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Which ray diagram demonstrates the phenomenon of refraction?

An illustration with a vector pointed right going through an opening in a boundary and splitting into 3 vectors. One up and to the right, one straight and one down to the right.

An illustration with a vector striking a boundary at an angle and a second vector coming off the boundary on the other side at a different angle.

An illustration with a vector striking a boundary at an angle and a second vector coming off the boundary at the exact same angle.

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Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
The second illustration.

Refraction is the bending of a ray when it crosses a boundary between media with different wave speeds (different refractive indices), so the transmitted ray emerges at a different angle. That is shown by an incident ray striking at an angle and a refracted ray on the other side at a different angle (Snell’s law: n1 sinθ1 = n2 sinθ2).

(First diagram looks like diffraction/scattering; the third shows no bending, i.e. no change in refractive index.)