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What is the Total Internal Reflection of Light?
When a light
ray tries to move from glass to
air at an
angle greater than the
critical angle (see the previous page)
the refracted ray cannot escape
from the glass.
Refraction cannot happen and
all of the light is reflected
at the glass / air boundary, as if it had hit a mirror, i = r.
It is called internal reflection because it
occurs inside the glass, and it is called total
because all the light must be
reflected.
Total
Internal Reflection (TIR)
has uses in
prisms and
optical
fibres.
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