Bending Light

Bending Light Screenshot
  • Snell's Law
  • Refraction
  • Reflection
Java Logo Original Sim and Translations

Topics

  • Snell's Law
  • Refraction
  • Reflection
  • Optics
  • Prisms
  • Lenses
  • Light

Description

Explore bending of light between two media with different indices of refraction. See how changing from air to water to glass changes the bending angle. Play with prisms of different shapes and make rainbows.

Sample Learning Goals

  • Explain how light bends at the interface between two media and what determines the angle.
  • Apply Snell’s law to a laser beam incident on the interface between media.
  • Describe how the speed and wavelength of light changes in different media.
  • Describe the effect of changing wavelength on the angle of refraction.
  • Explain how a prism creates a rainbow.
Version 1.1.20

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

BendingLight_Remote_Lab A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro
Remote
Lab
Physics
Concept questions for Physics using PhET (Inquiry Based) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro
MC Physics
Wave unit (Inquiry Based) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro
Lab
Demo
Physics
Exploring How Light Behaves at Boundaries A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Elyse Zimmer HS Lab Physics
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other Biology
Earth Science
Chemistry
Physics
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein updated by Diana López HS
MS
Other Physics
Earth Science
Biology
Chemistry
PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum This contribution was designed by PhET. Julia Chamberlain HS
UG-Intro
Other Chemistry
Refraction of Light Ferdinand Bautista MS
HS
Guided
Lab
Physics
Study of law of reflection and refraction Pramod Lamichhane UG-Adv
HS
UG-Intro
Remote
HW
Lab
Physics
Refraction Lab Michael Barr UG-Intro
HS
Lab
Guided
Physics
Guided lab with instructions, screenshots and questions Paul Torrington HS
MS
Lab
Guided
Remote
Physics
Virtual Lab - Investigating Refraction of Light Tristan O'Hanlon HS
UG-Intro
Guided
Lab
Physics
Mapping of PhET and IBDP Physics Jaya Ramchandani HS Other Physics
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer MS
HS
Other Chemistry
Physics
Biology
PhET Inquiry - Bending Light Paul Martenis HS Guided
Lab
Astronomy
Physics
Investigating critical angle and Total Internal Reflection Jim Champion UG-Intro
HS
HW
Lab
Guided
Physics
Bending-Light Worksheet Madhuri Ganapathi HS HW Physics
Discovering Snell's law Jonathan Carlson HS
UG-Intro
Guided
Lab
HW
Physics
Refraction and Snell's Law Lab Kristin Michalski HS Lab Astronomy
Physics
Wave Refraction Simon Lees HS HW
Lab
Guided
Physics
Determining Speed and Intensity of Light during Refraction Simon Lees HS Lab
Guided
HW
Physics
Reflection in a plane surface Simon Lees HS HW
Lab
Guided
Physics
Bending Light Lab! Jamie Schoenberger MS Guided
Lab
Physics
Bending Light Student Worksheet Lucy Kulbago HS
MS
Lab
Guided
Physics
Laboratorio virtual de reflexión y refracción de la luz A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein (traducción Diana López) HS
UG-Intro
Lab
Remote
Guided
HW
Astronomy
Physics
Preguntas de razonamiento para todas las simulaciones HTML5 A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López MS
UG-Intro
K-5
Grad
UG-Adv
HS
Discuss
HW
Astronomy
Physics
Chemistry
Mathematics
PREPARATORIA: Alineación de PhET con programas de la DGB México (2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López UG-Intro
HS
Other Chemistry
Physics
Mathematics
Phet opdracht breking meten. Norbert van Veen MS HW
Lab
Guided
Physics
pc-labo: lichtbreking Maarten Vervecken MS Lab Physics
Valguse murdumine Siim Tõkke HS Lab
HW
Physics
Moodle et PhetColorado Claude Divoux HS Lab
Guided
MC
Chemistry
Physics
光の屈折 Hiroto Kuninaka, Akira Ogihara, Taichiro Goto MS Lab
Guided
Physics
REFRAÇÃO E REFLEXÃO DA LUZ Gabriel Paiva e Gilvandenys Sales MS Lab
Guided
Physics
Visão Humana (Atividades) nos OA's do PhET Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales HS
MS
Other
Guided
Other
HW
Physics
Other
Biology
Óptica Geral (Atividades) nos OA's do PhET Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales UG-Intro
MS
Other
HS
Guided
Demo
HW
Other
Mathematics
Earth Science
Physics
Other
Miopia e Hipermetropia (Lentes) no "Bending Light" Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales HS
Other
MS
Other
HW
Guided
Earth Science
Physics
Other
Refração da Luz no "Bending Light (HTML5)" Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales HS
Other
Guided
HW
Other
Other
Mathematics
Physics
Earth Science
Verificação da lei de Snell e cálculo do índice de refração desconhecido andre borba MS Lab Physics
REFLEXIÓN Y REFRACCIÓN DE LA LUZ FRANCISCO CRUZ CANTU HS HW
Lab
Guided
Physics
EXPERIMENTOS DE NEWTON OPTICA FRANCISCO CRUZ CANTU HS Guided
HW
Lab
Physics

Language Download or Run Tips
Albanian All shqip Run now Përthyerja e dritës
Arabic All العربية Run now Bending Light
Azerbaijani All Azerbaijani Run now İşığın sınması
Basque All Euskara Run now Argiaren islapen-errefrakzioak
Belarusian All беларускі Run now Праламленне святла
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Prelamanje svjetlosti
Bulgarian All български Run now Пречупване на светлината
Catalan All català Run now Reflexió i refracció de la llum
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 光的折射
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Bending Light_光的折射
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Lom svjetlosti
Czech All čeština Run now Lom světla
Danish All Dansk Run now Afbøjning af lys
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Lichtbreking
Estonian All Eesti Run now Valguse murdumine
Finnish All suomi Run now Taittuva valo
French All français Run now Déviation de la lumière
Galician All Gallegan Run now Bending Light
Georgian All ქართული Run now სინათლის გარდატეხა
German All Deutsch Run now Lichtbrechung
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Διάθλαση φωτός
Gujarati All Gujarati Run now પ્રકાશનું વક્રીભવન -Pankajsid34
Hebrew All עברית Run now שבירת אור
Hungarian All magyar Run now Fénytörés
Indonesian All Bahasa Indonesia Run now Bending Light
Irish All Gaeilge Run now Solas lúbtha
Italian All italiano Run now Rifrazione della luce
Japanese All 日本語 Run now 光の屈折
Kannada All Kannada Run now ಬಾಗುವ ಬೆಳಕು
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now Bending Light
Khmer All Khmer Run now Bending Light
Korean All 한국어 Run now 빛의 굴절
Kurdish All کوردی Run now Bending Light
Lao All Lao Run now Bending Light
Latvian All Latviešu Run now Gaismas laušana
Macedonian All македонски Run now Bending Light
Maori All Maori Run now Te Piko o te Aho
Marathi All मराठी Run now प्रकाशाचे अपवर्तन
Mongolian All Монгол (Монгол) Run now Гэрлийн хугарал
Norwegian Bokmal All Norsk bokmål Run now Avbøyning av lys
Norwegian Nynorsk All Norwegian Nynorsk Run now Bøying av lys
Oriya All Oriya Run now ଆଲୋକ ର ଦିଗ ପରିବର୍ତ୍ତନ
Persian All فارسی Run now شکست نور
Polish All polski Run now Odbicie i załamanie światła
Portuguese All português Run now Bending Light
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Desvio da Luz Download teacher tips PDF
Romanian All română Run now Refracția luminii
Russian All русский Run now Преломление света
Serbian All Српски Run now Преламање светлости
Sinhalese All Sinhalese Run now ආලෝක වර්තනය
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Lom svetla
Slovenian All Slovenščina Run now Širjenje svetlobe
Spanish All español Run now Reflexión y Refracción de la Luz Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Reflexión y Refracción de la Luz Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Curvando la luz
Spanish (Spain) All español (España) Run now Reflexión y refracción de la luz
Swedish All svenska Run now Ljusets brytning
Tamil All Tamil Run now ஔி வளைவு
Thai All ไทย Run now แสงที่หักเห
Tibetan All Tibetan Run now འོད་འཁྱོག་པ།
Turkish All Türkçe Run now Bükülen Işık
Turkmen All Turkmen Run now Bending Light
Ukrainian All українська Run now Заломлення світла Download teacher tips PDF
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Khúc xạ ánh sáng
Welsh All Welsh Run now Plygiant Golau

HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.

iPad:
iOS 12+ Safari
iPad compatible sims

Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.

Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims

Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.

Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.

Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Amy Rouinfar (lead)
  • Sam Reid (developer)
  • Noah Podolefsky
  • Trish Loeblein
  • Ariel Paul
  • Kathy Perkins
  • almond-0.2.9.js
  • easing-equations-r12
  • FileSaver-b8054a2.js
  • fontawesome-webfont-3.0.2.svg
  • game-up-camera-1.0.0.js
  • jama-1.0.2
  • jquery-2.1.0.js
  • lodash-2.4.1.js
  • pegjs-0.7.0.js
  • seedrandom-2.4.2.js
  • text-2.0.12.js
  • Tween-r12.js
  • Actual Concepts