Abstract: This chapter discusses refraction patterns and other refraction related properties on plane surfaces. A common phenomenon that results from the refraction of light is the formation of images by refraction at plane surfaces. When two plane surfaces of a refracting material are not parallel to each other, then light that enters one face emerges from the other face in a direction that is not parallel to the incident direction. The path of a ray of light through a glass prism may be traced using pins. The method of ray tracing through a prism to determine the minimum deviation, thus, affords a method for finding the refractive index of the material of the prism if the angle is also determined. If the refracted ray within a prism meets the opposite prism face at an angle greater than the critical angle for the material of the prism no light emerges from that face by refraction. Commercial instruments of various types have been developed for the measurement of the refractive indices of small quantities of a liquid. These are used in the analysis for the identification of liquids or their state of purity or for the measurement of the concentrations of solutions, etc. Two important types are the Pulfrich and the Abbè.
Publication Year: 1970
Publication Date: 1970-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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