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Fibre Optics

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Snell's law. Snells’ Law • Snell’s law relates the angle of refraction to the angle of incidence as a light wave enters or leaves a more optically dense material. sin i/ sin r = n where n is the refractive index of the more dense material such as glass, water etc. N.B. this equation only works when the light is travelling between air (where the refractive index is 1) and a more optically dense material such as water or glass where the refractive index is >1. Refractive Index The refractive index of a material relates the relative speed of the waves within and outside of the materials n = speed of wave in air/speed of wave in materials Critical Angle As a light wave leaves a transparent material and enters air it is refracted away from the normal to the surface. N = 1 / sin ( critical angle ) (n.b. as the angle of incidence approaches the critical angle some light is reflected back into the material – i.e. not all light can escape).

Snell's law of Refraction. Total Internal Reflection. Vets use video endoscope on a tiger - Vets in the Wild West - BBC. Fibre optics.