World 1 · Reflection & Refraction · 6 minToward or Away from the Normal
Which way does light bend?
Teaching this? Open projector mode
For oblique incidence with a transmitted ray (below the critical angle when leaving a higher-index medium), Snell’s law gives a simple rule:
- Entering a denser medium (higher n) → bends toward the normal.
- Entering a rarer medium (lower n) → bends away from the normal.
Check yourself
Light passes obliquely from water (n=1.33) into air (n=1.00), below the critical angle. It bends…
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