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Refraction explained: ray diagrams and wave fronts

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The key ideas and the summary sheet for this lesson are ready now.

Key ideas

  1. At a boundary a wave can be absorbed, transmitted, reflected or refracted.

  2. Refraction is a change in direction caused by a change in the wave's speed.

  3. Slowing down, the ray bends towards the normal; speeding up, it bends away from the normal.

  4. One side of a wave front reaches the new material first and slows first, so the wave turns.