These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

Refractioneye

Refraction is the bending of light. Light bends whenever it travels from one transparent material to another. One example of this is light travelling through a glass.

Refractionin physics

The bending of light by refraction is used in lenses and magnifying glasses. Refraction is also used to focus light onto the retina, allowing us to see clearly.

What isrefractionClass 10

Find out how refraction plays a part in rainbows and how to bend light with a prism. This activity shows that light is made up of all the colours of the rainbow. Each colour refracts at a different angle ( as they have different wavelengths ), which is why the colours can be seen separately.

Refractionof light

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Light speeds up as it passes through a less dense material ( for example, glass to air ) and bends away from the normal.

The reason light bends when it passes between two materials is because it changes speed. If the new material is more dense ( for example air to glass ), the light slows down and bends towards the normal.