How can someone predict where light will go when it comes in contact with different types of transparent materials?

When light strikes translucent materials, only some of the light passes through them. The light does not pass directly through the materials ... When light strikes an opaque object none of it passes through. Most of the light is either reflected by the object or absorbed and converted to heat.

The path of light can be predicted by the laws of reflection and refraction. The angle of refraction depends on the optical density of a transparent medium. When light travels to a denser medium, it towards the normal. When the light travels to rarer medium, it bends away from the normal. Some light is reflected. Angle if incidence is equal to angle of reflection. All the rays lie in same plane.