Refraction Phenomenon: How Light Rays Travel in Straight Paths

[sahil_time]

Refraction phenomenon!

If Light rays fall on a transparent glass then they get refracted!
They first get absorbed by the electrons and then to another electron and so on till it emerges out of the glass!
But y does the light travel in straight path in the glass itself...how do the electrons particularly send the light in one and only one Direction??Infact light can be emmited in any direction by the electron??SO the Rectilinear Motion in highly Unlikely??

 

[Drakkith]

I think your view is a misunderstanding of how light travels through a materiel. It interacts with the matter, but I don't believe that the electrons of the matter actually absorb and re-emit the photons.

 

[pallidin]

I think your view is a misunderstanding of how light travels through a materiel. It interacts with the matter, but I don't believe that the electrons of the matter actually absorb and re-emit the photons.

Yeah, this is hard for me to remember, but I believe there were several previous threads/posts on this subject.
Apparently, the issue of photon transference through a medium is quite complicated; not solely involving the "electron absorption/re-emmision issue"

 

[davenn]

I think your view is a misunderstanding of how light travels through a materiel. It interacts with the matter, but I don't believe that the electrons of the matter actually absorb and re-emit the photons.

actually that's exactly what Richard Feynman says happens.

It was in another topic a couple of weeks ago a similar topic was discussed and from memory it was "cragar" that put some links to some online Feynman videos in which he catagorically stated that the light photons we see reflected, refracted are different ones that entered/interacted with the material ... glass or whatever

Now I had up till that time never heard of this before, it left me quite intrigued

Dave

 

[Antiphon]

Sure. If it were not this way most photons would pass through the glass at c.

 

[Drakkith]

actually that's exactly what Richard Feynman says happens.

It was in another topic a couple of weeks ago a similar topic was discussed and from memory it was "cragar" that put some links to some online Feynman videos in which he catagorically stated that the light photons we see reflected, refracted are different ones that entered/interacted with the material ... glass or whatever

Now I had up till that time never heard of this before, it left me quite intrigued

Dave

Hrmm...I remember from previous discussions being told that the photons were NOT absorbed and re-emitted, but they still interacted with the glass somehow. I'm not sure on the details.

 

[davenn]

Cragar provided my memory with a kick ;)

watch Richard Feynman's video lectures on light here...

http://vega.org.uk/video/subseries/8

cheers
Dave