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angle of refraction
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What happens during total internal reflection of light?
Diagram showing a light ray passing from a vacuum into a medium, illustrating the change in direction at the boundary. The incident ray strikes at an angle of incidence, bends at the interface, and continues as a refracted ray at a different angle, demonstrating the concept of refractive index.
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angle of refraction

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What happens during total internal reflection of light?
What happens during total internal reflection of light? Overview of total internal reflection.

The angle of refraction is the angle between a refracted ray and the normal (a line perpendicular to the surface) at the point where the ray enters a new medium. This phenomenon occurs because light changes speed when it passes from one transparent substance to another.12

Snell's law quantifies this relationship, stating that the ratio of the sines of the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the refractive indices of the two media. If light enters a medium with a higher refractive index, it bends toward the normal; conversely, it bends away from the normal when entering a medium with a lower refractive index. This bending of light is why a stick appears bent when partially submerged in water.32

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  3. angle of incidence
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