Magnifying Visors

What laws, equations and physical principles is the field of optics based on. If you can, be as thorough as po?

What laws, equations and physical principles is the field of optics based on. If you can, be as thorough as possible in your answer as I am trying to gain a firm understanding of this subject.

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1. Optics - is the branch of physics dealing with light. More specificially visible light. Optics is further divided into 2 sub-sections: Geometrical Optics, and Physical Optics. Geometrical Optics is all about how light reflect or bends due to Mirrors Lenses and Prisms. How light travels in a straight line, until it changes media (with different refractive index) The equations are: i = r and n1sini = n2sinr <---Snell's law n1= refractive index of media 1 (from) n2 = refractive index of media 2 (to) i = angle of incidence r = angle of reflection/refraction. (all angles are measured from the beam to the NORMAL to the surface). Physical Optics - deals with the way light 'bends' around edges or corners. It deals more with the wave nature of light (like water waves, bending and forming again around a wall or ship). It deals with difraction, destructive and constructive interference of light. Look up Young's double slit experiments... and single slit experiments.. Hope this helped.