The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light

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published by the American Association of Physics Teachers

This Shockwave simulation lets you explore what happens when light bends and reflects at a boundary between two different materials, like air and water. The associated physics concepts are Snell's Law and total internal reflection.

Please note that this resource requires Shockwave.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/refraction.cfm

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Optics - Geometrical Optics = Refractive Index = Total Internal Reflection	- High School - Lower Undergraduate	- Instructional Material = Activity

Intended Users	Formats	Ratings
- Learners - Educators	- application/java - text/html	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 1996 The Physics Classroom
Keywords:: refraction, total internal reflection
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created September 16, 2010 by Raina Khatri
Record Updated:: September 16, 2010 by Ed Lee
Last Update when Cataloged:: September 1, 2010
Other Collections:: The Physics To Go

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=10334">American Association of Physics Teachers. The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light. College Park: American Association of Physics Teachers, September 1, 2010.</a>

AIP Format

(American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, 1996), WWW Document, (https://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/refraction.cfm).

AJP/PRST-PER

The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, 1996), <https://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/refraction.cfm>.

APA Format

The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light. (2010, September 1). Retrieved May 1, 2025, from American Association of Physics Teachers: https://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/refraction.cfm

Chicago Format

American Association of Physics Teachers. The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light. College Park: American Association of Physics Teachers, September 1, 2010. https://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/refraction.cfm (accessed 1 May 2025).

MLA Format

The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light. College Park: American Association of Physics Teachers, 1996. 1 Sep. 2010. 1 May 2025 <https://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/refraction.cfm>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Title = {The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light}, Publisher = {American Association of Physics Teachers}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {1 May 2025}, Month = {September 1, 2010}, Year = {1996} }

Refer Export Format

%T The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light %D September 1, 2010 %I American Association of Physics Teachers %C College Park %U https://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/refraction.cfm %O application/java

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %D September 1, 2010 %T The Physics Classroom: Refraction of Light %I American Association of Physics Teachers %V 2025 %N 1 May 2025 %8 September 1, 2010 %9 application/java %U https://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave/refraction.cfm

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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

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