"The refractive index is a measure of how much light bends or refracts when it is passed through a certain medium. The higher the numerical value of the refractive index, the more that light suffers from refraction."
speed of light is different for materials of different refractive index and also higher the refractive index lesser will be speed of light in that medium. so if light travels from rarer to denser medium (with respect to refractive index) then light waves will change their speed
Usually a convex lens made up a material with higher refractive index would act as a converging device when kept in a medium having lower refractive index such as air. But when it is kept in a liquid as said with higher refractive index then convex lens would become as a concave lens. Now it would diverge the rays entering through it right from the liquid with higher refractive index.
Higher the refractive index, less the speed of light
The angle of incidence will equal the angle of refraction. If two medium have the same refractive index, light does not bend.
Refractive index of the medium is defined as the ratio of the velocity of light in vacuum to that in the medium. No unit for refractive index.
It is usually expressed the other way: the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a medium. In that case, it is called the "index of refraction".
"The refractive index is a measure of how much light bends or refracts when it is passed through a certain medium. The higher the numerical value of the refractive index, the more that light suffers from refraction."
speed of light is different for materials of different refractive index and also higher the refractive index lesser will be speed of light in that medium. so if light travels from rarer to denser medium (with respect to refractive index) then light waves will change their speed
Refractive Index(i) Refractive index of a medium is that characteristic which decides speed of light in it.(ii) It is a scalar, unit less and dimensionless quantity.(iii) Absolute refractive index :When light travels from vacuum to any transparent medium then refractive index of medium w.r.t. vacuum is called it's absolute refractive index i.e. vacuumµmedium = c/vAbsolute refractive indices for glass, water and diamond are respectively µg = 3/2 = 1.5, µw = 4/3 = 1.33 and µD = 12/5 = 2.4(iv) Relative refractive index :When light travels from medium (1) to medium (2) then refractive index of medium (2) w.r.t. medium (1) is called it's relative refractive index i.e. 1µ2 = µ2/µ1 = v1/v2 (where v1 and v2 are the speed of light in medium 1 and 2 respectively).(v) When we say refractive index we mean absolute refractive index.(vi) The minimum value of absolute refractive index is 1. For air it is very near to 1. ( 1.003)
Refractive index value of a medium - when it is higher then the speed of light in that medium would become lower. In case of water it travels faster compared to that in glass. In case of diamond the speed is further reduced. Since the refractive index is inversely related to the speed of light in the medium.
Usually a convex lens made up a material with higher refractive index would act as a converging device when kept in a medium having lower refractive index such as air. But when it is kept in a liquid as said with higher refractive index then convex lens would become as a concave lens. Now it would diverge the rays entering through it right from the liquid with higher refractive index.
The speed of light in any medium isspeed of light in vacuum/refractive index of that medium.
Higher the refractive index, less the speed of light
The angle of incidence will equal the angle of refraction. If two medium have the same refractive index, light does not bend.
It will usually change. Usually you would expect the speed to decrease, but note that the "optical density", i.e. the index of refraction, is not entirely related to the density (as defined by mass/volume).
The optical density of a medium is not the same as its physical density. The physical density of a material refers to the mass/volume ratio. Optical density determines how much a light wave is slowed down as it passes through a medium. The more optically dense a material is, the slower that a wave will move through the material.The refractive index is a measurement of optical density. A medium with a low optical density, would have also a low refractive index.For example air, having a low optical density has a refractive index of 1.0003, whereas water, with a higher optical density, has a higher refractive index of 1.333.