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Created 3/29/16. Updates available online.

Bending Light

Bending Light Screenshot
  • Snell's Law
  • Light
  • Refraction
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About

Topics

  • Snell's Law
  • Light
  • Refraction

Description

Explore bending of light between two media with different indices of refraction. See how changing from air to water to glass changes the bending angle. Play with prisms of different shapes and make rainbows.

Sample Learning Goals

  • Explain how light bends at the interface between two media and what determines the angle.
  • Apply Snell’s law to a laser beam incident on the interface between media.
  • Describe how the speed and wavelength of light changes in different media.
  • Describe the effect of changing wavelength on the angle of refraction.
  • Explain how a prism creates a rainbow.
Version 1.03

For Teachers

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Title Gold Star Contribution Contribution by PhET Authors Level Type
Wave unit (Inquiry Based) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro		 Demo
Lab
Exploring How Light Behaves at Boundaries A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Elyse Zimmer HS Lab
Bending Light Exploration Lab A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Cynthia Bordash K-5 Lab
Refraction Investigation A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. John Macuk HS Lab
Bending Light -Refraction and Reflections A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Danny Rehn UG-Adv
UG-Intro		 Lab
HW
PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum This contribution was designed by PhET. Julia Chamberlain HS
UG-Intro		 Other
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS Other
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer MS
HS		 Other
Light and Waves E-Learning Activity Gregory O'Neill HS CQs
Snell's Law and the Index of Refraction Daniel Nieman HS Lab
Bending Light Dorian McIntire UG-Intro
MS
HS		 Lab
CQs
Demo
HW
Refraction of Light Ayesha Ayub K-5 Lab
PhET Inquiry - Bending Light Paul Martenis HS Lab
Total Internal Reflection Shawn Templin HS Lab
Bending Light Worksheet Kristy Bibbey HS Lab
CQs
Snell's law Lab - Inquiry based Argirios Paschos HS Lab
Praktische opdracht breking en terugkaatsing Havo 4 Kees Lazonder HS Lab
Curvando a luz y' e y" HS Other
Laboratorio de Refracción Jesús Alfredo Mantilla Lobo HS Lab
REFRACCION DE LA LUZ daniel cruz ochoa MS Lab

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Translations

Language Download or Run Tips
Arabic All العربية Run now انكسار الضوء
Basque All Basque Run now Argi-errefrakzioa
Belarusian All беларускі Run now Праламленне святла
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Prelamanje svjetlosti
Bulgarian All български Run now Пречупване на светлината
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 折射定律
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now 光的折射
Czech All čeština Run now Lom světla
Danish All Dansk Run now Afbøjning af lys
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Breking en terugkaatsing van licht
Finnish All suomi Run now Valon taittuminen
French All français Run now Déviation de la lumière
Galician All Gallegan Run now Curvando a luz
Georgian All Georgian Run now რეფრაქციის მოვლენა
German All Deutsch Run now Lichtbrechung
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Διάθλαση του φωτός
Hebrew All עברית Run now שבירת אור
Hungarian All magyar Run now Fénytörés
Indonesian All Bahasa Indonesia Run now Pembelokan / Pembiasan Cahaya
Italian All italiano Run now Rifrazione della Luce
Japanese All 日本語 Run now 光の屈折
Kannada All Kannada Run now ಬೆಳಕಿನ ವಕ್ರೀಭವನ
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now жарық бүгілісі
Khmer All Khmer Run now ពន្លឺងាកនៃកាំរស្មី
Korean All 한국어 Run now 빛 굴절
Kurdish All کوردی Run now لادانی رووناکی
Lao All Lao Run now ການສະທ້ອນແສງ
Macedonian All македонски Run now Прекршување на светлината
Marathi All मराठी Run now प्रकाशाचे अपवर्तन
Norwegian Bokmal All Norsk bokmål Run now Avbøyning av lys
Persian All فارسی Run now شکست نور
Polish All polski Run now załamanie światła
Portuguese All português Run now Desviando Luz
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Curvando a Luz
Romanian All română Run now Refracţia luminii
Russian All русский Run now Преломление света
Serbian All Српски Run now Преламање светлости
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Lom svetla
Slovenian All Slovenščina Run now Lom svetlobe
Spanish All español Run now Torciendo la luz
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Curvando la Luz
Swedish All svenska Run now Böja ljus
Thai All ไทย Run now การหักเหแสง
Turkish All Türkçe Run now Işığın Kırılması
Turkmen All Turkmen Run now Ýagtylygyň egilmesi
Ukrainian All українська Run now Заломлення світла
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Khúc xạ ánh sáng

Software Requirements

Windows Macintosh Linux
Microsoft Windows
XP/Vista/7
Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later
OS 10.5 or later
Sun Java 1.5.0_19 or later
Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later

Credits

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Noah Podolefsky (lead)
  • Kathy Perkins
  • Trish Loeblein
  • Emily Moore (interviews)
  • Sam Reid (developer)
  • piccolo2d
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