When a light ray strikes an interface a part of it gets reflected, a part of it gets absorbed while another part gets refracted. Why does light reflect? Why does it refract?
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possible duplicate of Looking for the actual reason of refraction explained precisely without analogies – John Rennie Feb 24 '15 at 07:17
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1@JohnRennie - the question you linked is about refraction and does not seem to include reflection - unless I read it incorrectly. – tom Feb 24 '15 at 11:05
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@tom: the same physics applies to both - understand one and you understand the other. – John Rennie Feb 24 '15 at 11:15
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1@JohnRennie - the discussion on the other question seemed to be centred around the change in angle with refraction. What was not clear to me was how to predict the relative fractions of light refracted and reflected at different angles - and then polarization is important in this too of course... - is it possible to use the information in the question you linked to address these issues? – tom Feb 24 '15 at 11:26
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@JohnRennie I explained the reflection here. – Sofia Feb 25 '15 at 00:17