Tuesday 22 February 2011

5CH - Extended refraction formula



Extended the refraction formula today to include wavelength and velocity. When light moves into a more dense medium, it slows down. Its wavelength also decreases. We can use these changes in velocity and wavelength to calculate refractive index, n.

We also looked at white light refracting through a prism. Red refracts least and violet refracts the most. Because the angles of refraction for the colours that make up white light are different, then it must mean they have different wavelengths and different speeds as they enter the prism. This leads us to the idea that different colours of light have different refractive indexes.

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