Snell's Law & Refraction

Refraction angle between any two media, the critical angle and total internal reflection condition computed and reported, plus unpolarised Fresnel reflectance and transmittance from the mean of s and p.

Math & convertSnellRefractionOpticsFresnelTir
Snell's Law & Refraction screenshot
Result
Refraction angle
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Notes

Snell holds for rays at a smooth interface between two homogeneous media. Total internal reflection needs light going from a higher index to a lower one AND an angle past the critical value — from low to high there is no critical angle and no TIR. Fresnel here is for a lossless interface at normal-ish conditions; real surfaces add absorption, so T = 1 − R understates what a coloured or absorbing medium transmits. These are the textbook indices, not wavelength- and temperature-dependent measured ones.

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