index of refraction

American  

noun

Optics.

1. a number indicating the speed of light in a given medium as either the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to that in the given medium absolute index of refraction or the ratio of the speed of light in a specified medium to that in the given medium relative index of refraction. n

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index of refraction British  

noun

1. another name for refractive index

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index of refraction Scientific  

1. A measure of the extent to which a substance slows down light waves passing through it. The index of refraction of a substance is equal to the ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to its speed in that substance. Its value determines the extent to which light is refracted when entering or leaving the substance.

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Etymology

Origin of index of refraction

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

The difference in index of refraction between the two materials defines the angle of that bending.

From Scientific American • Nov. 18, 2022

Light entering a medium with a negative index of refraction, on the contrary, would bend backward, creating unexpected optical effects, such as a straw appearing to lean the wrong way.

From Scientific American • Nov. 18, 2022

Suppose light were incident from air onto a material that had a negative index of refraction, say –1.3; where does the refracted light ray go?

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Suppose you have an unknown clear substance immersed in water, and you wish to identify it by finding its index of refraction.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Optically, calcite is uniaxial with negative bi-refringence, the index of refraction for the ordinary ray being greater than for the extraordinary ray; for sodium-light the former is 1.6585 and the latter 1.4862.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various