Quote:
"because the refractive indecies are different" or "because light travels slower through differnet mediums" but this does not answer my question.
What I was wondering was what properties of light and the molecules of the medium cause light to bend as it 'passes through'. Does 'c' actually decrease in medium just because there is more molecules???
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In essence, with what I quoted from your post above you've basically answered your own question.
Because the light is passing through a material of higher density than a vacuum, the velocity of the light changes (photons interacting with the particles in the medium) and the direction in which it travels changes as a consequence. The higher the density of the material and the higher the R.I., the greater the change in direction of travel. Once the light reaches the other boundary between the material and the vacuum, the light resumes its original path and velocity. You have to remember, photons have a duel particle-wave nature and in the case of refraction/reflection, they are behaving as waves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refraction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell%27s_law
I would suggest that you find and buy a high school textbook on physics and look up the section on light and its properties. Then try the problems in the book and see how you go.