Science Common Sense

1679 - What happens when the angle of incidence of light passing from a denser medium to a rarer medium exceeds the critical angle?

When light passes from a denser medium (like glass or water) to a rarer medium (like air), there's something called the critical angle.

If the angle at which the light hits the surface (the angle of incidence) is less than the critical angle, the light passes through. But, if the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle, something called 'total internal reflection' happens.

In total internal reflection, the light doesn't pass through the surface; instead, it bounces back into the denser medium. So, no light gets through to the other side.