Question

What is refractive index in physics in brief?

Answer 1

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Refractive index, also called index of refraction, measure of the bending of a ray of light when passing from one medium into another. If i is the angle of incidence of a ray in vacuum (angle between the incoming ray and the perpendicular to the surface of a medium, called the normal) and r is the angle of refraction (angle between the ray in the medium and the normal), the refractive index n is defined as the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction; i.e., n = sin i/ sin r. Refractive index is also equal to the velocity of light c of a given wavelength in empty space divided by its velocity v in a substance, or n = c/v.

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