Refraction of waves

Refraction is the change in direction of wave propagation due to a change in its transmission medium.

The phenomenon is explained by the conservation of energy and the conservation of momentum. Due to the change of medium, the phase velocity of the wave is changed but its frequency remains constant. This is most commonly observed when a wave passes from one medium to another at any angle other than 0° from the normal. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomenon, but any type of wave can refract when it interacts with a medium, for example when sound waves pass from one medium into another or when water waves move into water of a different depth. Refraction is described by Snell's law, which states that, for a given pair of media and a wave with a single frequency, the ratio of the sines of the angle of incidence θ₁ and angle of refraction θ₂ is equivalent to the ratio of phase velocities (v₁ / v₂) in the two media, or equivalently, to the opposite ratio of the indices of refraction (n₂ / n₁). Epsilon(${\displaystyle \epsilon }$) and mu(${\displaystyle \mu }$) represent the dielectric constant and the magnetic moment of the different media:

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