Which term means to cause a ray or wave of light, heat, or sound to bend or change direction?

Which term means to cause a ray or wave of light, heat, or sound to bend or change direction?

• A. Reflect
• B. Refract
• C. Scatter
• D. Solar

Answer: (B)

Refraction is the bending of a ray or wave as it passes from one medium into another because its speed changes. This happens with light as it moves between materials with different optical densities, and the same idea applies to sound traveling through media with different densities and to heat in the form of thermal radiation traveling through different materials. When the wave enters a slower medium, it slows down and bends toward the boundary’s normal; when it enters a faster medium, it speeds up and bends away from the normal. This bending at the boundary is what we call refraction, and lenses use it to bend light to focus images. A familiar example is a straw appearing bent in a glass of water, which illustrates light refraction. Refraction is the general process that explains how waves change direction when crossing boundaries between materials with different speeds. The other terms don’t fit this idea. Reflection is bouncing off a surface, not passing through a boundary and changing direction inside the new medium. Scattering sends waves off in many directions, often due to irregularities, rather than a single, predictable bend at a boundary. Solar is unrelated to the process of wave direction change.

Refraction is the bending of a ray or wave as it passes from one medium into another because its speed changes. This happens with light as it moves between materials with different optical densities, and the same idea applies to sound traveling through media with different densities and to heat in the form of thermal radiation traveling through different materials. When the wave enters a slower medium, it slows down and bends toward the boundary’s normal; when it enters a faster medium, it speeds up and bends away from the normal. This bending at the boundary is what we call refraction, and lenses use it to bend light to focus images.

A familiar example is a straw appearing bent in a glass of water, which illustrates light refraction. Refraction is the general process that explains how waves change direction when crossing boundaries between materials with different speeds.

The other terms don’t fit this idea. Reflection is bouncing off a surface, not passing through a boundary and changing direction inside the new medium. Scattering sends waves off in many directions, often due to irregularities, rather than a single, predictable bend at a boundary. Solar is unrelated to the process of wave direction change.