Wolfram Computation Meets Knowledge

Wolfram Formula Repository (Under Development)

Total Internal Reflection

Total internal reflection is the phenomenon that occurs when a propagated wave strikes a medium boundary at an angle larger than a particular critical angle with respect to the normal to the surface.

The critical angle equals the arcsine of the ratio between the refractive indices outside and inside the material. The speed of light within the material equals the speed of light divided by the refractive index within the material.

Formula

{QuantityVariable[Subscript["c", "1"], "Speed"] == Quantity[1, "SpeedOfLight"]/QuantityVariable[Subscript["n", "1"], "Unitless"], QuantityVariable[Subscript["θ", "c"], "Angle"] == ArcSin[QuantityVariable[Subscript["n", "2"], "Unitless"]/QuantityVariable[Subscript["n", "1"], "Unitless"]]}

symbol description physical quantity
c1 speed of light within material "Speed"
n1 refractive index within material "Unitless"
θc critical angle "Angle"
n2 refractive index outside material "Unitless"

Forms

Examples

Get the resource:

In[1]:=
ResourceObject["Total Internal Reflection"]
Out[1]=

Get the formula:

In[2]:=
FormulaData[ResourceObject["Total Internal Reflection"]]
Out[2]=

Use some values:

In[3]:=
FormulaData[ ResourceObject["Total Internal Reflection"], {QuantityVariable[ \!\(\*SubscriptBox[\("\[Theta]"\), \("c"\)]\),"Angle"] -> Quantity[0.878`, "Radians"]}]
Out[3]=

Publisher Information