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Waves

What is Refraction of Light?

A material is transparent if you can see through it.
If you can see through it, it means that light can travel through it.
Transparent materials include air, Perspex, glass, and water.

Light travels at different speeds in different materials
because they have different densities.
The higher the density, the slower light travels. Light travels
fastest in space (a vacuum) and a little slower in air.
Light moves noticeably more slowly in glass than in air
because glass is obviously more dense.


Refraction of Light along a Normal.

A line drawn at right angles to the boundary
between the two media (air and glass) is called a normal.

Light passing through Glass along a Normal

Light that enters a glass block along a normal does not
change direction but it does travel more slowly through
the glass and so its wavelength is smaller (continued).

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