Measuring the Index of Refraction of Gelatine

Ellaine Mary Paglicauan1*, Aljohn Emmanuel Cruz2, Carl Kevin Camarao3, Bill Carlo Vergara1 College of Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City College of (aljohn? Sorry nakalimutan ko course mo...:D), University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City College of Architecture, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City Corresponding Author: ellainepaglicauan@gmail.com

Abstract
The purpose of this experimental study was to verify that the law of reflection and refraction still hold for different type of material. On this case, we, the researchers, used gelatine as another medium where the semicircular glass is embedded and tried to validate its index of refraction using the measurements obtained in the experiment. A typical laboratory set-up were still used; a light source, optical disk which is a tool for variations of incident angles, and an optical bench where the light source and the disk were located.The results have shown that the law of reflection and refraction still manifest in a different type of material such as gelatine.

1. Introduction
The experiment aims to verify that Snells law also holds in another medium. The experiment tried to verify Snells Law on gelatine; it involved measuring the angle of refraction of light when it passes through gelatine. By pouring gelatine around a semi-circular glass inside a beaker, the experiment used the Gelatine as the incident medium and the glass as the refracted medium. The respective angles of incidence, reflection and refraction have been analysed in order to come up with the index of refraction of the gelatine. The experiment will help in understanding gelatine as a medium of light, it will determine how much light refracts when it passes through gelatine. The experiment aims to investigate the refraction of light using gelatine as a medium. Moreover, it also aims to get the refractive index of gelatine using the angles of reflection of light at different angles.

1.2 Theory
Electromagnetism has led to the discovery that light, aside from being a stream of particles emitted by a light source, is also a wave. Several observations and calculations showed that light travels in a vacuum with a speed of 2.99792458 x 108 m/s also known as c.

Figure 1. Reflection and Refraction

Aside from the speed of propagation, wave properties like reflection and refraction also hold for light waves. It has been discovered when a light wave strikes a smooth interface separating two transparent materials (like air and glass or water and glass), the wave is partly reflected and partly refracted into the second material. The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence i is equal to the angle of reflection r.The ray that enters the second material is called the refracted ray. The angle between the refracted ray and the line perpendicular to the interface called the normal is called the angle of refraction f. The angle of refraction depends on the angle of incidence and the relative speed of light in the two materials. Snells law shows the relationship between the two angles i (angle of incidence) and f (angle of refraction).

n1sin 1 = n2sin 2 ( Snells Law )

where n1 and n2 are the indices of refraction of the first material and the second material respectively. The index of refraction( n ) of a material is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum ( c ) and the speed of light in the material ( v ).

n=c/v
This experiment aims to verify the law of reflection and refraction of light and use the equations to find the index of refraction of a certain material. In this study, we, the researchers, use gelatin as their medium.

2. Methodology

Figure 2. Experimental Setup

The light source, optical disk and slit mask were positioned on the optical bench. The side of the optical disk with angles was faced up. The optical disk was rotated first such that the single ray coincides with 0 - 0 axis of the optical disk. The semi-circular disk was attached to the bottom of the beaker and gelatine was then poured into the beaker. When the gelatine has cooled, the beaker was put on the optical disk with the flat surface of the semicircular facing the light source. The optical disk was turned such that the incident ray strikes the gelatine at a 30 angle. The angles of reflection and refraction were recorded as seen in Table 1. The angles of reflection and refraction were recorded for angles of incidence equal to 45, 50 60 70 and 80. The index of refraction of the gelatine was then computed. The beaker was turned on the other side so that the incident ray strikes the curved surface of the semicircular acrylic glass in the gelatine. Obtain the angles of reflection and refraction for angles of incidence equal to10, 30 45, 50 60 70 and 80. Record the results in Table B. Calculate the index of refraction.

3. Results and Discussion

Table 1. Data When the Flat Surface of Semi-circular Glass was the Incident Side

Angle of Incidence() 30 45 50 60 70 80

Angle of Refraction() 29 43 46 56 63 68

Refractive Index() 1.03 1.03 1.12 1.04 1.05 1.06

Average index of refraction: 1.06 Percent error:

Table 2. Data When the Curved Surface of Semi-circular Glass was the Incident Side

Angle of Incidence() 10 30 45 60

Angle of Refraction() 12 34 51 71

Refractive Index () 1.19 1.11 1.09 1.09

Average index of refraction: 1.12 Percent error:

4. Conclusion
In this experiment, we were able to apply concepts in physics using a mediums not usually used in the laboratory. We also have arrived in the index of refraction of gelatine using media on known indices of refraction and therefore arrived that the index of refraction of gelatine is . If this experiment is to be done again, we would like to recommend trying another medium to further prove that the laws of physics hold true for different media.

Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge our lab instructor, Mr. Jorge Michael Presto, for helping us through this experiment when we were lost and did not know what to do.

References
1. 2. H. Young, R. Freedman, University Physics with Modern Physics, Chapter 32-33, Pearson Addison Wesley, Pennsylvania, 2004. Padagdag na lang...:D