unrefracted
Adjective: - Not bent or changed in direction: "unrefracted" describes light, sound, or other waves that have not been bent or altered in their path as they pass from one medium to another. In physics, this means the wave travels in a straight line without deviation.
- (The light did not bend because there was no change in medium.)
- (The direction of light is not altered.)
- (The waves did not bend due to changes in air density.)
"unrefracted light": Light that has not been bent by passing through a lens, prism, or other refractive material.
- The telescope's design ensures that starlight remains unrefracted until it reaches the detector. (The light is not bent before measurement.)
"unrefracted vision": In optics, vision that does not require correction by lenses because the eye's natural lens focuses light without deviation.
- His unrefracted vision allowed him to see distant objects with perfect clarity. (His eyes do not need glasses.)
Refracted (adj): bent or changed in direction, especially of light or sound waves.
- The refracted light created a rainbow in the prism. (The light was bent to form colors.)
Refraction (n): the bending of waves as they pass from one medium to another.
- Refraction causes a straw in a glass of water to appear broken. (The bending of light creates an illusion.)
Refract (v): to cause waves to bend when entering a different medium.
- The lens refracts light to focus it on the retina. (The lens bends light.)
- Undeviated: not turned aside from a straight course.
- Unbent: not curved or changed in direction.
- Straight: following a direct path without curvature.
- "in a straight line": (idiomatic) describing an unrefracted path.
- The beam traveled in a straight line, unrefracted by any obstacle. (The path was direct and unchanged.)
- Physics: "unrefracted" is commonly used in discussions of wave optics, acoustics, and seismology to describe waves that pass through a uniform medium without encountering boundaries that cause bending.
- Seismic waves remain unrefracted in homogeneous rock layers. (The waves do not bend due to uniform density.)