Schoolchildren are taught that the speed of light is a constant 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km.
per second), but that’s not correct. It is only constant if it is traveling through a medium of constant
density. When light encounters an increase in density, say, when it travels from air to water, it slows
down. Changes in density cause the path of light to bend. When light encounters a decrease in density,
say from water to air, it speeds up. Snell found the ratio of the changes in speed to be the ratio of angle
of incidence to the angle of refraction. This common ratio for a given pair of materials is called the
refractive index. If the incident light is in a vacuum, the speed of light in the second material is called
the absolute refractive index. It is specific for each pair of media. By definition the refractive index of a
vacuum is 1. Air makes little difference to the refraction of light, having an absolute refractive index of
1.0008. The absolute refractive index of water is 1.330, while that of a diamond is 2.42.
Following the teachings of Plato, the ancient Greeks thought that light rays emanated from the eye and
intercepted external objects, which are thus seen by the observer. They also felt the speed of light was
very high, perhaps infinite. The first person to realize that light travels from an object seen to the eye
was the Arab philosopher “Alhazan (Abu’ali al-hasan ibn al-haytham), who published a work on optics
in 1000 C.E. René Descartes was the first person to publish the now familiar version of the law of
refraction in terms of sines in 1637. He apparently was unaware of Snell’s work. In English speaking
countries the principle is known as Snell’s Law, but in France it is named Descartes’ Law.
Schoolchildren are taught that the speed of light is a constant 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km.
per second), but that’s not correct. It is only constant if it is traveling through a medium of constant
density. When light encounters an increase in density, say, when it travels from air to water, it slows
down. Changes in density cause the path of light to bend. When light encounters a decrease in density,
say from water to air, it speeds up. Snell found the ratio of the changes in speed to be the ratio of angle
of incidence to the angle of refraction. This common ratio for a given pair of materials is called the
refractive index. If the incident light is in a vacuum, the speed of light in the second material is called
the absolute refractive index. It is specific for each pair of media. By definition the refractive index of a
vacuum is 1. Air makes little difference to the refraction of light, having an absolute refractive index of
1.0008. The absolute refractive index of water is 1.330, while that of a diamond is 2.42.
Following the teachings of Plato, the ancient Greeks thought that light rays emanated from the eye and
intercepted external objects, which are thus seen by the observer. They also felt the speed of light was
very high, perhaps infinite. The first person to realize that light travels from an object seen to the eye
was the Arab philosopher “Alhazan (Abu’ali al-hasan ibn al-haytham), who published a work on optics
in 1000 C.E. René Descartes was the first person to publish the now familiar version of the law of
refraction in terms of sines in 1637. He apparently was unaware of Snell’s work. In English speaking
countries the principle is known as Snell’s Law, but in France it is named Descartes’ Law.
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