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it refracts according to snell's law:

sin(angle 1) x refractive index of 1st medium = sin(angle 2) x refractive index of 2nd medium.

Cross multiply to solve.

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Q: What happens when light hits a new medium at an angle?
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What happens to light when it hits a different medium?

The light reflects or refracts on hitting the medium.


Why total internal reflection takes place?

It happens when light travels through a material that has a greater "optical density" (refraction index, really) than a bordering material, and when it touches the surface at an angle that is sufficiently flat.


What happens when light hits water at an angle?

fills up it


What happens when light hits mirror?

if it is a normal mirror the light we reflect of the mirror from a different angle the angle on which it comes from is the same angles as it goes out.


What happens when sunlight goes through glass?

Whenever electromagnetic radiation of any kind (light, heat, radio, gamma rays and microwaves are all examples of electromagnetic radiation) travels from one medium to another, the radiation will be refracted because the speed of light in each medium is different. When light travels from air into glass, the glass slows the light down, and the light refracts or "bends" toward the glass, depending on the angle of incidence. (The Angle of Incidence is the angle at which the light hits the glass. ) The amount of refraction (bending) also depends on the wavelength of the radiation, so when sunlight hits the glass at an angle, the glass breaks the "white" light into a rainbow of colors. This is the same thing that happens with a real rainbow, when light hits water droplets and is refracted and broken into different colors.


What happens when a ray hits a block at a different angle?

It reflect.Reflecting is the bouncing back of light


When and why the internal reflection occurs?

Total internal reflection occurs when a light hits its medium at an angle wider than a certain critical angle, depending upon what's normal to that medium. If the refractive index and the incident angle on the other side are measured lower or greater, respectively, the light is totally reflected.


What happens when lights hits a mirror?

Depending on which angle the light hits, it will reflect off the mirror and go somewhere else.


Why refraction does not occur in opaque medium?

Refraction is the bending of the rays of light when it travels from one medium to another... For refraction to occur there should be some difference in the refractive index of the materials.... Refraction can also occur in Opaque medium........


What is the angle of something is the angle at which light hits a mirror?

angle of incidence


Does the principle of optical reversibility hold for reflection as well as refraction?

Here's the way I see it: Optical reversibility means that if a light passes through a medium with an index of refraction, n, and the light hits that medium at a certain angle, the angle of incidence, the light refracts and comes out at a different angle than the angle of incidence. In other words, if light hits a refracting medium at 10 degrees to the normal, it will refract and come out at 7 degrees to the normal. Then, if it were switched, and the light were made to hit the refracting medium at 7 degrees to the normal, then it would refract and come out at 10 degrees to the normal. This is optical reversibility as seen in refraction. In reflection, however, the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection is the same. If light hits a reflecting medium at 10 degrees, it will reflect at an angle of 10 degrees. So if the angles were switched in this case, it would do nothing, it would just hit the reflecting medium at 10 degrees and again be reflected at 10 degrees. So, does the principle of optical reversibility hold for reflection as well as refraction? It depends on if you view switching the position of the same number to be reversing anything or not. Actually the principle holds good for every optical system in geometric optics....


What happens to a ray of light that slows down when it hits a new medium at an angle?

The change in speed causes the light to bend. If it is travelling from an optically dencer to an optically rarer medium the ray will bend away from the normal. But if it is travelling from an optically rarer to an optically denser medium then it will bend towards the normal.