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Refraction of Light

To form a clear focused image, optical systems, must direct the light reflected from an object so that there is a one-to-one relationship between each point on the object and corresponding points on the retinal image. The direction of light travel can be changed in three ways: 1.) reflection: light that is "bounced" off a surface, 2.) diffraction: because of its wave properties, light passing by a sharp edge will “wrap" around the edge, and 3.) refraction: the redirection of light that occurs when it passes between transparent medium that differ in the speed at which they transmit light. Refraction is the basis for the optical effects of lenses and prisms.