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Critical Angle
published by the Exploratorium
Try this activty from the Exploratorium to see total internal reflection. You'll use an aquarium to illustrate how a transparent material like water can act as a reflector.  The site provides a thorough description of what to do, an explanation of what is happening, including the critical angle, and examples of its applications to optical fibers.
https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical-angle
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Light
- Geometrical Optics
- Modern Optics
= Lasers
- High School
- Middle School
- Informal Education
- Instructional Material
= Activity
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Access Rights: Free access
Restriction: Has a copyright or other licensing restriction.
Keywords: critical angle, light, reflection, refraction, total internal
Record Creator: Metadata instance created June 14, 2006 by Ann Deml
Record Updated: Aug 02, 2016 by Lyle Barbato
ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
(Exploratorium, San Francisco), WWW Document, (https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical-angle).
AJP/PRST-PER
Critical Angle (Exploratorium, San Francisco), <https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical-angle>.
APA Format
Critical Angle. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2025, from Exploratorium: https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical-angle
Chicago Format
Exploratorium. Critical Angle. San Francisco: Exploratorium. https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical-angle (accessed 9 November 2025).
MLA Format
Critical Angle. San Francisco: Exploratorium. 9 Nov. 2025 <https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical-angle>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Title = {Critical Angle}, Publisher = {Exploratorium}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {9 November 2025}, Year = {} }
Refer Export Format

%T Critical Angle %I Exploratorium %C San Francisco %U https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical-angle %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %T Critical Angle %I Exploratorium %V 2025 %N 9 November 2025 %9 text/html %U https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/critical-angle


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