Question

what does the refractive index indicate and mean. please explain in detail

for example i know the refractive index for limonene is 1.4727 and the refractive index for y-terpinene is 1.474 but idk what it means

thanks

Answer 1

Q. To begin with, Refactive index is defined as the ration of velocity of light in vacuum to the velocity of light in a medium.

It indicates the bending of light in a medium. For example, when a ray of light from air enters to the water it bends. It can be measure by refractive index.

So, different values of refractvie index show how the light travel in a medium. For example, higher the value of refractive index slower the light travels, due to this the direction of light in that particular medium will be highly changed and vice-versa.

By given values of refractive index, the value of refractive index of y-terpinene is higher than limonene.Thus, light will travel slower in y-terpinene than limonene.Also, the direction of light will be more changed in y- terpinene than limonene.