Discover - Refraction Action

Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one material into another.  The amount the light bends depends on the material it is passing through.  Think of it this way:
Light is moving through air at a high speed. When it encounters glass, the light has to slow down to move through. As it slows, the light changes direction – it bends. When the light moves back from the glass into the air, it can speed up again, and so we see it bend again.

Various materials and objects of various shapes produce various effects when refracting light.


Prisms are objects made of glass or plastic that can be used to refract light in various ways.


You will be exploring how light can refract through various materials in this simulation activity.

 Notebook: What happens when light passes through various materials?

  1. Click here to download this activity.
  2. Complete the activity using the links provided (in the activity and below).
  3. Save it to your Light Notebook.

Activity Links:


Check Your Answers

Questions

Observations

INTRODUCTION

What happens when the laser is passing from air into air?

light moves straight through (no bending)

What happens when the laser passes from air into water?

light beam is bent

Which material bends the light the most—water or glass?

glass

PRISM BREAK
What happens when you place the square prism in front of the laser? light moves straight through (no bending)
How can you get the square prism to bend the light? tilt or spin the prism at an angle
What happens when you place a triangular prism in front of the laser? light beam is bent
Using the triangular prism, what happens when you change the environment to "glass"? light moves straight through (no bending)

Click the "Reset All" button.

Now, change the laser to "white light" by selecting in the right hand box.

What happens now with the triangular prism? 		light beam produces a rainbow or spectrum as it is being bent

  1. Although not shown on the website, which material(s) do you think also absorbed the light?
    opaque smooth surface and opaque rough surface

  2. Although not shown on the website, which material(s) do you think refracted the light?
    translucent

  3. How were the last two opaque materials different? How did they affect the light differently?
    The opaque smooth surface produced a uniform reflection in which all the light rays bounced in the same direction. The opaque rough surface produced a scattered reflection in which the light rays all bounced in various directions.