Light travels at different speeds in different materials.
In air, or the vacuum of space, it travels very fast (about
299,792,458 meters per second).
In water, light travels 1 and one third slower than it does in air.
We say water has a refractive index of 1.33.
| Material | | Index |
| Quartz | | 1.54 |
| Salt | | 1.54 |
| Mineral oil | | 1.48 |
| Corn oil | | 1.47 |
| Glycerine | | 1.47 |
| Ethanol | | 1.36 |
| Water | | 1.33 |
| Ice | | 1.31 |
| Air | | 1.00 |
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