The relationship describing how light bends at the interface of two media. Descartes also studied this phenomenon (but later than Snell did), and it is his mathematical formulation of the effect that we call Snell's Law: 1 sin 2 sin where ni is the index of refraction in the th medium, and is the angle in the th medium, measured between the path of light and the normal to the interface. Snell's Law is introduced on this page of this module.
Gives the quantitative change of direction of a ray of light in passing from one medium to another. The product n sin z is the same on both sides of a plane interface between two media, where n is the local refractive index, and z is the local angle the ray makes with the normal to the interface.
relationship between the sines of incident and refracted angles for a beam passing between two media of different refractive indices.
Fundamental principle in optics that the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction are in a constant ratio to one another.1
The law in optics governing the angle of a refracted ray: n1 · sin θi = n3 · sin( More Details)
It is only the relative indexes of refraction of two materials that will determine the way that light is bent (refracted) when it crosses the boundary between these two materials.
The law of refraction: when light is incident on two homogenous isotropic media with a common boundary.
In optics and physics, Snell's law (also known as Descartes' Law or 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 air and glass. The law says that the ratio of the sines of the angles of incidence and of refraction is a constant that depends on the media.
