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  2. Snell's law - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell's_law

    Snell's law (also known as the Snell–Descartes law, the ibn-Sahl law, [1] and the law of refraction) is a formula used to describe the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction, when referring to light or other waves passing through a boundary between two different isotropic media, such as water, glass, or air.

  3. Fresnel equations - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_equations

    In the absence of Doppler shifts, ω does not change on reflection or refraction. Hence, by ( 2 ), the magnitude of the wave vector is proportional to the refractive index. So, for a given ω , if we redefine k as the magnitude of the wave vector in the reference medium (for which n = 1 ), then the wave vector has magnitude n 1 k in the first ...

  4. Refraction - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refraction

    In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. [1] Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomenon, but other waves such as sound waves and water waves also experience refraction. How much a wave ...

  5. Refractive index - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractive_index

    The second prism should have an index of refraction higher than that of the liquid, so that light only enters the prism at angles smaller than the critical angle for total reflection. This angle can then be measured either by looking through a telescope , [ clarification needed ] or with a digital photodetector placed in the focal plane of a lens.

  6. Plane of incidence - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_of_incidence

    In describing reflection and refraction in optics, the plane of incidence (also called the incidence plane or the meridional plane [citation needed]) is the plane which contains the surface normal and the propagation vector of the incoming radiation. [1] (In wave optics, the latter is the k-vector, or wavevector, of the incoming wave.)

  7. Angle of incidence (optics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_incidence_(optics)

    The angle of reflection and angle of refraction are other angles related to beams. In computer graphics and geography, the angle of incidence is also known as the illumination angle of a surface with a light source, such as the Earth's surface and the Sun. [1]

  8. Reflection (physics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_(physics)

    Reflection of light is either specular (mirror-like) or diffuse (retaining the energy, but losing the image) depending on the nature of the interface.In specular reflection the phase of the reflected waves depends on the choice of the origin of coordinates, but the relative phase between s and p (TE and TM) polarizations is fixed by the properties of the media and of the interface between them.

  9. Optics - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optics

    Geometry of reflection and refraction of light rays. Geometrical optics, or ray optics, describes the propagation of light in terms of "rays" which travel in straight lines, and whose paths are governed by the laws of reflection and refraction at interfaces between different media. [35]