Questions tagged [refraction]
Change in the direction of propagation of a wave when its transmitting medium changes. The tag does also apply to index of refraction.
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The angle of the prism for which there is no emergent ray will be, if its critical angle is $i_c$?
I read the answer here https://www.toppr.com/ask/question/the-angle-of-the-prism-for-which-there-is-no-emergent-ray-will-be-if/ . It said Applying snell's law at the two refracting surfaces,
sini=...
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Luneburg lens in a medium
A Luneburg lens is a spherical lens with a gradient refractive index. It has the interesting property that light coming from focal length of infinity will be focused on the surface of the lens.
The ...
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Diffraction when the wavefront is not parallel to the plane
I am studying Feynman's chapter on the origin of the index of the refractive index (see this link).
If I am not mistaken, what he does is to prove that when a wave enters a medium (modelled as a ...
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Difficulty in understanding an optics question
So here's the question:-
A thin film of transparent material of refractive index $1.52$ and thickness $0.42\ \rm \mu m$ forms a thin coating on glass of refractive index $1.60$. It is viewed by ...
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Complete the concave ray diagram to show the path of the rays after refraction through the lens [closed]
Ray diagram,
Path of the refracted rays
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What is meant by optical density?
I’m trying to research about optical density for a school task, but the definitions online are confusing me.
From what I’ve gotten, optical density is:
how much the intensity of light is increased or ...
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What is the intensity of photon before and after striking the glass prism?
during dispersion we all know that white light enters in to the prism and disperses into the visible radiation, my question is whether a glass prism can eliminate other wavelengths and allow only ...
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Why does a ray travel in a straight line to the observer in a mirage
In a mirage why does the light travel in a straight line to the observer?
What name is given to a ray that bends when approaching a hot surface?
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Snell's law in materials having negative permittivity only?
We have reverse Snell's law in negative index materials (having negative permittivity and permeability). If we have a material with only negative permittivity , then can we also have reverse Snell's ...
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Under which circumstances is Snell's law applicable?
For a few years I have been tinkering with a numerical solver for light propagation. I stuck with the Helmholtz equation in the paraxial approximation because of lasers.
$$\partial_z f= \frac{i}{2k}\...
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How mirror can be used to explain the appearance of mirages?
Since mirage, in optics, the deceptive appearance of a distant object or objects caused by the bending of light rays (refraction) in layers of air of varying density. The normal path of light rays ...
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Most generic form of refractive index tensors
The refractive index of a material is in general a $3x3$ tensor (as in the case of birefringent crystals). From literature, it seems that in the case of transparent crystals, this tensor is in general ...
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Under water light reflection of air in a cup vs water in a cup
The last time I was on vacation I was drinking on the swimming pool, and after I was finished with the drinks I started playing with the 2 plastic cups I had, and noticed that the air produces a ...
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Does time pass slowly in water?
In water the speed of light is slower than it is in vacuum. By special relativity the speed of light is constant. Typically, for the basic explanation of special relativity a clock which has a mirror ...
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Huygens' principle and the laws of reflection/refraction
As I understand the Huygens principle, all points on the wavefront are sources of secondary spherical wavelets and the tangent to these wavelets will form new wavefront. This is used to prove the ...
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Relating Brachistochrone problem to Fermat's principle of least time [closed]
When I came across the Brachistochrone problem, my teacher said we could relate it to Fermat's principle of least time.
So, we could make many glass slabs of high $\mathrm dx$, and every slab has a ...
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At which wavelengths do photons behave like X-ray?
Hard X-rays of wavelengths of about an angstrom are very different than regular lights in a way that they can’t be reflected or refracted, which means their refractive index is always close to 1 ...
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Image Formation at a Spherical Refracting Surface
I was thinking about refraction at spherical refracting surfaces and what the required conditions be for the formation of a real or virtual image?
I thought I could use this formula:
\begin{equation*}
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Is there a good quantum explanation of refraction? [duplicate]
I'm aware of the classical explanation of refraction which deals with light being a wave that gets "slowed" down while passing from a medium to another. One problem that I have with this ...
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What's at the end of a rainbow?
I recently saw a video where someone saw the end of a rainbow as it went into a lake. How is this even possible considering the fact that rainbows have no ends and are circular in nature?
Edit: I ...
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What does the optical Hamiltonian mean?
So I was trying to demonstrate Snell's law with Hamilton's equations, and when I got the Hamiltonian:
$$H = -\sqrt{n^2-p_{1}^2-p_{2}^2}.$$
I had a question about what this Hamiltonian indicates. I ...
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Can apparent depth be equal to real depth in any case?
Also does the depth of a tank decrease or remain same when viewed normally from above
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Complex part of second-order susceptibility in nonlinear optics
In optics, the absorption of photons by a material can be described by considering the material's susceptibility. For linear absorption (involving a single photon), we think about the imaginary part ...
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In Young double slit experiment, if whole of the space between the slits and the screen is filled with some optical medium (excluding air and vacuum)
Then a slab is introduced in front of one of the slits.
What will be the path difference offered by the slab?
The equation must be, according to my school teacher:
$$\left({n/n'-1}\right)p=d\sin\phi$$...
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Why can't we see green color in the sky? [duplicate]
From sunrise to sunset we can see a variety of colors in the sky.
For example, during morning the most dominant color is blue whereas during sunset orange,red,yellow and there shades are more dominant....
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What is refractive index of a hollow glass container with a liquid inside?
Suppose that a thin hollow glass slab with a refractive index of $1.5$ contains a liquid inside, which has a refractive index of $\mu$, and $\mu \neq 1.5$. If I now send a laser light at the medium ...
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Relationship between complex refractive index and complex conductivity in condensed matter physics
This equation relates the complex refractive index of non-magnetic materials to their intrinsic complex conductivity:
$$\tilde\sigma = i\omega\varepsilon_0 (1-\tilde{n}^2)$$
However in the field of ...
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How does a broadband dielectric Mirror work?
It is widely known that dielectric mirrors work with several layers of at least two materials which differ in refractive index that are layered, such that partially reflected waves interfere ...
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Hyperbolic lens shape and aspheric surfaces
In Optics, Hecht, the author states that the perfect surface for a lens shape will be a hyperbola.
He essentially derives this answer by writing the optical path length from F1 to A, then A to D, and ...
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Paint: "Darker When Dry"?
A great question I enjoy bringing up is why are things, in general, "darker when wet". This applies to porous and granular materials like wetted stone, paper, sand etc. It also comes up in ...
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