total reflection
the effect that occurs when light meets the interface between the medium in which it is traveling and a medium of smaller refractive index at an angle of incidence greater than the critical angle, all light being reflected back to the first medium.
- Also called total internal reflection.
Words Nearby total reflection
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use total reflection in a sentence
Hence a ray of light traveling obliquely downward is refracted more and more until total reflection takes place.
Physics | Willis Eugene TowerThis action is called total reflection, the course of the reflected ray being according to the law of reflection.
Physics | Willis Eugene TowerSee Art. 398 for a description of the Zeiss binocular field-glass for an example of this use of total reflection.
Physics | Willis Eugene TowerIn this case the images are erect, the total reflection being from warm, still layers of air over colder layers near the water.
Physics | Willis Eugene TowerThe common reflection and the total reflection of a beam of radiant heat may be simultaneously demonstrated.
Six Lectures on Light | John Tyndall
Browse