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Refraction

Diamond's brilliance and shine are two of its most valued attributes. The science behind such phenomena is diamond's large ability to refract light; that is, to bend or slow light as it passes through it. The amount that a substance can crash light in these ways is quantified in its refractive index.

Science postulates the velocity of light in a vacuum to be about 186,000 miles per second. But the velocity of light is slowed when it is forced to interact with the electrons of a substance, whether it's a liquid, gas or solid. Normally speaking, higher density materials have greater concentration of electrons and therefore greater capabilities to refract light. Light passing during diamond is reduced to about 77,000 miles per second--near the maximum for any transparent substance.

Reflectance, or the amount of light reflected from a transparent substance, can also be indirect from a material's refractive index. Once again, diamond displays the maxim amount of reflectance for a transparent substance, displaying what is called an "adamantine" shine.

Substance	Velocity of Light mps (kps)	Refractive Index
Space	186,282 (299,792)	1.00
Air	186,232 (299,890)	1.00
Water	140,061 (225,442)	1.33
Glass	122,554 (197,349)	1.52
Diamond	77,056 (124,083)	2.42
The refractive index compares the velocity of light in a substance to that in a vacuum. Diamond slows light to a remarkable degree, and ranks high in refractive index.

SCIENCE FACT:

Refractive Index = cv /cs
where cv is velocity of light in a vacuum, and cs is that in the substance

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