Experiment 3: Refraction of Light

Laboratory Report

Chastine B. Parker, Alexandra Estelle Pineda, Ramil Joseph P. Pizarro,

Venice Krystal S. Quebral, Jhon Justin Rotulo, Dana Isabelle A. Segui

Department of Biochemistry
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santo Tomas
España, Manila, Philippines

Abstract refraction to form a spectrum of colors

In this experiment, it was
studied how light refracted with
different activities. With the data
gathered, the group came up that the
experiment followed the Snell’s law.
The data showed that as the angle of
incidence increases, the angle of
refraction also increase.
Introduction
Every day, we notice that the
straw from our beverage appears to be
broken at an angle where it enters the
drink. Like thousands of years ago,
people notice themselves bending in
the water. This is the origin of the term
“refraction,” which means literally
“broken back.”
So, what is refraction? When a
ray of light passes from one
transparent material (say, air) into a
different material (say, glass, or water),
its direction changes. It appears like it
is bending. Therefore, refraction is the
bending of light.
The actual law of refraction
was discovered in the early 1600s by a
Dutch Mathematician and Geodesist,
Willebrord Snell van Royen. That’s
why the law of refraction is sometimes
called “Snell’s Law”. It measures the
bending of light per material using the
ratio of refraction and therefore we
have the materials’ index of
refractions.
We see light refraction daily
like magnification. A prism uses
from an incident beam of light.
Refraction is responsible for the ability
of the cornea, and lens of the eye to
form a real image on the retina.
Refraction is also responsible for the
formation of a mirage and other optical
illusions. It is used in the working of
telescopes, microscopes, peepholes of
house doors, cameras, movie
projectors, magnifying glasses, and
more.
The objectives of the
experiment are to verify the shallowing
effect of refraction, to observe the
refraction of light through spherical
and plane surface, and to determine the
index of refraction glass.
Theory
Refraction is defined as the
bending of light as it passes through a
medium. Because of this phenomenon,
the production of lenses, magnifying
glasses, prisms and rainbows are
possible. We, humans, are also capable
of focusing light onto our retina
because of refraction. The bending of
light is primarily caused by the change
in speed of the light, and the angle of
the incident ray. If a medium causes a
change of speed in the light whether it
increases or decreases, there is a
greater tendency for the light to refract
more. If the light is entering a medium
at a greater angle, the amount of
refraction will also be more noticeable.
However, if a light enters a new
substance at 90°, it will only slow
down the light and won’t affect the
direction.
The Law of Refraction also
known as the Snell’s Law, states that
the ratio of the sines of the angle of
incidence and refraction of a wave are
constant when it passes between two
given media.
Figure 1. Snell’s Law
Methodology
ACTIVITY 1: SHALLOWING
EFFECT OF REFRACTION
A coin was placed at the end of
an opaque mug. The member observed
and placed herself in a position
wherein she could not see the coin
when she looked indirectly into the
mug. Then, the member stood still
while someone filled the mug with
water without the coin being
distressed.
ACTIVITY 2: INDEX OF
REFRACTION OF GLASS
A rectangular glass plated was
placed at the center of the paper. The
angle of incidence is the following:
10 °, 15 °, 20 °, 25 °, 30 °, 35 °, 40 °.
Using a protractor, the angles were
determined. In addition to that, the sine
of the angle of incidence versus the
sine of angle of refraction was plotted
and determined from the graph.
Fig 2. Travelling Microscope
In determining the Index of
Refraction glass, the members used a
travelling microscope, a rectangular
glass plate and a chalk. There were 3
steps in obtaining this experiment.
First, they marked the platform of the
microscope and measured the distance
of the objective lens from the platform
using a Vernier Caliper which is
represented as Y1. Second, using a
rectangular glass plate, they placed it
over the chalk mark to refocus the
travelling microscope and measured its
distance which is represented as Y2.
Lastly, Y3 is represented with a chalk
mark above the glass plate
The index of refraction of glass
was determined using the formula
below.
𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑌3 − 𝑌1
𝑛= =
𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑌3 − 𝑌2
ACTIVITY 3: REFRACTION
THROUGH PARALLEL PLATE
In determining the Refraction
through Parallel Plate, the member
placed a parallel glass plate at the
center of a white paper which served as
the outline of the glass plate, and was
traced afterwards. The light from the
laser pointer stroked the glass plate
forming an incident ray and an
emergent ray. The glass plate was then
removed, and the refracted ray was
traced the group took a photo of the
straight ray (AB) coming from the
laser pointer. The angle of incidence,
angle of emergent ray, and the angle
that the emergent ray were all
measured and traced. Table B.
The percentage difference of Real thickness 5.6 mm
the angle of incidence and the angle of Apparent thickness 3.1 mm
emergent ray with the normal was Experimental Index 1.8
verified. The lateral displacement of of Refraction
ray was also measured. Theoretical Index of 1.5
Refraction
ACTIVITY 4: CRITICAL ANGLE % Error 20%
To determine the critical angle,
a semicircular solid prism was placed Activity 3
on top of the polar graph, and an Angle of Incidence 30˚
outline was drawn and traced using a Angle between 28˚
protractor. The percentage error was emergent ray and
also computed. normal
% difference 6.90 %
ACTIVITY 5: REFRACTION Measured Lateral 1.2 cm
THROUGH SPHERICAL Displacement of Ray
SURFACE AB
In determining the refraction Computed Lateral 1.19 cm
through a spherical surface, a Displacement of Ray
converging lens, also known as AB
concave lens, was used to light up two % Difference 0.84 %
light rays which is parallel to one other
coming from the ray box. The rays
Activity 4
were drawn on a piece of paper.
Experimental Critical 42˚
Diverging lens, or convex lens, focused
Angle
light rays to a specific point.
Theoretical Critical 48.1˚
Angle
Results and Discussion % Error 0.48 %
Activity 2
Table A. An inspection of the data above
Angle 1 15 2 2 3 35 40 reveals that there is no clear linear
of 0˚ ˚ 0 5 0 ˚ ˚ relationship between the angle of
Incide ˚ ˚ ˚ incidence, and the angle of refraction.
nce For example, a doubling of the angle
of incidence from 40 degrees to 80
Angle 7. 10. 1 1 2 23 27
degrees does not result in a doubling of
of 5 5˚ 4 7 0 .5 .5
the angle of refraction. Thus, a plot of
Refrac ˚ ˚ ˚ ˚ ˚ ˚
this data would not yield in a straight
tion
line. If, however the sine of the angle
Experimental 1.42
of incidence and the sine of the angle
Index of
of refraction were plotted, the plot
refraction of
would be a straight line, indicating a
glass
linear relationship between the sines of
Theoretical 1.50
the important angles. If two quantities
Index of
form a straight line on a graph, then a
Refraction of
mathematical relationship can be
glass
written in y = m*x + b form.
% error 5.33%
Conclusion
In this experiment, the law of
refraction was demonstrated through
different medium. With the data
gathered from the different activities,
the group were able to conclude that
the experiment follows the Snell’s law.
In the first activity, its goal was to
prove that the refraction of light will
look shallower. Therefore, it was said
that the refraction of light in water will
appear shallower. In the second
activity, it was divided into 2 parts.
The first part focused on measuring the tanθ= 3/1.5
angle of incidence and angle of tanθ= 2
refraction which yielded 5.33% of
error, and the second part focused in Using Snell’s Law,
measuring the real and apparent na x sinθ = nw x sinθ
thickness, which yielded 20% error. In sinα= (na/nw) x sinθ
the third activity, the measured and = 1. x 2.
computed lateral displacement of Ray 4/3 √5
AB obtained and yielded 0.84% = 3 .
difference. In the fourth activity, with 2√5
the use of semicircular solid prism, its
theoretical and experimental critical and x=htanα
angle was measured which yielded y= (8-h)tanθ
0.48% error. The group then drew the
structure formed by the refraction of since x+y=8,
light through a diverging and htanα+ (8-h) (2) = 8
converging lens in the last activity. 3h . + (8-h) (2) =8
√11
3h . + (2h) +16=8
Applications √11
1. A mark on the pool of a pool can not h= 8√11 .
be seen when the pool is empty. Find 2√11 - 3
what depth of water must be poured h= 7.30m
into the pool to enable the man to see
an image of the mark. Assume that the 2. State the laws of refraction.
eyes of the man are 1.5m above the a. The incident ray, reflected ray and
floor. (P. Liu, Effective Revision the normal, to the interface of any two
Physics, 1979) given mediums; all lie in the same
plane.

b. The ration of the sine of the angle of

incidence, and the sine of the angle of
refraction is constant.
3. What are the conditions for total
internal reflection?
a. The index of refraction must decrease
across the boundary in the direction of
light refraction.
b. The angle of incidence of the light
ray must exceed the critical angle of the
interface.
4. Derive the mathematical relation
between critical angle and incidence.
When i=C; r=90°
µa= refractive index of rarer medium
µb= refractive index of denser medium
Applying Snell’s law,
sin i = µa
sin r µb
µb sinC= µa sin90°
µb = 1 .
µa sinC
µa b = 1 .
sinC
5. An optical fiber consists of a core
and a cladding. Which has a higher
index refraction: the core or cladding?
Why?
The light shone into the core at
an angle greater than the critical angle
will total internally reflect at the
boundary between the core, and the
cladding. The optical fiber would work
without the cladding, as air also has a
lower refractive index than core.
6. Cite some uses of total internal
relation.
• It is the operating principle of
optical fiber, which are widely
used in telecommunication.
• Gonioscopy, an eye
examination, employs total
internal reflection to view the
anatomical angle formed
between the eye’s cornea and
iris.
• Optical fingerprinting devices
used frustrated total internal
reflection to record an image of
person’s fingerprint.
• Refractometers often use the
critical angle to determine the
refractive index of a substance.
References
[1] Anonymous. (n.d.). The Law of
Refraction. Retrieved from
https://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/courses
/m309-
01a/chu/Fundamentals/snell.htm
[2] Nave, R. (n.d.). Refraction of Light.
Retrieved from
http://hyperphysics.phy-
astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geoopt/refr.html
[3] OpenStaxCollege. (2012, January
23). The Law of Refraction. Retrieved
from
https://opentextbc.ca/physicstestbook2/
chapter/the-law-of-refraction/
[4] Science Learning Hub. (2012, April
26). Refraction of light. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resour
ces/49-refraction-of-light