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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 is refracted is determined by the change in wave speed and the initial direction of wave propagation relative to the direction of change in speed.
The ordinary law of refraction was at that time attributed to René Descartes (d. 1650), who had tried to explain it by supposing that light was a force that propagated instantaneously, or that light was analogous to a tennis ball that traveled faster in the denser medium, [44] [45] either premise being inconsistent with Fermat's.
Descartes' third model creates a mathematical equation for the Law of Refraction, characterized by the angle of incidence equalling the angle of refraction. In today's notation, the law of refraction states, sin i = n sin r, where i is the angle of incidence, r is the angle of refraction, and n is the index of refraction. Using a tennis ball ...
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.
The law of refraction says that the refracted ray lies in the plane of incidence, and the sine of the angle of incidence divided by the sine of the angle of refraction is a constant: =, where n is a constant for any two materials and a given colour of light.
This is the normal refraction of transparent materials like glass or water, and corresponds to a refractive index which is real and greater than 1. [26] [page needed] If the electrons emit a light wave which is 270° out of phase with the light wave shaking them, it will cause the wave to travel faster.
From Snell's law it can be seen that the angle of refraction of light in a prism depends on the refractive index of the prism material. Since that refractive index varies with wavelength, it follows that the angle that the light is refracted by will also vary with wavelength, causing an angular separation of the colors known as angular dispersion.
Snell's Law can be used to predict the deflection of light rays as they pass through "linear media" as long as the indexes of refraction and the geometry of the media are known. For example, the propagation of light through a prism results in the light ray being deflected depending on the shape and orientation of the prism.