Refraction and Lenses - Mission RL5 Detailed Help


A ray of light moving through Lucite is approaching a Lucite-air boundary. At the boundary a portion of the light will reflect and a portion will be transmitted into the air and refract. If the angle of incidence is increased, then the brightness of the reflected ray (B) will _____ and the brightness of the refracted ray (A) will _____.


 

Boundary Behavior: Transmission (Refraction) and Reflection:
Two things tend to happen when a light ray reaches the boundary between two transparent materials. A portion of the energy carried by the light is transmitted across the boundary and a portion is reflected off the boundary and remains in the original medium. The percentage of the light energy that is transmitted and the percentage that reflects depends mostly upon the angle of incidence. As the angle of incidence increases, the percentage of transmitted light decreases and the percentage of reflected light increases.


 
The brightness of a light ray is a sign of the amount of energy carried by the light ray. This fact can be combined with the statement in the Know the Law section to answer this question.