Answer to Question #273141 in Physics for uwais

Question

When light travels from one medium to another, the path of light is affected due to the

change in the optical density of the medium. Describe what happens to the speed of

light as it travels from less dense to a denser medium and how is the path of the ray of

light affected?

Answer 1

As light travels from less dense to a denser medium, its frequency remains the same, the wavelength decreases, the speed reduces. The path of the ray is affected the following way: the angle of refraction is smaller than the angle of incidence toward the border between the media.