Editing Refractive index (section)

===Density===
[[File:density-nd.GIF|thumb|upright=1.7|alt=A scatter plot showing a strong correlation between glass density and refractive index for different glasses|The relation between the refractive index and the density of [[silicate glass|silicate]] and [[borosilicate glass]]es<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glassproperties.com/refractive_index/|title=Calculation of the Refractive Index of Glasses|work=Statistical Calculation and Development of Glass Properties|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015124852/http://glassproperties.com/refractive_index/|archive-date=2007-10-15}}</ref>]]
In general, it is assumed that the refractive index of a glass increases with its [[density]]. However, there does not exist an overall linear relationship between the refractive index and the density for all silicate and borosilicate glasses. A relatively high refractive index and low density can be obtained with glasses containing light metal oxides such as [[lithium oxide|{{chem2|Li2O}}]] and [[magnesium oxide|{{chem2|MgO}}]], while the opposite trend is observed with glasses containing [[lead(II) oxide|{{chem2|PbO}}]] and [[barium oxide|{{chem2|BaO}}]] as seen in the diagram at the right.

Many oils (such as [[olive oil]]) and [[ethanol]] are examples of liquids that are more refractive, but less dense, than water, contrary to the general correlation between density and refractive index.

For air, {{math|''n'' - 1}} is proportional to the density of the gas as long as the chemical composition does not change.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://emtoolbox.nist.gov/Wavelength/Documentation.asp | first1 = Jack A. | last1 = Stone | first2 = Jay H. | last2 = Zimmerman | date = 2011-12-28 | website = Engineering metrology toolbox | publisher = National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | title = Index of refraction of air | access-date = 2014-01-11 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140111155252/http://emtoolbox.nist.gov/Wavelength/Documentation.asp | archive-date = 2014-01-11 }}</ref> This means that it is also proportional to the pressure and inversely proportional to the temperature for [[ideal gas law|ideal gases]]. For liquids the same observation can be made as for gases, for instance, the refractive index in alkanes increases nearly perfectly linear with the density. On the other hand, for carboxylic acids, the density decreases with increasing number of C-atoms within the homologeous series. The simple explanation of this finding is that it is not density, but the molar concentration of the chromophore that counts. In homologeous series, this is the excitation of the C-H-bonding. August Beer must have intuitively known that when he gave Hans H. Landolt in 1862 the tip to investigate the refractive index of compounds of homologeous series.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Landolt |first=H. |date=January 1862 |title=Ueber die Brechungsexponenten flüssiger homologer Verbindungen |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/andp.18621931102 |journal=Annalen der Physik |language=en |volume=193 |issue=11 |pages=353–385 |doi=10.1002/andp.18621931102 |bibcode=1862AnP...193..353L |issn=0003-3804|url-access=subscription }}</ref> While Landolt did not find this relationship, since, at this time dispersion theory was in its infancy, he had the idea of molar refractivity which can even be assigned to single atoms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Landolt |first=H. |date=January 1864 |title=Ueber den Einfluss der atomistischen Zusammensetzung C, H und O-haltiger flüssiger Verbindungen auf die Fortpflanzung des Lichtes |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/andp.18641991206 |journal=Annalen der Physik |language=en |volume=199 |issue=12 |pages=595–628 |doi=10.1002/andp.18641991206 |bibcode=1864AnP...199..595L |issn=0003-3804|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Based on this concept, the refractive indices of organic materials can be calculated.