Monday, 28 March 2016

3.21 explain the meaning of critical angle c

When light travels through different materials, it is refracted. If light ray is shone through a medium at certain angle (known as the 'critical angle' or 'angle c') the light will be refracted at 90º. If the light ray is shone at a greater angle than angle c, the light will be reflected back into the medium it is in (this is known as total internal reflection).

This diagram shows what happens when a ray of light is shone at angle c...

NOTE: the critical angle is different for different mediums

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