When a ray of light travels from an optically denser medium to an optically rarer medium at an angle greater than the critical angle, what phenomenon occurs?

💡 Solution & Explanation

Total internal reflection occurs when a light ray striking a boundary from a denser to a rarer medium at an angle exceeding the critical angle is completely reflected back into the first medium without any refraction. Refraction involves bending across boundaries, diffraction is the bending around obstacles, and polarization restricts light oscillations to a single plane. Optical fibers operate entirely based on total internal reflection.