Why does light refract? What is the cause of such behavior? And why is there this one exception to the refraction of light? An analogy of marching soldiers is often used to address this question. In fact, it is not uncommon that the analogy be illustrated in a Physics class with a student demonstration. A group of students forms a straight line (shoulder to shoulder) and connect themselves to their nearest neighbor using meter sticks. A strip of masking tape divides the room into two media. In one of the media (on one side of the tape), students walk at a normal pace. In the other media (or on the other side of the tape), students walk very slowly using baby steps. The group of students walk forward together in a straight line towards the diagonal strip of masking tape. The students maintain the line as they approach the masking tape. When an individual student reaches the tape, that student abruptly changes the pace of her/his walk. The group of students continues walking until all students in the line have entered into the second medium. The diagram below represents the line of students approaching the boundary (the masking tape) between the two media. On the diagram, an arrow is used to show the general direction of travel for the group of students in both media. Observe that the direction of the students changes at the "boundary."
