Is Snell's Law valid even when incident ray is Normal to the surface?

aleemudasir
Messages
68
Reaction score
0
According to the Snell's Law refractive index n21= sin i/sin r, but when we use this equation while having a incident light normal to the surface of lens or any other refracting surface it becomes 0/0. So how can we define Snell's law in this situation?
 
Science news on Phys.org
[tex]n_1sin\theta_1 = n_2sin\theta_2[/tex]

This is the actual Snell's law. When you shift the sin over to the other side, you assume it's not 0.
 
Infinitum said:
[tex]n_1sin\theta_1 = n_2sin\theta_2[/tex]

This is the actual Snell's law. When you shift the sin over to the other side, you assume it's not 0.

Which one is the actual n21=sin i /sin r or n1 sin i= n2 sin r?
 
As I said above...

[tex]n_1sin(i) = n_2sin(r)[/tex]

The other one is not valid when sin(r) is equal to zero.
 

Similar threads

Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
3K
  • · Replies 42 ·
2
Replies
42
Views
6K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
4K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
4K
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
6K