Question

When light hits the boundary between two different materials, it can undergo when light hits the boundary between two different materials, it can undergo both reflection and refraction. refraction. reflection?

Answer 1

When light hits the boundary between two different materials, it can undergo both reflection and refraction.

Reflection is the change in the direction of the wave that strikes the boundary between two materials. It involves a change in the direction of waves when they clash with an obstacle.


Refraction  involves the change in the direction of waves as they move from one medium to  another followed by a change in speed and wavelength (this second medium should have different permitivity for the light to change its initial properties.)

Answer 2

Answer:

Explanation:

When light hits the boundary between two different materials, it can undergo both reflection and refraction.

Reflection is when light bounces off an object. If the surface is smooth and shiny, like glass, water or polished metal, the light will reflect at the same angle as it hit the surface. Light reflects from a smooth surface at the same angle as it hits the surface. The reflective property of material also depends on its density. E.g air and metal interface. The light may not be reflected much from air ( Less dense ), but it can reflect of a solid (more dense) due to the fact that they are less micro-scopic spaces in between molecules in a solid

Whereas, refraction owes to bending and change in direction of incident light as it passes through mediums with different densities. Less dense materials allow light to travel faster where as high dense materials slows the light down. The quantity of bend in light is given by snell's Law that involves the refractive indices of two material as function of speed of light traveling through the material