Physics+Animations

[|Refraction Animation] This animation shows reflection and refraction of light from air to glass. By moving the top lever up and down, you can change the angle of incidence of the light from the air into the glass. By moving the bottom lever, you can change the index of refraction of the glass. This animation shows the affect of angle of incidence and index of refraction of a light ray passing from air to glass. The animation will also calculate angle of refraction given the angle of incidence and index of refraction of the glass. By pressing ‘next scene’ located at the bottom right corner, you can see the affects on a light ray from water to air. This animation works exactly the same as the first animation. However, this animation shows total internal reflection that can occur from water to air. This animation is useful to se how refraction works from one medium to another. It also helps to understand total internal reflection and the critical angle from a medium of a higher index of refraction to one with a lower index of refraction.

[|Lenses and Mirrors Animation] This is a thin lens animation featuring a converging lens. By clicking on the blue arrow on the left side of the lens (the object), you can change the height and distance away from the lens that the object is. This will then calculate the size, orientation, and distance from the lens that the image formed will be. By clicking the fifth box from the left, you can change the lens to a concave mirror and see the affects of the size and distance away from the mirror of the object on the image formed. This animation is useful in showing how the distance and size of the object will affect the distance, size, and orientation of the image in both a converging lens and concave mirror.