Hi Everyone! I'm new to this forum. I'm studying for my ABO certification, I'm currently struggling with the Snell's Law formula. Can someone explain in simpler way for me to understand?
Hi Everyone! I'm new to this forum. I'm studying for my ABO certification, I'm currently struggling with the Snell's Law formula. Can someone explain in simpler way for me to understand?
Welcome to Optiboard!
This may help from a long ago post by the late great Chris Ryser found using the search box. Post #3
https://www.optiboard.com/forums/sho...=Snell%27s+Law
There still is no "easy" way unfortunately.
Here's a good conceptual.
Picture light waves as ziggly things like vibrating string, but very tiny.
When light is ziggling through space, it's going as fast as it can, because of no resistance (almost. Shut up everyone else with solar wind and nebula dust.)
When light is ziggling through air, it slows down a bit.
Man, does it really slow down through diamond!
So a straight shot of light will go from "speed of light in a vaccuum = c" to slower "speed of light in vegetable oil = something else". And if you compare the two, you'll get the "refractive index" of the "something else":
speed of light in something else / speed of light in vaccuum = 1.59 (proving polycarbonate is made of vegetable oil? Ha.)
But light doesn't always go into a new goo in a straight shot. What if it enters the diamond at an angle? Then what? Well, it slows down, but since it enters at an angle, the first part of the vibrating string gets slowed down first and a nanopicosecond later, the trailing edge of the string gets slowed down last, causing a bend in the direction.
So the formula is just ratios:
index of new goo/index of original goo is the index of refraction
the angle of the incidence is the second factor.
So Snell's law is simply: what's the angle light emerges from the change in goo? Well, its the angle it went into the goo, but multiplied by the ratio of the refractive indices.
DRK is the new Goo Goo Doll.
Go ahead with your bad self, DRK!
I bend light. That is what I do.
It's only legal with a prescription that I don't think OD's can write ?
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