Light and optics show up everywhere on the MCAT, especially when physics meets biology (vision). In this Jack Westin MCAT Podcast episode, Mike and Molly break down the must-know foundations of light as a wave and how it behaves in optical systems so you can stop memorizing and start solving.

You’ll learn:

🌈 Light as a transverse wave and why it can travel in a vacuum

🧮 The wave equation v = fλ and what actually changes when the medium changes

🪞 Reflection basics: the law of reflection and the “angle is measured from the normal” trap

💧 Refraction and why light “bends” when its speed changes

📐 Snell’s Law (n₁sinθ₁ = n₂sinθ₂) and how to reason through relationship questions

🔁 Total internal reflection + the critical angle (and real-world examples)

🔍 Lenses vs mirrors, concave vs convex, and what “converging vs diverging” means

👀 Real vs virtual images, and the high-yield patterns (SUV for diverging systems)

🧾 The thin lens equation and magnification (and how to use them on test day)

Watch next: Vision and the Eye (how optics becomes biology) in the next episode.

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