1 View

48.. State Huygens' principle oish the laws of reraction of light using Huygens' principle.


Yash Sharma 13th Feb, 2026
Answer (1)
Sanskriti Srivastava 2nd Mar, 2026

Hi Yash!

Huygens’ Principle:

Every point on a wavefront acts as a source of secondary wavelets that spread out in all directions with the speed of light in that medium. The new wavefront at any later time is the common tangent (envelope) to all these secondary wavelets.

Using Huygens’ principle to derive the laws of refraction:

When a plane wavefront travels from one medium to another, the speed of light changes. Suppose light goes from a rarer medium (speed = $v_1$) to a denser medium (speed = $v_2$).

From the wave construction:

$\dfrac{\sin i}{\sin r} = \dfrac{v_1}{v_2}$

But we know refractive index $n = \dfrac{c}{v}$

So, $\dfrac{\sin i}{\sin r} = \dfrac{n_2}{n_1}$

Or

$n_1 \sin i = n_2 \sin r$

This is Snell’s Law of Refraction.

Thus, the laws of refraction are:

The incident ray, refracted ray, and the normal at the point of incidence lie in the same plane.

$n_1 \sin i = n_2 \sin r$

Hope it helps!

Related Questions

Amity University-Noida B.Tech...
Apply
Among top 100 Universities Globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2026
Amity University-Noida M.Tech...
Apply
Among top 100 Universities Globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2026
Amity University-Noida BBA Ad...
Apply
Among top 100 Universities Globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2026
VIT Bhopal University | B.Arc...
Apply
Mark presence in the Modern Architectural field with Bachelor of Architecture | Highest CTC : 70 LPA | Accepts NATA Score
New Horizon College BBA Admis...
Apply
UG Admissions 2026 open| NAAC ‘A’ grade | Merit-based Scholarships available.
VIT Bhopal University | Integ...
Apply
Integrated M.Tech admissions open @ VIT Bhopal University | Highest CTC 70 LPA | Application Closing Soon | Apply now
View All Application Forms

Download the Careers360 App on your Android phone

Regular exam updates, QnA, Predictors, College Applications & E-books now on your Mobile

150M+ Students
30,000+ Colleges
500+ Exams
1500+ E-books