Critical angle
or Critical refraction angle

When a beam of light beam passes through a sample with at refractive index n1 in a medium with index of refraction n2 , such that n2 < n1, the angle q that the light beam makes with the perpendicular to the surface separating the two mediums is called the angle of refraction q.

If the condition n1.sinq = n2 is satisfied then the angle of refraction is called the critical angle or the critical refraction angle.

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