Dick Conley <dic### [at] localaccesscom> wrote:

> To make this all work properly you need to have the statement "conserve
> energy" so that the remaining light after reflection is refracted.

And this is where I'm not so sure.
For ENERGY it is obvious that the part that isn't reflected is refracted
inside the object. 
However: the width[1] of the refracted (not the reflected) ray is different
from that of the incoming ray, what means that the intensity[2] of it is lower!
That is: 
E_reflected + E_reflected = E_incoming, BUT
I_refracted + I_reflected < I_incoming ! 
Now the question is: What do we need really need to calculate for the rays?
Energy or intensity? I think it's intensity...

[1] I know that the rays the raytracer calculates do not really have
a width. But it should should behave as if they had, AFAIK.
[2] Intensity: energy/area (really energy/(area*time) but the time dimension 
shouldn't be relevant for raytracing)

Lutz-Peter

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