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Brewster angle and Fresnel reflection

What you are seeing: a light ray incident on an interface between two media at angle θi\theta_i. Snell s law n1sinθi=n2sinθtn_1 \sin\theta_i = n_2 \sin\theta_t gives the refraction angle; Fresnel coefficients give Rs(θi)R_s(\theta_i) and Rp(θi)R_p(\theta_i). At Brewster angle θB=arctan(n2/n1)\theta_B = \arctan(n_2/n_1) the p-reflectance vanishes; at the critical angle θc=arcsin(n2/n1)\theta_c = \arcsin(n_2/n_1) (when n1>n2n_1 > n_2) TIR sets in

Figure 1. Light at oblique incidence onto an n1-to-n2 interface. Method: closed-form Snell + Fresnel; reflectance curves R_s, R_p as functions of theta_i.
theta_i (deg)50.0
medium 1 (top)water
medium 2 (bottom)air
animation speed0

WHAT TO TRY

  • Vary each control and watch the rail readouts respond.
  • Compare the diagnostic plot against the live scene.