Explain the refraction of light through a glass slab?

Answer 1

It is to do with the light slowing down as it passes into a denser medium. As it slows down it is bent (refracted) and some is turned away (reflected). The sin of the angle of incidence devided by the sign of the angle of refraction is related to the refractive indeces (constants) of the two media concerned

The wave nature of light is shown by the fact a water wave's direction can be bent as it passes into shallower water and also changes velocity and direction.

Answer 2

Refraction Through A Glass Slab

Answer 3

When the light enters the upper face of the glass slab refraction takes place and when it leaves the second face refraction takes place again.. But there is a lateral shift between the incident ray and emergent ray..Like this refraction takes place thrh a glass slab..

Answer 4

when a light allows to pass through a glass slab , there is two matters happening one is REFRACTION , another is Reflection .

Refraction is transmitting away from the glass slab .

let XY be the glass surface .

consider a light AB passes through XY, where refraction will takes place still the angle of incidence making angle of refraction(angle of polarisation) should less than 90*.

Answer 5

When light passes through glass, it encounters TWO interfaces--one entering and the other leaving. It slows down at the first interface and speeds back up at the second. If the two interface surfaces are parallel to each other, as in a 'slab' of glass, all of the bending (and dispersion) that takes place at the first interfaces is exactly reversed at the second, 'undoing' the effect of the first interface; so although the emerging ray of light is displaced slightly from the entering ray, it travels in the same direction as the incoming ray and all wavelengths that separated at the first interface are re-combined.

If the second interface is NOT parallel to the first, as in a prism, the effects of the first interface are NOT reversed and the colors separated at that interface continue along different paths upon leaving the glass.

Answer 6

At the most fundamental level this is explained by Quantum Electrodynamics or Q.E.D. There's a great non-technical book by Richard Feynman called, "QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter." It attempts to explain, among other phenomena involving light, refraction.

In a nutshell, the speed of light passing through glass is slower than in air due to successive absorption and re-transmission events. The electrons of the glass atoms are doing the absorbing and transmitting.

For a much better and more elaborate explanation, thumb through Feynman's book.

Answer 7

For this, we need to simply assume that light is a wave. Any electromagnetic wave has to keep moving, stopping only when absorbed by charged particles. In glass, the light is not absorbed, so it travels through. Also, light has a frequency. The frequency is intrinsic for any EM wave, and does not change wherever it travels, may it be glass, air, or whatever. We also need to know the relationship between frequency and speed for any EM wave: freq = speed / wavelength. The speed here refers to the speed of light through a medium. As light travels from air to glass, the wavelength gets shorter. Since frequency has to be preserved, the speed also has to be reduced. The opposite thing happens when the light re-enters air. The frequency has to be maintained, and the wavelength increases, and goes back to what it was before entry into the glass. So the speed has to change again, this time incresing.

Answer 8

Light changes speed in different mediums(its the highest in vacuum) like we do on different lands like, we walk slower on sand and faster on rocks. This causes a virtual bending of light i.e. REFRACTION. For convenience, assume light as a platoon of soldiers, rocks as vacuum and sand as the denser medium. When soldiers move from rocks to sand at some angle, the soldier the first to enter the sand

Answer 9

Hi. The light bends at one angle and bends back upon exiting. You only see a translation of the light in one direction.

Answer 10

whe light travels from one medium to other eg. here air to glass,it changes its directiom,is called refraction