What is refract?

Refract is when light changes direction as it goes from one material to another, like a sneaky little refractor bouncing off a wall.

Imagine you're playing with your favorite toy car on the floor, and then it rolls onto a rug. The car slows down and starts moving in a different path, that’s kind of what happens with light when it moves from air into glass or water.

When light hits something like a glass window, part of it goes through the glass, but it also changes direction, just like your toy car changing paths on the rug. This change in direction is called refraction.

You can see this every day when you look at a straw in a glass of water. The straw seems to bend at the point where it enters the water, that’s refract in action!

Refract helps us make things like eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, and even cameras work better. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to see clearly or take great pictures!