If light travels at the same speed in all media, then in what terms is it slowed down or sped up in refraction?

885 views

If light travels at the same speed in all media, then in what terms is it slowed down or sped up in refraction?

In: Physics

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The speed of light *isn’t* the same in all media. When people refer to “the speed of light” they’re usually referring to the speed of light *in a vacuum*, which is the maximum speed at which information can travel. But light traveling through air or water or whatever will be slower than light moving through a vacuum. Usually not by much and the exact speed varies depending on the material, but slower nonetheless.

There’s also an interesting phenomenon called Cherenkov radiation, which occurs when a particle is moving through a medium faster than the speed of light in that medium. It happens in some nuclear reactors and causes a blue glow. A particle can *never* move faster than light in a vacuum, but in some mediums they can.

You are viewing 1 out of 5 answers, click here to view all answers.