Snell's Law of Refraction

Snell’s Law of Refraction

Snell’s Law describes the behavior of light as it travels from one medium into a different medium. Snell’s law can be written as…
n1 (sine angle 1) = n2 (sine angle 2)
n1 is the refractive index of medium 1
n2 is the refractive index of medium 2
Angle 1 is the angle of incidence
Angle 2 is the angle of refraction

Example 1
Light traveling in air (n1=1) hits a piece of glass at an angle of 30 degrees. The light refracts in the glass at an angle of 15 degrees. What is the index of refraction (RI) of the glass?

Answer = 1.93

Example 2
Light traveling in air (n1=1) hits a piece of glass at an angle of 45 degrees. If the glass has a refractive index of 1.5, what angle should the light bend at?

Answer = 28 degrees

[jocelynthomas]

Hello Mr. DeBacco, your video was an hour early today!