Found 2 items, similar to index of refraction.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: index of refraction index of refraction n : the ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to that in a medium [syn: refractive index]
English → English (gcide) Definition: Index of refraction Index \In"dex\, n.; pl. E. Indexes, L. Indices(?). [L.: cf. F. index. See Indicate, Diction.] [1913 Webster] 1. That which points out; that which shows, indicates, manifests, or discloses; as, the increasing unemployment rate is an index of how much the economy has slowed. [1913 Webster +PJC] Tastes are the indexes of the different qualities of plants. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster] 2. That which guides, points out, informs, or directs; a pointer or a hand that directs to anything, as the hand of a watch, a movable finger or other form of pointer on a gauge, scale, or other graduated instrument. In (printing), a sign [[hand]] (called also fist) used to direct particular attention to a note or paragraph. [1913 Webster] 3. A table for facilitating reference to topics, names, and the like, in a book, usually giving the page on which a particular word or topic may be found; -- usually alphabetical in arrangement, and printed at the end of the volume. Typically found only in non-fiction books. [1913 Webster +PJC] 4. A prologue indicating what follows. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster] 5. (Anat.) The second finger, that next to the pollex (thumb), in the manus, or hand; the forefinger; index finger . [1913 Webster] 6. (Math.) The figure or letter which shows the power or root of a quantity; the exponent. [In this sense the plural is always indices.] [1913 Webster] 7. The ratio, or formula expressing the ratio, of one dimension of a thing to another dimension; as, the vertical index of the cranium. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] 8. A number providing a measure of some quantity derived by a formula, usually a form of averaging, from multiple quantities; -- used mostly in economics; as, the index of leading indicators; the index of industrial production; the consumer price index. See, for example, the consumer price index . [PJC] 9. (computers) A file containing a table with the addresses of data items, arranged for rapid and convenient search for the addresses. [PJC] 10. (computers) A number which serves as a label for a data item and also represents the address of a data item within a table or array. [PJC] 11. (R. C. Ch.), The Index prohibitorius, a catalogue of books which are forbidden by the church to be read; also called Index of forbidden books and Index Librorum Prohibitorum . [PJC] Index error, the error in the reading of a mathematical instrument arising from the zero of the index not being in complete adjustment with that of the limb, or with its theoretically perfect position in the instrument; a correction to be applied to the instrument readings equal to the error of the zero adjustment. Index expurgatorius. [L.] See Index prohibitorius (below). Index finger. See Index, 5. Index glass, the mirror on the index of a quadrant, sextant, etc. Index hand, the pointer or hand of a clock, watch, or other registering machine; a hand that points to something. Index of a logarithm (Math.), the integral part of the logarithm, and always one less than the number of integral figures in the given number. It is also called the characteristic. Index of refraction, or Refractive index (Opt.), the number which expresses the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction. Thus the index of refraction for sulphur is 2, because, when light passes out of air into sulphur, the sine of the angle of incidence is double the sine of the angle of refraction. Index plate, a graduated circular plate, or one with circular rows of holes differently spaced; used in machines for graduating circles, cutting gear teeth, etc. Index prohibitorius [L.], or Prohibitory index (R. C. Ch.), a catalogue of books which are forbidden by the church to be read; the index expurgatorius [L.], or expurgatory index, is a catalogue of books from which passages marked as against faith or morals must be removed before Catholics can read them. These catalogues are published with additions, from time to time, by the Congregation of the Index, composed of cardinals, theologians, etc., under the sanction of the pope. --Hook. Index rerum [L.], a tabulated and alphabetized notebook, for systematic preservation of items, quotations, etc. [1913 Webster] Refraction \Re*frac"tion\ (r?*fr?k"sh?n), n. [F. r['e]fraction.] 1. The act of refracting, or the state of being refracted. [1913 Webster] 2. The change in the direction of ray of light, heat, or the like, when it enters obliquely a medium of a different density from that through which it has previously moved. [1913 Webster] Refraction out of the rarer medium into the denser, is made towards the perpendicular. --Sir I. Newton. [1913 Webster] 3. (Astron.) (a) The change in the direction of a ray of light, and, consequently, in the apparent position of a heavenly body from which it emanates, arising from its passage through the earth's atmosphere; -- hence distinguished as atmospheric refraction, or astronomical refraction. (b) The correction which is to be deducted from the apparent altitude of a heavenly body on account of atmospheric refraction, in order to obtain the true altitude. [1913 Webster] Angle of refraction (Opt.), the angle which a refracted ray makes with the perpendicular to the surface separating the two media traversed by the ray. Conical refraction (Opt.), the refraction of a ray of light into an infinite number of rays, forming a hollow cone. This occurs when a ray of light is passed through crystals of some substances, under certain circumstances. Conical refraction is of two kinds; external conical refraction, in which the ray issues from the crystal in the form of a cone, the vertex of which is at the point of emergence; and internal conical refraction, in which the ray is changed into the form of a cone on entering the crystal, from which it issues in the form of a hollow cylinder. This singular phenomenon was first discovered by Sir W. R. Hamilton by mathematical reasoning alone, unaided by experiment. Differential refraction (Astron.), the change of the apparent place of one object relative to a second object near it, due to refraction; also, the correction required to be made to the observed relative places of the two bodies. Double refraction (Opt.), the refraction of light in two directions, which produces two distinct images. The power of double refraction is possessed by all crystals except those of the isometric system. A uniaxial crystal is said to be optically positive (like quartz), or optically negative (like calcite), or to have positive, or negative, double refraction, according as the optic axis is the axis of least or greatest elasticity for light; a biaxial crystal is similarly designated when the same relation holds for the acute bisectrix. Index of refraction. See under Index. Refraction circle (Opt.), an instrument provided with a graduated circle for the measurement of refraction. Refraction of latitude, longitude, declination, right ascension , etc., the change in the apparent latitude, longitude, etc., of a heavenly body, due to the effect of atmospheric refraction. Terrestrial refraction, the change in the apparent altitude of a distant point on or near the earth's surface, as the top of a mountain, arising from the passage of light from it to the eye through atmospheric strata of varying density. [1913 Webster]