Very interesting laser simulation

[sopark4000]

I posted a link to the website this is hosted on a while back but I don't think I actually posted this particular simulation so here ya go. Some very interesting stuff this simulation might be able to be used for. It shows you the result of shining a laser through different materials such as glass, water etc and it shows the result of all of there refractive indexes. In the end it's also just very fun to mess around with.

Bending Light - Index of Refraction, Light, Snell's Law - PhET

Enjoy

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

Nice visualization! Refraction can be a strange concept to understand sometimes, but it is amazing how many application suse refraction. I think those strange striated patterns in our diodes' raw outputs are caused by refraction at the air/glass border of teh diode window or perhaps at the facet level. Also, some flashlights use TIR optics, which take into account angles of refraction on an acrylic/air interface. The interface acts as a reflector instead of a refractive interface at very large incident angles, kind of like how if you shine a laser through glass straight through, it goes straight through, while if you shine it at a very small angle, more of the light reflects off of the glass.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[jason66823]

All lenses work because of refraction!

Also, did you know that mirages are also a result of refraction between hot and cool air layers?