Brytningsvärden

Brytningsvärden, or refractive index, is a dimensionless number that describes how fast light travels through a material compared to its speed in a vacuum. The symbol for brytningsvärden is typically 'n'. When light passes from one medium to another with a different brytningsvärden, its path bends. This phenomenon is known as refraction. The greater the difference in brytningsvärden between the two media, the more the light will bend.

The brytningsvärden of a vacuum is defined as 1. For all other transparent materials, the brytningsvärden is greater than 1. For example, water has a brytningsvärden of approximately 1.33, and glass typically has a brytningsvärden around 1.5. Denser materials, in general, tend to have higher brytningsvärden. This property is crucial in optics and is responsible for how lenses focus light, how prisms separate colors, and why objects submerged in water appear to be in a different position than they actually are. The brytningsvärden can also vary slightly with the wavelength of light, leading to phenomena like chromatic dispersion.