extraordinary ray

American  

noun

Optics, Crystallography.

1. the part of a doubly refracted ray that has changed speed and vibrations in the principal plane of the crystal.

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extraordinary ray British  

noun

1. optics the plane-polarized ray of light that does not obey the laws of refraction in a doubly refracting crystal Compare double refraction ordinary ray

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Etymology

Origin of extraordinary ray

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

One behaves normally and is called the ordinary ray, whereas the other does not obey Snell’s law and is called the extraordinary ray.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The ordinary ray behaves as expected, but the extraordinary ray does not obey Snell’s law.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Thus, in tourmaline the ordinary ray, which vibrates perpendicular to the principal axis, is almost completely absorbed, whilst the extraordinary ray is allowed to pass through the crystal.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various

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

Or is he more liable to error in noting the fact of his mental joy or sorrow, than in observing the effect of the extraordinary ray in double refraction?

From Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith Being an Examination of the Evidences of Infidelity by Patterson, Robert