurs at the boundary and is caused by a change in the speed of the light wave upon crossing the boundary. The tendency of a ray of light to bend one direction or another is dependent…
Refraction is the bending of the path of a light wave as it passes from one material to another material. The refraction occurs at the boundary and is caused by a change in the speed of the light wave upon crossing the boundary. The tendency of a ray of light to bend one direction or another is dependent…
We have learned that refraction occurs as light passes across the boundary between two media. Refraction is merely one of several possible boundary behaviors by which a light wave could behave when it encounters a new medium or an obstacle in its path. The transmission of light across a boundary between two media is accompanied by a change in both…
In Unit 13 of The Physics Classroom Tutorial, it was emphasized that we are able to see because light from an object can travel to our eyes. Every object that can be seen is seen only because light from that object travels to our eyes. As you look at Mary in class, you are able to…
Refraction at a Boundary Boundary Behavior A wave doesn’t just stop when it reaches the end of the medium. Rather, a wave will undergo certain behaviors when it encounters the end of the medium. Specifically, there will be some reflection off the boundary and some transmission into the new medium. The transmitted wave undergoes refraction (or bending) if it approaches…
Ray diagrams can be used to determine the image location, size, orientation and type of image formed ofobjects when placed at a given location in front of a mirror. The use of these diagrams was demonstrated earlier in Lesson 3 and in Lesson 4. Ray diagrams provide useful information about object-image relationships, yet fail to provide the information in a…
Previously ray diagrams were constructed in order to determine the location, size, orientation, and type of image formed by concave mirrors. The ray diagram constructed earlier for a convex mirror revealed that the image of the object was virtual, upright, reduced in size and located behind the mirror. But will these always be the characteristics of…
In the first section of Lesson 4, we learned that light is reflected by convex mirrors in a manner that a virtual image is formed. We also learned that there are two simple rules of reflection for convex mirrors.These rules represent slight revisions of the two rules given for concave mirrors. The revised rules can be stated as…