Week 28: Class rings (!)

I'm a January baby, so I got a garnet on my class ring.

Last night, the class of 2012 received their long-awaited class rings. Because my last name starts with an R, I had to wait until about 10 or so rows of students (all with last names beginning with letters that precede R, of course) shook the hands of our class advisers and returned to their seats, clutching black ring boxes. 

When my name was called, I walked up to the front. Thankfully, I didn't trip (WIN!). I received my ring box and patiently waited (Another WIN!) until the moment before all juniors processed out of the chapel to take a small peek at my ring. 

And there it was. My first thought was of how the light reflecting off of the stone would be the perfect topic for my Physics blog this weekend (BEST WIN MOMENT OF THE NIGHT!). 

Light reflects off of the surface of the jewel at an angle equal to the angle of incidence, or the angle at which incident light hits the surface, according to the law of reflection. Because the jewel has many different facets due to its specific cut, it catches the light from different directions. Consequently, reflected light bounces off of the jewel in different directions, too. Reflection gives the jewel its luster.

At the same time, light is also refracted, or the light changes direction as it passes from air to the stone. Snell's law states that the product of the index of refraction and the sine of reflection of light traveling in the first medium is equal to the product of the index of refraction and the sine of reflection of light traveling in the second medium. This adds to the jewel's brilliance and luster.
I tried to take a picture of my ring to show how, when it catches the light at a certain angle, it scintillates more brightly than when it catches the light at any other angle.

And, voila, the Physics of class rings.