Guest

why does light bend!?

why does light bend!?

Grade:12

1 Answers

Ramreddy IIT Patna
askIITians Faculty 49 Points
9 years ago
Refraction is the bending of the path of a light wave as it passes from one material into another material. The refraction occurs at the boundary and is caused by a change in the speed of the light wave upon crossing the boundary. The tendency of a ray of light to bend one direction or another is dependent upon whether the light wave speeds up or slows down upon crossing the boundary. The speed of a light wave is dependent upon the optical density of the material through which it moves. For this reason, the direction that the path of a light wave bends depends on whether the light wave is traveling from a more dense (slow) medium to a less dense (fast) medium or from a less dense medium to a more dense medium.

Think You Can Provide A Better Answer ?

ASK QUESTION

Get your questions answered by the expert for free