Originally Posted by WayneFrancis

Correct me here if I'm wrong but it takes a very special nuclei to absorb and readmit a photon and when doing so the readmitted photon goes off in a different direction. So light going through a medium can't be thought of absorption and readmitting a new photon in the quantum sense of a photon transferring energy to excite an electron to a higher orbit then having that photon get readmitted. I also think electron/positron pair production can be ruled out due to the levels of energy required by them.

I'd like a better mental model of what is going on when a photon passes throught different mediums too.