Refractive index is a measure of how light propagates through a material. See more. The higher the refractive index the slower the light travels, which causes a correspondingly increased change in the direction of the light within the material. The refractive index of the lens indicates the efficiency of lens material on bending or refracting light. Sine R is the sine of the angle of refraction. Refractive Index is dimensionless. Refractive Index. Determining the refractive index of biological matter is needed for biophotonics applications including laser therapy, optical diagnosis and biomedical imaging. Refractive index is a measure of how much speed of light changes when it enter the medium from air. In gemology, refractive index is one of the chief means of identifying a gemstone. The Refractive Index - n - of a medium is a measure for how much the velocity of light is reduced inside the medium. The refractive index (or index of refraction) of a medium is a measure for how much the speed of light (or other waves such as sound waves) is reduced inside the medium.For example, typical soda-lime glass has a refractive index of 1.5, which means that in glass, light travels at $1/1.5=0.67$ times the speed of light in a vacuum. It is measured using an instrument known as a refractometer.. Sine I is the sine of the angle of incidence, and . Absolute refractive index is the ratio of â¦ It is defined as: This relationship is also known as Snellâs law. Refraction is an effect that occurs between transparent materials of different densities. For a given material, the refractive index is the ratio between the speed of light in a vacuum (c) and the speed of light in the medium (v). A higher refractive index indicates that light is more bended and spends more time on passing through the lens. The velocity of light in a medium can be expressed as Refractive index also called the index of refraction describes how fast light travels through the material. Refractive Index Formula: The value of this constant, $$\frac{\sin \,i}{\sin \,r}$$ for a light ray passing through a vacuum into a given medium is called the refractive index, n of the medium. Also, a higher refractive index can deal with higher prescription glasses. A refractive index is a numerical value that indicates the way in which light will travel through a particular substance in relation to how it travels through a vacuum. The refractive index (often abbreviated RI) is an optical property that refers to the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light through a transparent medium. Refractive index definition, index of refraction. n = Sine I / Sine R Where n is the refractive index. 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