Refraction?

Question

I know the basics of refraction, but I'd like to extend/advance my report by going into depth about it, perhaps relating it to some interesting phenomena, and connect it to more complicated physics theories.
Can you suggest some things?

Answer 1

Refraction
When we talk about the speed of light, we're usually talking about the speed of light in a vacuum, which is 3.00 x 108 m/s. When light travels through something else, such as glass, diamond, or plastic, it travels at a different speed. The speed of light in a given material is related to a quantity called the index of refraction, n, which is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in the medium:

index of refraction : n = c / v

When light travels from one medium to another, the speed changes, as does the wavelength. The index of refraction can also be stated in terms of wavelength:



Although the speed changes and wavelength changes, the frequency of the light will be constant. The frequency, wavelength, and speed are related by:



The change in speed that occurs when light passes from one medium to another is responsible for the bending of light, or refraction, that takes place at an interface. If light is travelling from medium 1 into medium 2, and angles are measured from the normal to the interface, the angle of transmission of the light into the second medium is related to the angle of incidence by Snell's law : states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
2nd law states that the the ration of Sin i = to the ratio of sin r. where i is angle of incidence and r is angle of reflection.

Answer 2

Check out the Wikipedia article on refraction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refraction

It mentions about phenomena of refraction like rainbows and mirages while the "See also" section provides links to principles and theories related to refraction.

Answer 3

Total internal reflection.