Chromatic Dispersion of R G & B Rays

If one line is normal to another, then it is at right angles. So in geometry, the normal is a line drawn perpendicular to and intersecting another line.

In optics, the normal is an imaginary line drawn on a ray diagram perpendicular to, so at a right angle to (90⁰), to the boundary between two media.

• Expressed more formally, in optics, the normal is a geometric construct, a line drawn perpendicular to the interface between two media at the point of contact. This conceptually defined reference line is crucial for characterizing various light-matter interactions, such as reflection, refraction, and absorption.

• Light travels in a straight line through a vacuum or a transparent medium such as air, glass, or still water.
• If light encounters a force, an obstacle or interacts with an object, a variety of optical phenomena may take place including absorption, dispersion, diffraction, polarization, reflection, refraction, scattering or transmission.
• Optics treats light as a collection of rays that travel in straight lines and calculates the way in which they change direction (deviate) when encountering different optical phenomena.
• When the normal is drawn on a ray diagram, it provides a reference against which the amount of deviation of the ray can be shown.
• The normal is always drawn at right angles to a ray of incident light at the point where it arrives at the boundary with a transparent medium.
• Expressed more formally, in optics, the normal is a geometric construct, a line drawn perpendicular to the interface between two media at the point of contact. This conceptually defined reference line is crucial for characterizing various light-matter interactions, such as reflection, refraction, and absorption.

Refraction refers to the way that electromagnetic radiation (light) changes speed and direction as it travels across the interface between one transparent medium and another.

• As light travels from a fast medium such as air to a slow medium such as water it bends toward the normal and slows down.
• As light passes from a slow medium such as diamond to a faster medium such as glass it bends away from the normal and speeds up.
• In a diagram illustrating optical phenomena like refraction or reflection, the normal is a line drawn at right angles to the boundary between two media.
• A fast (optically rare) medium is one that obstructs light less than a slow medium.
• A slow (optically dense) medium is one that obstructs light more than a fast medium.
• The speed at which light travels through a given medium is expressed by its index of refraction.
• If we want to know in which direction light will bend at the boundary between transparent media we need to know:

• Which is the faster, less optically dense (rare) medium with a smaller refractive index?
• Which is the slower, more optically dense medium with the higher refractive index?

• The amount that refraction causes light to change direction, and its path to bend, is dealt with by Snell’s law.
• Snell’s law considers the relationship between the angle of incidence, the angle of refraction and the refractive indices (plural of index) of the media on both sides of the boundary. If three of the four variables are known, then Snell’s law can calculate the fourth.

As light crosses the boundary between two transparent media, the law of refraction (Snell’s law) states the relationship between the angle of incidence and angle of refraction of the light with reference to the refractive indices of both media as follows:

When electromagnetic radiation (light) of a specific frequency crosses the interface of any given pair of media, the ratio of the sines of the angles of incidence and the sines of the angles of refraction is a constant in every case.

• Snell’s law deals with the fact that for an incident ray approaching the boundary of two media, the sine of the angle of incidence multiplied by the index of refraction of the first medium is equal to the sine of the angle of refraction multiplied by the index of refraction of the second medium.
• Snell’s law deals with the fact that the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is constant when a light ray passes across the boundary from one medium to another.
• Snell’s law can be used to calculate the angle of incidence or refraction associated with the use of lenses, prisms and other everyday materials.
• When using Snell’s law:
  • The angles of incidence and refraction are measured between the direction of a ray of light and the normal – where the normal is an imaginary line drawn on a ray diagram perpendicular to, so at a right angle to (900), to the boundary between two media.
  • The wavelength of the incident light is accounted for.
  • The refractive indices used are selected for the pair of media concerned.
  • The speed of light is expressed in metres per second (m/s).

Wavelength is a measurement from any point on the path of a wave to the same point on its next oscillation. The measurement is made parallel to the centre-line of the wave.

• The wavelength of an electromagnetic wave is measured in metres.
• Each type of electromagnetic radiation, such as radio waves, visible light and gamma waves,  forms a band of wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum.
• The visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum is composed of the range of wavelengths that correspond with all the different colours we see in the world.
• Human beings don’t see wavelengths of visible light, but they do see the spectral colours that correspond with each wavelength and the other colours produced when different wavelengths are combined.
• The wavelength of visible light is measured in nanometres. There are 1,000,000,000 nanometres to a metre.

The refractive index of a medium is the amount by which the speed (and wavelength) of electromagnetic radiation (light) is reduced compared with the speed of light in a vacuum.

• Refractive index (or, index of refraction) is a measure of how much slower light travels through any given medium than through a vacuum.
• The concept of refractive index applies to the full electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma-rays to radio waves.
• The refractive index of a medium is a numerical value and is represented by the symbol n.
• Because it is a ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a medium there is no unit for refractive index.
• If the speed of light in a vacuum = 1. Then the ratio is 1:1.
• The refractive index of water is 1.333, meaning that light travels 1.333 times slower in water than in a vacuum. The ratio is therefore 1:1.333.
• As light undergoes refraction its wavelength changes as its speed changes.
• As light undergoes refraction its frequency remains the same.
• The energy transported by light is not affected by refraction or the refractive index of a medium.
• The colour of refracted light perceived by a human observer does not change during refraction because the frequency of light and the amount of energy transported remain the same.

• In the field of optics, dispersion is shorthand for chromatic dispersion which refers to the way that light, under certain conditions, separates into its component wavelengths, enabling the colours corresponding with each wavelength to become visible to a human observer.
• Chromatic dispersion refers to dispersion of light according to its wavelength or colour.
• Chromatic dispersion is the result of the relationship between wavelength and refractive index.
• When light travels from one medium (such as air) to another (such as glass or water) each wavelength is refracted differently, causing the separation of white light into its constituent colours.
• When light undergoes refraction each wavelength changes direction by a different amount. In the case of white light, the separate wavelengths fan out into distinct bands of colour with red on one side and violet on the other.
• Familiar examples of chromatic dispersion are when white light strikes a prism or raindrops and a rainbow of colours become visible to an observer.