SWAMI VIVEKANADA VIDYAMANDIR SENIOR SECONDARY

SCHOOL, HARVEYPATTI MADURAI 625005.

PHYSCIS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

LIQUID LENS
SUMBITTED BY:
M.DHAMODHARAN

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF:

P. SASI KUMAR (PGT PHYSICS)

ROLL NO:
 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that master M.Dhamodharan is a bonafide student of

class XII of swami vivekanada vidyamandir senior secondary
school,harveypatti Madurai .
The project report on “LIQUID LENS” submitted by him is in
fulfillment of class XII CBSE, board practical examinations is further
certified that the candidate did the project the project under my
supervision and guidance.

ROLL NO:
DATE:

PRINCIPAL

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I praise and adore lord almighty, from the depth of my heart, who has
been an unfailing source of strength and inspiration in the completion of
this project. I sincerely acknowledge the interest shown by our physics
teacher Mr.P.SASI KUMAR, PGT PHYSICS. His timely
encouragement motivated me to greater extent.

I also express my faithful thanks to our principal

MRS. K.R.SASIKALA M.sc, B.Ed, (Ph.D)
I express my sincere thanks to all my friends and well wishers who have
lent their valuable suggestion and cooperation for the project.

DHAMODHARAN. M
 INDEX

 Introduction

 Aim

 Theory

 Requirement

 Procedure

 Result

 Conclusion

 Precaution

 Reference

Introduction:
The theory behind liquid lens is based on the properties of one or more
liquids to create magnifications within a small amount of space. The
focus of a liquid lens is controlled by the surface of the liquid .Water
normally forms a bubble shape when adhered to materials such as glass.
This desirable property makes water a very suitable candidate for the
production of liquid lens. Essentially the liquid must be transparent so as
to study its effects. To generate a liquid lens, a liquid is sandwiched
between two pieces of a clear plastic or a glass. Oil (necessarily
transparent) can also be chosen to be used as a fluid in a liquid lens
system. The surface profiles of the liquid determine the focal length of
liquid lens system and how the liquid lens focuses light rays.

Aim:
To find the refractive index of a) water, b) coconut oil using a plane
mirror, and an equiconvex lens made of glass and an adjustable object
needle

Theory:
In optics, refractive index or index of refraction ‘n’ of a substance
(optical medium) is a dimensionless number that describes how light or
any radiation propagates through that medium. It is defined as
n = c/v
Where’ c’ is the speed of light in vacuum and ‘v’ is the speed of light in
a substance.
E.g. : ‘n’ of water is 1.33, which means, light travels 1.33 times as fast in
vacuum as it does in water.
The historically first occurrence of refractive index was in Snell’s law of
refraction.
ie are the angles of incidence of the ray crossing the interface between 2
medias with refractive indexes n_1 and n_2.
In this project, we shall make use of the property of liquid lens to find
the refractive index of water and coconut oil.

Requirement:
A convex lens, plane mirror, water, coconut oil, an optical needle, an
iron stand with base and clamp arrangement, a meter scale etc….

Procedure:
Finding the focal length of convex lens:-
• Place the plane mirror with the convex lens placed on it above the
horizontal base of a clamp stand horizontally as its tip lies vertically
above the optic centre of the lens. Adjust the needle at a height a little
more than the rough focal length of the convex lens.
• Bring the tip of the needle, at the vertical principal axis of the lens, so
that the tip of the needle appears touching the tip of its image.
• Move the needle up and down to remove the parallax between tips of
needle and its image.
• Measure the distance between tip of the needle and upper surface of
the lens by using a meter scale. Let it be (x1 ).
• Again measure the distance between tip and upper surface of the plane
mirror. Let it be x2
• Finding the focal length of the combination:
• Take a few drops of the given transparent liquid and place it on the
surface of plane mirror. The convex lens is placed over it as before. (A
Plano concave lens is formed between plane mirror and convex lens).
• Repeat the steps (ii) to (v)
• Record the observations.
• To find the radius of curvature of the liquid lens. (R of convex lens
surface in contact).
The convex lens is turned towards a source such that, the required
surface is away from the source the distance is to adjusted that the image
is, formed on the side of the source. The distance’d’ between the source
and the lens is measured. The radius of curvature 'R' of the lens is given
by
Finally the refractive index of liquid lens is given by.
n = 1+ R/f2

Result:
The observations of the experiment is tabulated as follows
Conclusion:
The experiment described in this project is an effective and simple
method of measuring the refractive index of any liquid (transparent)
using a convex lens and plane mirror.
If we keep the mirror behind a lens and put an object at the focus point
of the lens above it, the image of the object will form at the same focus
point where the object is. If it is an extended object, its image will be
inverted and the size of image is same as that of the object.
This property has enabled the efficient use of liquid lens to find the
refractive index of a fluid by this method. If a liquid is sandwiched
between the lens and the mirror, the focal length of liquid lens can be
calculated knowing the focal length of the combination and that of the
convex lens, from which the refractive index of the fluid can easily be
estimated.

Precaution:
• The parallax must be removed tip to tip properly.
• The lens and plane mirror should be cleaned thoroughly.
• The liquid taken should be essentially transparent.
Only few drops of liquid should be taken so that the liquid lens layer is
not thick Sources of error:
• Liquid may not be quite transparent
• The parallax any not be fully removed
• The needle may not be properly horizontal
The distance x1 and x2 may not be essentially clean

Reference:
 Class XII physics text book (NCERT)
 Fundamentals of optics by Jenkins and White
 www.wikipedia.org
 Lab manual