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5th Form Physics Practical - Refraction

This document provides instructions for a physics practical experiment on refraction of light through glass. Students will measure the angle of incidence and refraction for light passing through a glass block. They will use the data to plot a graph of sine of the angle of incidence vs sine of the angle of refraction. From the graph, they can determine the refractive index of glass and use this to calculate the critical angle of refraction for glass.

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Zachary Watson
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570 views2 pages

5th Form Physics Practical - Refraction

This document provides instructions for a physics practical experiment on refraction of light through glass. Students will measure the angle of incidence and refraction for light passing through a glass block. They will use the data to plot a graph of sine of the angle of incidence vs sine of the angle of refraction. From the graph, they can determine the refractive index of glass and use this to calculate the critical angle of refraction for glass.

Uploaded by

Zachary Watson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Manning’s School Science Dept.

5th form Physics Practical for face-to-face session


Date:
Title: Refraction (of light)
(Students will take their own pencils, blank paper and protractors.)
Aim:
1. To investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence and the corresponding
angles of refraction for glass
2. To determine the refractive index and critical angle for glass
Apparatus/Materials:
Glass block, soft cardboard, blank paper, ruler, protractor, sharp pencil, optical pins, tape or
tacks

Procedure:
[Your pencil should remain as sharp as possible throughout this lab]
1. Tape or tack the paper onto the cardboard. Place the glass block in the centre of the
paper and draw the outline of the block in pencil.
2. Use the protractor to draw in a normal on the middle of the long side of the block.
Label the intersection of the normal and the glass block as point O.
3. Use the protractor to measure out and draw in angles of incidence, i, of 15°, 30° up to
75°. Extend the lines to the edge of the paper.
4. On the 15°line, place two pins, P1 and P2 upright, so that P2 is as close to the block as
possible and P1 is as close to the edge of the paper as possible.
5. Looking through the glass block at the images of P1 and P2, turn your head in the
position where the image of P2 is directly behind the image of P1. Place a third pin, P3
close to the block so that it appears to be in line with the images of P1 and P2.
6. Place a fourth pin, P4 close to the edge of the paper, so that it is in line with P3 and the
images of P1 and P2.
7. Remove the pins and block and place a circle around the holes for P3 and P4 that have
the correct alignment.
8. Draw a line through the pinholes and extend it back to the glass block (point R). This
is the emergent ray.
9. By connecting point O to point R, draw in the refracted ray. Draw arrowheads on
incident and emergent rays indicating the direction in which the light travels. Use the
protractor to measure the angle of refraction, r, and record r and its corresponding
angle of incidence, i.
10. Repeat procedure for all the angles of incidence drawn.
11. Plot a graph of sin i (y-axis) against sin r (x-axis).
12. Determine the gradient of the graph.

Results:
Draw a table showing the values of i, r, sin i and sin r.

Discussion:
[Use these questions (not necessarily in the same order) as a guide for your discussion]
1. How does your observations show that light is refracted?
2. Does your graph show proportionality? Justify your answer.
3. What is the gradient equal to in terms of the quantities on the axes?
4. Give the name of the scientist who has a law with this term and state his law.
5. What is the connection between the gradient and refractive index, n?
6. Use your graph to find the refractive index of glass.
7. Given that n = 1/sin c, where c is the critical angle of glass, find the value of the
critical angle of glass.
8. Discuss any sources of error in this experiment and state how the experiment could be
improved.

Conclusion:
Write an appropriate conclusion stating what you have found out from this lab.

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