Material Detail

Illustrates light reflection from a pond.

There is a source of light at the bottom of the lake. The rays from the source reach the surface of the water and continue through the air at a refracted angle, some rays are also reflected back into the water. As you increase the incident angle, more and more rays are reflected into the water. There comes a time when all of the rays are reflected, this happens when the angle of incidence is equal to or greater than the critical angle, which is defined by the ratio of the two indexes of refraction:

This will delete the comment from the database. This operation is not reversible. Are you sure you want to do it?

Thank you for reporting a broken "Go to Material" link in MERLOT to help us maintain a collection of valuable learning materials.

If you feel this material is inappropriate for the MERLOT Collection, please click SEND REPORT, and the MERLOT Team will investigate. Thank you!

You are being taken to the material on another site. This will open a new window.

Do not show me this again