Light travels at different speeds based on the medium it passes through. For example, in a vacuum, it travels at 3.0 × 10^8 m/s in a straight line. But when directed towards glass, air, diamond, water ...

Nearly a decade after getting waves of light to bend backward, physicists have done the same with electrons. Electrons coursing through a sheet of carbon atoms exhibited negative refraction, bending ...

Light is refracted when it enters a material like water or glass. Depending on the density of the material, light will reduce in speed as it travels through, causing it to change direction. Ray ...

Discover the science behind seeing your reflection in water. Light travels in straight lines and bounces off smooth surfaces, ...

R¿diger Paschotta, a physicist and CEO of RP Photonics Consulting in Switzerland, offers this answer. There are many different types of mirrors, and each behaves somewhat differently. The most common ...