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Lesson: Chapter 5 — Optics

5.3. Refraction of light 1 of 5

The bent pencil

Stand a pencil in a glass of water and look from the side. The pencil seems to break in two where it enters the water.

Figure to be added

Figure 5.24 — a pencil standing in a glass of water, appearing broken at the water surface.

Light from the part under water travels up through the water and into the air before reaching your eye, and its direction changes as it crosses into the air. Light from the part above the water reaches your eye through air alone, so its direction does not change.

Refraction

The bending of light as it passes from one medium into another is called refraction.