Standard Materials
A table of materials like water, plastic, and glass.
A single IOR value defines how light refracts in the material.
| Material | Min IOR | Max IOR |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | ||
| Standard Glass★ | 1.50 | — |
| Tempered Glass | 1.52 | — |
| Optical Glass | 1.52 | 1.75 |
| Gorilla Glass | 1.51 | — |
| Flint Glass | 1.60 | 1.62 |
| Sapphire Glass | 1.77 | — |
| Crown Glass | 1.52 | — |
| Crystal Quartz | 1.54 | — |
| Fused Quartz | 1.46 | — |
| Pyrex | 1.47 | — |
| Liquids | ||
| Water★ | 1.33 | — |
| Saltwater | 1.34 | — |
| Coffee | 1.34 | — |
| Honey | 1.48 | 1.50 |
| Maple Syrup | 1.49 | — |
| Milk | 1.35 | — |
| Oil | 1.46 | 1.53 |
| Alcohol | 1.33 | — |
| Ethanol | 1.36 | — |
| Methanol | 1.33 | — |
| Vodka | 1.36 | — |
| Whisky | 1.36 | — |
| Wine | 1.36 | — |
| Beer | 1.34 | — |
| Blood | 1.35 | 1.40 |
| Gasoline | 1.42 | — |
| Glycerin | 1.47 | — |
| Frozen | ||
| Ice | 1.31 | — |
| Snow | 1.31 | — |
| Plastics | ||
| Standard Plastic★ | 1.49 | — |
| Polycarbonate | 1.58 | — |
| Polystyrene | 1.59 | — |
| Plexiglas | 1.50 | — |
| PMMA | 1.49 | — |
| Resin (epoxy) | 1.55 | 1.60 |
| Rubber★ | 1.52 | — |
| Acrylic glass | 1.49 | — |
| Lucite | 1.50 | — |
| Polyethylene | 1.51 | 1.52 |
| PVC | 1.53 | 1.56 |
| Nylon | 1.53 | — |
| Polypropylene | 1.49 | — |
| PET | 1.57 | — |
| Mylar | 1.65 | — |
| Silicone | 1.40 | 1.46 |
| Teflon | 1.35 | 1.38 |
| Headlight Plastic | 1.55 | — |
| Dashboard Plastic | 1.47 | 1.51 |
| Wood | ||
| Standard Wood | 1.53 | 1.55 |
| Oak★ | 1.55 | — |
| Maple | 1.54 | — |
| Pine★ | 1.52 | — |
| Mahogany | 1.56 | — |
| Walnut | 1.55 | — |
| Cherry | 1.54 | — |
| Ebony | 1.58 | — |
| Bamboo | 1.53 | — |
| Paper | 1.47 | 1.55 |
| Fabric | ||
| Cotton | 1.54 | — |
| Silk | 1.54 | 1.55 |
| Wool | 1.53 | 1.55 |
| Velvet | 1.52 | — |
| Leather★ | 1.48 | 1.52 |
| Linen | 1.53 | — |
| Satin | 1.54 | — |
| Polyester | 1.54 | 1.55 |
| Denim | 1.54 | 1.55 |
| Cashmere | 1.53 | 1.54 |
| Microfiber | 1.53 | 1.54 |
| Leather Suede | 1.48 | 1.52 |
| Stone | ||
| Brick | 1.40 | 1.60 |
| Concrete★ | 1.50 | — |
| Granite | 1.45 | 1.48 |
| Marble★ | 1.48 | 1.65 |
| Limestone | 1.52 | 1.55 |
| Cement | 1.45 | 1.50 |
| Asphalt | 1.58 | — |
| Formica | 1.47 | — |
| Slate | 1.45 | 1.48 |
| Terrazzo | 1.52 | 1.55 |
| Sandstone | 1.52 | 1.54 |
| Travertine | 1.51 | 1.53 |
| Plaster | 1.38 | 1.42 |
| Gypsum | 1.52 | 1.53 |
| Ceramic | ||
| Ceramic | 1.70 | 1.80 |
| Porcelain | 1.50 | 1.62 |
| Gem | ||
| Diamond★ | 2.42 | — |
| Ruby | 1.76 | 1.78 |
| Sapphire★ | 1.76 | 1.78 |
| Emerald | 1.56 | 1.60 |
| Cubic zirconia | 2.15 | 2.18 |
| Moissanite | 2.65 | 2.69 |
| Quartz | 1.54 | 1.64 |
| Amethyst | 1.53 | 1.55 |
| Obsidian | 1.49 | 1.50 |
| Opal | 1.45 | — |
| Onyx | 1.49 | — |
| Jade | 1.60 | 1.67 |
| Topaz | 1.61 | 1.63 |
| Tourmaline | 1.60 | 1.66 |
| Turquoise | 1.61 | 1.65 |
| Lapis Lazuli | 1.50 | 1.55 |
| Pearl | 1.53 | 1.69 |
| Alexandrite | 1.74 | 1.77 |
| Zircon | 1.81 | 2.02 |
| Garnet | 1.72 | 1.87 |
| Tanzanite | 1.70 | — |
| Peridot | 1.65 | 1.69 |
| Aquamarine | 1.57 | 1.59 |
| Amber | 1.54 | 1.55 |
| Citrine | 1.53 | 1.55 |
| Agate | 1.55 | — |
| Jasper | 1.54 | — |
| Malachite | 1.66 | — |
| Moonstone | 1.52 | 1.53 |
| Food | ||
| Cocoa Chocolate | 1.45 | — |
| Sugar | 1.53 | 1.57 |
| Ice Cream | 1.37 | 1.40 |
| Caramel | 1.52 | 1.54 |
| Butter | 1.46 | — |
| Bread | 1.35 | 1.39 |
| Cheese | 1.41 | 1.52 |
| Jelly | 1.40 | 1.42 |
| Salt | 1.54 | — |
| Organic | ||
| Grass / Leaves | 1.43 | 1.50 |
| Ivory | 1.54 | — |
| Coral | 1.49 | 1.66 |
| Shell | 1.53 | — |
| Skin★ | 1.35 | 1.45 |
| Hair★ | 1.55 | — |
| Eye | 1.33 | 1.41 |
| Tooth / Enamel | 1.63 | — |
| Cartilage | 1.40 | 1.47 |
| Bone | 1.55 | 1.56 |
| Gases | ||
| Air★ | 1.00 | — |
| Vacuum | 1.00 | — |
| Fog | 1.00 | — |
| Smoke | 1.43 | 1.54 |
| Steam | 1.00 | — |
| Coating | ||
| Clearcoat Paint★ | 1.50 | — |
| Metallic Paint | 1.50 | 1.52 |
| Vinyl Wrap | 1.52 | 1.54 |
| No materials found | ||
Metal Materials
Metals interact with light in a complex way. A single IOR value can't describe this behavior.
How to use RGB IOR values →
| Metal | Red | Green | Blue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium★ | n | 1.35 | 0.97 | 0.62 |
| k | 7.47 | 6.40 | 5.30 | |
| Chromium | n | 2.02 | 2.79 | 2.02 |
| k | 3.86 | 4.20 | 3.86 | |
| Gold★ | n | 0.18 | 0.42 | 1.37 |
| k | 3.42 | 2.35 | 1.77 | |
| Silver★ | n | 0.16 | 0.15 | 0.14 |
| k | 3.93 | 3.19 | 2.38 | |
| Stainless Steel★ | n | 2.44 | 2.04 | 1.68 |
| k | 4.18 | 3.67 | 3.12 | |
| Copper | n | 0.27 | 0.68 | 1.32 |
| k | 3.61 | 2.62 | 2.29 | |
| Iron | n | 2.91 | 2.95 | 2.58 |
| k | 3.09 | 2.93 | 2.77 | |
| Platinum | n | 2.38 | 2.08 | 1.85 |
| k | 4.27 | 3.72 | 3.14 | |
| Brass | n | 0.44 | 0.53 | 1.09 |
| k | 3.69 | 2.77 | 1.83 | |
| Titanium | n | 2.74 | 2.54 | 2.27 |
| k | 3.81 | 3.43 | 3.04 | |
| Nickel | n | 1.99 | 1.92 | 1.73 |
| k | 4.21 | 3.62 | 2.94 | |
| Lead | n | 1.91 | 1.83 | 1.44 |
| k | 3.51 | 3.40 | 3.18 | |
| Mercury | n | 2.07 | 1.55 | 1.06 |
| k | 5.34 | 4.65 | 3.86 | |
| Tungsten | n | 3.65 | 3.51 | 3.31 |
| k | 2.80 | 2.76 | 2.61 | |
| Magnesium | n | 0.44 | 0.32 | 0.22 |
| k | 6.06 | 5.04 | 4.03 | |
| Cobalt | n | 2.24 | 2.05 | 1.74 |
| k | 4.24 | 3.82 | 3.27 | |
| No materials found | ||||
About This Tool
IOR Values for 3D Artists
A list of index of refraction (IOR) values made for 3D rendering. To make it easy to use, the table includes a search bar, click-to-copy values, and a ★ symbol marking the top 20 most-used materials.
Make Your Materials More Realistic
Accurate IOR values help materials reflect and refract light more realistically. While the data is based on real-world physical measurements, it’s intended for rendering and design — not for scientific or engineering simulations.
Standard Materials: How to Use IOR
An IOR value defines how much a light ray bends when it hits a surface. For materials like glass, wood, plastic, and other dielectrics, one value is enough.
- Search or browse the table to find the material
- Click the value to copy it
- Paste it into your material’s IOR input field in your renderer
Metals: How to Use RGB IOR
In most cases, RGB IOR is overkill. Setting Metalness to 1 and adjusting the base and specular colors works well. But if you want physical realism:
-
Check how your renderer handles RGB IOR:
- Redshift: use the IOR to Metal Tints node
- Octane: set Reflection Mode to RGB IOR
- Cycles: doesn’t support RGB IOR directly — use the Metallic BSDF shader instead
- Find the metal in the table
- Click the values to copy them, then paste them into your shader’s input fields, following the same RGB order shown in the table
Why Metals Need Complex IORs
It's not possible to describe how metals interact with light using a single IOR. One value only covers how light bends when it hits the surface — but metals also absorb light. One slider can’t simulate both bending and absorption, so one IOR number won’t give you the true look of gold or copper.
That’s why we use two values:
- n for how much light bends
- k for how much light gets absorbed
Since red, green, and blue wavelengths behave differently, we need to define n & k for each channel — six values total.
IOR vs. Roughness
IOR controls how light bends or reflects off a surface.
Roughness controls how sharp or blurry the reflections look.
They often work together — but they do completely different things.
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