refract
part of speech
verb (refract, refracts, refracted, refracting); noun refraction
meaning for a pupil
1) (science) To refract light is to bend it as it passes from one material into another, such as from air into water or glass. tree →
2) Sound and other waves can also refract when they change speed. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons on light, refraction explains why a straw looks bent in a glass of water, why a swimming pool looks shallower than it is, how lenses in glasses and magnifying glasses work, and how a prism or raindrops refract and split white light into a rainbow. Safety: pools are deeper than they look because of refraction.
examples
- Water refracts light, so the straw looks bent. tree →
- A prism refracts white light into a rainbow of colours. tree →
- Glasses lenses refract light to help people see clearly. tree →
- Raindrops refract and reflect sunlight to make rainbows. tree →
- The pool looks shallow because water refracts the light. tree →
- Light refracts when it goes from air into glass. tree →
- Draw how the light ray refracts at the surface. tree →
note
Do not confuse refract (bend light passing through) with reflect (bounce light back, as a mirror does). Noun: refraction. The light changes direction because it changes speed.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «refract» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.