A ray of light passes from air into glass at an angle. What happens to the direction of the light ray?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Consider what happens when light moves from one medium to another with a different optical density.
Option a: It continues in the same direction. This would only occur if there were no refraction at the boundary, which is not the case when light enters a medium with a higher refractive index. Hence this is incorrect.
Option b: It bends away from the normal. This would describe refraction when light travels from a denser medium to a less dense medium (e.g., from glass to air). Since air to glass is the reverse, this statement is the opposite of what actually happens here and is therefore wrong.
Option c: It bends toward the normal. This aligns with Snell's law: when light enters a medium with a greater refractive index (air n1 ≈ 1.00 to glass n2 > 1.00), the light ray slows down and the path bends closer to the normal line at the interface. This is the correct description of the refraction in this scenario.
Option d: It reflects completely back into the air. Total internal reflection would require the ray to go from a denser to a less dense medium at an angle exceeding the critical angle. Since the question does not specify such conditions and the typical from-air-to-glass scenario does not guarantee total internal reflection, this option is not generally correct for the given situation.
In summary, the observed behavior when light enters glass from air is refraction toward the normal, which is captured by option c.

A ray of light passes from air into glass at an angle. What happens to the direction of the light ray?Single choice

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