Science Focus Topic 3 Notes: Refraction | | Print | |
Refraction is the process in which light is bent, when it travels from one medium to another.
Light bends because it changes speed when it moves through materials that have different densities.
Light travels slower in materials that are more dense, because there are more particles. The bending
of light makes the object's image appear to be in a different position than it really is. Around a Bend with Light The Law of Refraction states
that when light travels from one medium, to a more dense medium, the light will be bent toward the normal, and when it exits the denser medium into a less dense medium it will bend away from the normal. The new direction of light is called the angle of refraction.
The pools of water you see on a hot summer day are often caused by this effect, because the air closer to the ground is hotter than the air above it. As you approach these pools, they disappear - because they were never there. Is That All There Is To Light? What happens when light strikes a surface? ...... Type of behavior
What happens to light striking a surface
Nature of surface
What else happens?
Absorption
Energy Transformation
rough, dark, opaque
some light is reflected
Reflection
Bounces off
smooth, shiny
some light is absorbed
Refraction
Travels through in a new direction
different transparent medium
some light is reflected
Topic 3 Review p. 206 |