Question

What does refraction mean in science?

Answer 1

Refraction refers to how light travels at different speeds through different mediums.

Explanation:

Due to the conservation of energy and momentum, the momentum of a photon (unit of light) cannot change (is conserved) as it propagates through space. When the light reaches a medium whose index of refraction is different than the one it was once traveling, the direction of the light changes to accommodate its conservation of momentum. This can be described by the formula `sintheta_1 times n_1 = sintheta_2 times n_2` where `theta` is the angle to the norm and `n` is the index of refraction (`c / v`) where `c` is the speed of light in a vacuum and `v` is the velocity of light in the medium.