Normal

Interface

Medium 1

Medium 2

Total Internal Reflection

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Because the angle of incidence (°) exceeds the critical angle (°), all of the light is reflected, and none is transmitted into the second medium.

Quantity	Your Values	Actual Value	% Error
Angle of Incidence
Angle of Refraction
Index of Refraction

Incident Ray

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Intensity: 100%
Velocity: m/s

Reflected Ray

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Intensity:
Velocity: m/s

Refracted Ray

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Intensity:
Velocity: m/s

General operation: Drag the laser to change its position. The button on the laser turns the laser on and off. Use the menus to select the material for each medium, or use the sliders to set a custom value for each index of refraction.

Critical Angle:Touch or hover over the Critical Angle box to see the symbolic form of the equation.

Quiz mode: When you press the "Quiz" button, "Medium 2" is set to a random index of refraction. Enter values for the angle of incidence (θ_i), the angle of refraction (θ_r), and the index of refraction, which you will have to compute using Snell's law. A calculator and protractor are provided for this purpose. When you press "Show Results", you will see how close your measurements and calculations are to the actual values.

Snell's Law: Snell's law is shown below in two forms.