What is wave refraction?
1 Answer
In general terms, Refraction is the name of the phenomenon by which the direction of propagation of a beam of light changes in passing from a medium to another.
Explanation:
This phenomenon is described by Snell's Law that describes the change in direction as a function of the physical characteristics of the two media represented by their Indices of Refraction
The effect of changing direction can be understood using Huygens Principle and some Calculus/Geometry.
To simplify you can imagine an experiment where you have a platoon of soldiers marching in formation on, say, a road;
at a certain point the platoon meets (starting at a corner) a sandy beach surface. What happens is that the first soldier on the corner enters the sandy part and slows down (he is slower on sand) and stays behind....next the soldier besides him enters the sand and so on. As a result the direction of marching of the platoon will be affected by these "slowing downs" forming a new front and direction!
