What is described as the bending of light?

Refraction refers to the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another, a process that occurs due to the change in the speed of light in different materials. When light travels through mediums such as air to water, or air to glass, its speed changes, causing the light rays to bend at the interface between the two substances. This phenomenon is fundamental to many optical applications, including lenses, prisms, and the human eye.

Reflection involves light bouncing off surfaces, while diffraction relates to the bending of light around obstacles or through openings, and dispersion describes the separation of light into its constituent colors, such as in a prism. Each of these processes plays a role in how light interacts with materials, but refraction specifically addresses the bending action associated with a change in medium.