Certified Ophthalmic Assistant Practice Exam

The term for the bending of light is indeed refraction. This phenomenon occurs when light travels through different mediums, such as air to water, causing it to change speed and direction. Refraction is fundamental to the functioning of lenses in ophthalmic instruments, which are used to correct vision and examine the eyes. Reflection refers to the bouncing of light off surfaces, while dissipation involves the spreading out of energy, and diffraction pertains to the bending of light waves around obstacles or through openings. Each of these terms relates to different processes involving light but does not specifically describe the bending of light in the way that refraction does.