| a number indicating the speed of light in a given medium as either the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to that in the given medium (absolute index of refraction) or the ratio of the speed of light in a specified medium to that in the given medium (relative index of refraction). Symbol: n |
| index of refraction n. The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a medium under consideration. Also called refractive index. |
| refractive index n. See index of refraction. |
refractive index n.
Abbr. n The ratio of the speed of light in air or in a vacuum to the speed of light in another medium.
refractive index
measure of the bending of a ray of light when passing from one medium into another. If i is the angle of incidence of a ray in vacuum (angle between the incoming ray and the perpendicular to the surface of a medium, called the normal; see figure), and r is the angle of refraction (angle between the ray in the medium and the normal), the refractive index n is defined as the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction; i.e., n = sin i / sin r. Refractive index is also equal to the velocity c of light of a given wavelength in empty space divided by its velocity v in a substance, or n = c/v.
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