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Introduction
Refraction of light at a boundary
Experimental results
Refractive index
Refractive index of glass
Experiment results
Reversibility of light
Critical angle
Total internal reflection
Absolute refractive index
Questions
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David Atkinson, Hugh Baird College
Paul Berry, MATTER Project
Introducing the concept of refraction of light when it crosses a boundary
separating two transparent media.
Learning outcomes
After completing this section you should be able to:
 | draw the correct path of a ray of light when it crosses a boundary between two media of
different densities; |
| mark on a diagram the angles of incidence and refraction as well as the normal to the
boundary at the point of incidence; |
| state Snell's Law; |
| define the absolute refractive index of a material; |
| state the conditions necessary for total internal reflection to take place; |
| calculate the critical angle for a given pair of media given their absolute refractive
indices. |
Assumed prior knowledge
It is assumed that you have knowledge of the following concepts:
| the measurement of angles in degrees; |
| the meaning of the natural sine (sin) of an angle between 0° and 90°; |
| calculation of the gradient of a straight line graph. |
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