If a light ray is traveling from air into a glass prism, how will the direction of the light ray change after it enters the prism?

Question

osprey · Answer

the ray will be REFRACTED TOWARDS THE NORMAL to the prism surface it enters by. The normal is a line drawn at RIGHT ANGLES to the prism surface. This is an example of SNELL'S LAWs - one of them - of refraction. The light MAY also be DISPERSED into the colours of the rainbow, depending on the nature of the material of the prism. http://perendis.webs.com

sshayer · Answer

when a ray passes from rarer to denser ,it is refracted towards normal.

sshayer · Answer

if the ray is incident at normal then it does not bend.

osprey · Answer

@sshayer true. normal incidence implies that the angle of refraction is zero, because the angle of incidence is zero. all angles measured relative to the normal to the surface. So what has happened ? the light has been slowed down due to being in a more "optically dense" medium. Even if the said medium were dispersive - different refractions for different frequencies/wavelengths - the colours would probably not appear for normal incidence.

irishboy123 · Answer

"AFTER" it enters......am i being legalistic ?

:-)