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I've been told if you plot a graph using the sine of the angle of incidence and the sine of the angle of transmission it should follow a linear regression $y = ax + b$. However, if you use certain materials this relationship will not be linear. This can only be possible if the angle of incidence changes the refractive index. What sort of materials have this behaviour? What is the relationship between the refractive index and the angle of incidence?

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  • $\begingroup$ See the following link: Snell's_Law $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 23, 2016 at 13:55
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    $\begingroup$ What are y and x? $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 23, 2016 at 15:25
  • $\begingroup$ y is the sine of the angle of incidence and x the sine of the angle of transmission $\endgroup$
    – jatrp5
    Commented Apr 23, 2016 at 16:29

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That's right. There are materials that possess these properties. They are birefringent, see Wiki Page Birefringence. Crystals can have different refractive indices along their crystal axes which leads to the phenomenon that you describe.

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