Skip to main content

You are not logged in. Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed.

We welcome edits that make the post easier to understand and more valuable for readers. Because community members review edits, please try to make the post substantially better than how you found it, for example, by fixing grammar or adding additional resources and hyperlinks.

2
  • $\begingroup$ what is difference between ray and wave? $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 7 at 10:57
  • $\begingroup$ Alright I just noticed a huge flaw in my answer. The emergent ray must be normal to the emergent wavefront by definition. I will soon correct it. The light indeed does get deflected, exactly like in a prism. A ray shows the general direction of propagation of light, in situations where light interacts with objects much bigger than the order of its wavelength. However, some situations, light seems to defy its ray-like properties (e.g. in interference, diffraction). In such cases, it is better described using waves. The property of phase in waves helps describe these, and explain bending here. $\endgroup$
    – Samj
    Commented Mar 7 at 15:10