Julian Hernandez

Period 4
3-11-14
Optics Lab

SECTI ON I : I NTRODUCTI ON

TITLE: Optics Ray Lab

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this lab is to see the refraction of light on different
objects and see what it creates.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
PhET Simulations
Computer

PROCEDURE:
PhET Simulations - Play With Sims - Light and Radiation - Geometric Optics
1. Take some time and familiarize yourself with the simulation. You are able to
move the object and the lens and change the characteristics of the lens. During
this lab, be sure to always anchor your image on the principal axis. The pencils
eraser works well for this.
2. Click to draw the rays using the 3-ray system you learned in class.
3. Move the object towards the lens
4. As you move the object inside the lens focal point something odd happens.
Rays that dont meet diverge
5. Click on Virtual Image.
6. Click on the ruler. You will need to make several measurements during the lab.
You may, if you wish, leave your measurements in cm when using the formulas
7. Set the lenss refractive index (n) to 1.8 and the radius of curvature (R) to 0.7m.
Use the appropriate equation above to solve for the focal distance (f).
8. Youre done! Do the table if needed.

SECTI ON I I : DATA

DATA TABLES:



CALCULATIONS:



RESULTS:
I used the information provided by the lab itself to test some stuff out. The lab a
was a success and I did reach my objective by learning about rays and mirror
reflections. In this lab it used a convex mirror to portray the reflections so the
reflection itself was upside down. This lab was very accurate and I honestly saw
no problem with it at all. Maybe they could have provided a concave mirror to
test some different stuff out with an upright image (real).


CONCLUSION:
I saw that when I moved the pencil close to the mirror, the reflection, which was a virtual
and upside down image, would grow in size. As we learned before the image itself is
actually right on the mirror but it looks like its behind it which can get some people
confused. As I moved the pencil away from the mirror, the virtual image would get
smaller and smaller. Changing the curvature of the concave mirror would also give me
different images which was reasonable.