View Single Post
  #19  
Old 19-05-2011, 11:41 PM
renormalised's Avatar
renormalised (Carl)
No More Infinities

renormalised is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Townsville
Posts: 9,698
Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Keshdogga View Post
Thank you Rob =D I totally understand now. You explained it perfectly. I was just unsure how light travelled through a denser medium. Also thank's for explaining why a light beam doesn't completely scatter on impact with the medium i had a feeling it may have had something to do with the initial direction.

And can i can get rid of this whole concept of light travelling 'slower' and just imagine a photon (on average) taking longer to pass through the medium because it is absorbed and emitted with a time lapse? Denser material, more absorbtion and emitting per cubed unit, apparent decrease in velocity?

Thanks Rob and to everyone else =]
You can't get rid of the concept of light traveling slower though a denser medium...it does travel slower, it's not an apparent change in velocity. It's a real difference in velocity. Go and have a look at these...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractive_index

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_velocity


Reply With Quote