![]() However, when it leaves the glass, it is refracted back in the opposite way so that the light that passes out of the glass is similar to the light that first hit the window, but in a slightly different place. When light passes into the glass, it refracts. When two surfaces are parallel, they are the same distance apart so that they will never touch. In a pane of glass, the two surfaces are parallel. In a prism, the two surfaces are at an angle to each other. The difference between a prism and a pane of glass involves the two surfaces that the light passes through. When sunlight shines through a window, it doesn't usually form a rainbow. Refraction has to do with a wave changing speed. Light waves at the blue end of the rainbow are refracted the most. If white light shines through a prism or water drops in just the right way, refraction separates light waves by wavelength and causes a rainbow to appear. White light is made up of the seven colors you see in rainbows: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. You see light waves with different wavelengths as having different colors. Certain crystals called prisms and drops of water in the air can separate light into rainbows of colors. Once all the waves have entered the new medium, they continue moving in a straight line.Ĭertain objects refract, or bend, light in interesting ways. Some waves meet the surface first and change speed while the rest of the waves continue at the previous speed in the other medium. Moving into a medium at an angle causes waves to bend. If a wave moves straight into a medium, perpendicular to the surface, the wave will change speed, but it will continue in a straight line. The second thing that must happen for a wave to refract is that the wave must enter the new medium at an angle. If the wave speed decreases, it bends toward the normal line. When a wave increases its speed, it refracts away from the imaginary normal line. If a wave does not change speed in a second medium, the wave will continue in a straight line and will not bend. For a wave to refract, two things must happen. There is refraction of the light waves when they meet the water of the fish tank and in the glass because there is a change in wave speed moving from air to water or from water to air. This makes the spoon appear to be in a different position. The light waves have one speed in air and a different speed in water, which causes them to bend. When sound and light waves refract, the paths of the waves change, so things may look or sound different. Refraction occurs when a wave bends as it changes speed moving through a different medium. Since the path of the wave changes, the wave bends and objects may appear to be where they are not. ![]() However, if a wave changes speed, it does not continue in a straight line. When waves travel in straight lines, it allows you to judge where objects are. Waves transmit well through a medium when the path and speed of the wave are not changed much by the medium. You know that sound and light most often travel in straight lines and that they travel at certain speeds in certain media. When a wave passes through a medium, such as light passing through air or glass, it is known as transmission. When only some of the light waves transmit through a medium, it is described as translucent. A medium that transmits light well, like clear glass or air, is described as transparent. You can see sunlight that comes through a clean glass window because light transmits through glass. Waves of light and sound bend in refraction because they change speed as they pass through a medium. When a wave bends as it transmits through a medium, it is refraction. A wave passes through a medium is transmission. ![]()
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