Törésmutatói

Törésmutatói, or refractive indices, are a fundamental property of transparent materials that describes how light propagates through them. It is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in the material. A higher refractive index means light travels slower in that material, causing it to bend or refract more significantly when entering or exiting it. This phenomenon is governed by Snell's Law. The refractive index is a dimensionless quantity, typically greater than or equal to 1, as the speed of light in a vacuum is the maximum possible speed. Different materials have distinct refractive indices, which is why objects can appear distorted when viewed through substances like water or glass. The refractive index can vary with the wavelength of light, a property known as dispersion, which is responsible for the separation of colors in a prism. Accurate knowledge of refractive indices is crucial in various fields, including optics, for the design of lenses, prisms, and optical fibers, as well as in materials science and chemistry for material identification and analysis.