Fiber optics and total internal reflection

Links and useful resources

• START HERE: Physics 2024 class outline
• Physics classroom online interactive tools
• OpenSTAX high school physics
• NotebookLM physics notebook
• Physics projects
• AP Physics 1 Dan Fullerton videos

Lesson-specific resource links

• The Critical Angle (youtube)

• #hw (science) Read Bumblebees and pesticide and write a single sentence summary that answers what, why, and who with information from the article. 2025-03-31

Lightning Round Questions

• What is Snell's Law?
• What is the index of refraction?
• (lang) What is a clause?
• What shape is traced by the path of a ball that's thrown in a gravitational field?
• A certain object is dropped from the roof and hits the ground with 10 Joules of energy. How much faster would it need to be moving in order to hit with 40 Joules of energy?
• Why does light "bend" when it hits new materials?
• What is the speed of light in a vacuum?

gr7: [lightning:: 3]
gr10: [lightning:: 3]

Lesson content with examples

• Total internal reflection
• How fiber optics work
• Critical angle of refraction

Media resources

• Youtube search for "Total internal reflection"
• Youtube search for "How fiber optics work"
• Youtube search for "Critical angle of refraction"

Checking homework

Guided practice

• What is the critical angle in the transition from water to air?
• What is the critical angle in the transition from glass to water?
• How can optical fibers bend light through such large angles?
• If you are under water in a pool with your eyes 1 meter below the surface, how much of the pool's surface can you see through?

Homework

• #hw (physics) Total Internal Reflection concept checker 2025-03-31