Refractive index is the ratio of the speed of light in a medium to that in vacuum. It determines how light bends, reflects, and disperses when entering a medium, and varies with wavelength and material. The absolute refractive index of a material is a measure of how much light is bent when passing from a vacuum into that material. It is a dimensionless quantity that is always greater than or equal to 1. The higher the refractive index , the more light is bent when passing into the material. The absolute refractive index of a material is used in a variety of applications, including optics, spectroscopy, and metrology. Relative Refractive Index The relative refractive index of a material is a ... Refractive index is a measure of how light bends when it moves from one medium to another. Learn how to calculate it, how it relates to Snell's Law, and how it is used in various fields of science and technology. Refractive index is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to its speed in a medium. Learn how to calculate refractive index , its importance for optical polymers, and how it varies with wavelength.
