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Dictionary

in'dex of refrac'tion

Optics.
a number indicating the speed of light in a given medium as either the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to that in the given medium (absolute index of refraction) or the ratio of the speed of light in a specified medium to that in the given medium (relative index of refraction). Symbol: n Also called index, refractive index.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

index number

index plate

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