Fast medium

Light travels through different media such as air, glass or water at different speeds.  A fast medium is one through which it passes through more quickly than others.

  • Light travels through a vacuum at 299,792 kilometres per second.
  • Light travels through other media at lower speeds.
  • In some cases, it travels at a speed which is near the speed of light (the speed at which light travels through a vacuum) and in other cases, it travels much more slowly.
  • It is useful to know whether a medium is fast or slow to predict what will happen when light crosses the boundary between one medium and another.
  • so:
  • If light crosses the boundary from a medium in which it travels fast into a material in which it travels more slowly, then it will bend towards the normal.
  • If light crosses the boundary from a medium in which it travels slowly into a material in which it travels more quickly, then the light ray will bend away from the normal.
  • In optics, the normal is a line drawn in a ray diagram perpendicular to, so at a right angle to (900), to the boundary between two media.