Applying Snell's law to plane and curved surfaces

[Lukejohn]

How do i apply the laws of refraction to plane and curved surfaces. I have absolutely no idea how to even start on this one, its got nothing to do with the course, i am going to study. i need to understand this to move on but i genuinely have absolutely no interest in optics. I really can not motivate myself to care about it and i need assistance. Is anybody able to explain this without using too much terminology.

kind regards
some dumb guy

 

[sophiecentaur]

Hello and welcome to PF.
Firstly, what course are you actually doing? What level do you need your answer and what does your textbook tell you that doesn't answer the question?

 

[jtbell]

First let's tackle plane surfaces. What difficulties are you having with applying the law of refraction (a.k.a. Snell's Law) to plane surfaces? Can you give us a specific example?