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Snell's law |
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Snell's law: see refraction refraction, in physics, deflection of a wave on passing obliquely from one transparent medium into a second medium in which its speed is different, as the passage of a light ray from air into glass. ..... Click the link for more information. . Snell's lawRelationship between the path taken by a ray of light as it moves from one medium to another and the refractive indices of the two media. Discovered in 1621 by Willebrord Snell (1580–1626), the law went unpublished until its mention by Christiaan Huygens. If n1 and n2 represent the indices of refraction of two media, and θ1 and θ2 are the angles of incidence and refraction that a ray of light makes with the line perpendicular to the boundary (the normal), Snell's law states that n1/n2 = sin θ2/sin θ1. Because the ratio n1/n2 is a constant for any given wavelength of light, the ratio of the two sines is also a constant for any angle. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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