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  2. Snell's law - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell's_law

    Snell's law (also known as the Snell–Descartes law, the ibn-Sahl law, [1] and 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 water, glass, or air.

  3. Refractive index - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractive_index

    The second prism should have an index of refraction higher than that of the liquid, so that light only enters the prism at angles smaller than the critical angle for total reflection. This angle can then be measured either by looking through a telescope , [ clarification needed ] or with a digital photodetector placed in the focal plane of a lens.

  4. Dispersive prism - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispersive_prism

    A ray trace through a prism with apex angle α. Regions 0, 1, and 2 have indices of refraction, , and , and primed angles ′ indicate the ray's angle after refraction.. Ray angle deviation and dispersion through a prism can be determined by tracing a sample ray through the element and using Snell's law at each interface.

  5. Refraction - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refraction

    In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. [1] Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomenon, but other waves such as sound waves and water waves also experience refraction. How much a wave ...

  6. Dispersion (optics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispersion_(optics)

    In a dispersive prism, material dispersion (a wavelength-dependent refractive index) causes different colors to refract at different angles, splitting white light into a spectrum. A compact fluorescent lamp seen through an Amici prism. Dispersion is the phenomenon in which the phase velocity of a wave depends on its frequency. [1]

  7. Cauchy's equation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauchy's_equation

    The most general form of Cauchy's equation is = + + +,where n is the refractive index, λ is the wavelength, A, B, C, etc., are coefficients that can be determined for a material by fitting the equation to measured refractive indices at known wavelengths.

  8. List of refractive indices - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_refractive_indices

    Refraction at interface. Many materials have a well-characterized refractive index, but these indices often depend strongly upon the frequency of light, causing optical dispersion. Standard refractive index measurements are taken at the "yellow doublet" sodium D line, with a wavelength (λ) of 589 nanometers.

  9. Prism spectrometer - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prism_spectrometer

    A prism spectrometer is an optical spectrometer which uses a dispersive prism as its dispersive element. The prism refracts light into its different colors ( wavelengths ). The dispersion occurs because the angle of refraction is dependent on the refractive index of the prism's material, which in turn is slightly dependent on the wavelength of ...