Ronnakit Mekkararut

William Kirk
IP11 Physics
Light and Refraction Lab
Introduction:
Refraction is a phenomenon that occurs when light passes from one medium through
another, causing a change in direction due to a change in speed. Refraction plays a crucial role in
technological development, such as the development of spectacles, lenses in cameras, and the
behaviour of light in optic fibre cables used for communication. The index of refraction defines
the behaviour of light in a different transparent medium. The index of refraction is the ratio of
the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in that particular medium as stated in (1)

The Snell’s law of refraction determines the angle of the refracted light ray. The greater the index
of refraction, the greater the light refracts. Snell’s law of refraction can be used to determine the
angle of refraction for light travelling through 2 different mediums. (2)

Theta i is the incident angle which is the angle that strikes the medium. Meanwhile, theta r is the
refracted medium (the light that exits the medium). How much the angle refracts is determined
by the index of refraction. When light travels through a medium where the index of refraction
decreases as the light crosses the boundary, then the light will travel faster and bend away from
the normal. This creates a larger refracted angle and when large enough, could lead to total
internal reflection which occurs when the refracted ray exceeds the critical angle. The critical
angle is the angle at which the refracted ray refracts to perfectly 90 degrees. Furthermore, total
internal reflection is a phenomenon where the angle of refraction is greater than the critical angle
which then causes the light to reflect into the medium rather than refract outwards. There are
many applications of this concept. Mainly fibre optic cables where data in the form of light is
reflected through a cable until it reaches its destination.

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 Ronnakit Mekkararut
William Kirk
IP11 Physics
The objective of this experiment is to calculate the index of refraction of a glass prism. There are
two main ways to calculate this number. The first way is by using equation (1) to measure the
velocity of light within the glass
prism. However, this method is not
readily possible with available
technology. This leaves the second
option of using equation (2). An
incident and refracted angle can be
measured by lining up a set of pins
on each side. when looked at from
the side they shall be aligned and if
all pins align then the incident angle
can be measured via a protractor.
Next, the measurements of the
opposite side and adjacent side of the refracted angle can be measured and put into a calculation
for the refractive angle as seen below. From here both of the angles can be put into equation (2)
and rearranged as seen below for the refractive index of the prism.
Materials:
- 4 pins
- Future board (a size larger than your paper)
- 2 sheets of paper
- Rectangular prism
- Pen or pencil
- Protractor
- Ruler
- Your eyes

Procedure:
1. Read through the lab safety form
2. Find a flat surface to work on

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 Ronnakit Mekkararut
William Kirk
IP11 Physics
3. Obtain all the necessary equipment from the instructor
4. Place a piece of paper in the middle of the future board
5. Place the prism on the paper and trace the outlines of the prism.
6. Push 2 pins aligned with each other through the paper into the future board to create the
incident ray.
7. Look on the opposite side of the prism, and move your eyes around until the 2 pins are
aligned with each other.
8. Push the pins in line with the initial pin placed on step 6.
9. Remove the pins and the prism, and draw a line connecting the 3 holes on the paper with
the prism drawn on the paper. These are incident and refracted ray
10. Choose one side of the prism to measure the length of that side to the ray
11. The distance between the rays can be calculated by subtracting the distance measured in
the first step
12. Draw the normal line (perpendicular to the surface) at both the point of incidence and the
point of refraction.
13. Measure the incident angle by placing a protractor with respect to the normal. These will
be your incident angle (Note that the rays entering and leaving the prism must have the
same angle)
14. The refracted angle can be calculated by using the inverse tangent function. The distance
between the rays is the opposite side, and the width of the prism is the adjacent side.
15. Use the index of refraction in air, the incident angle measured and the refractive angle
calculated to substitute in Snell’s law (2)
16. Using elementary algebra, the index of refraction can be calculated.
17. On a different piece of paper, repeat steps 4 - 15 for 2 more times to obtain 3 different
data.
18. Put all materials back into place

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 Ronnakit Mekkararut
William Kirk
IP11 Physics
Data and sample calculations:

Width of Distance Incident Refractive Average

Refractive
Trial Prism Between Rays Angle [θ𝑖] Angle [θ𝑟] Refractive
Index
(cm) (cm) index (navg)

1 2.3 56° 37° 1.38

2 3.1 2.2 52.5° 35° 1.38 1.38

3 1.2 30° 21° 1.39

Table 1. Table 1 illustrates the data collected during the lab and the data calculated for each
trial of the experiment. Sample calculations are shown below.

Sample calculation for the refracted angle of the light ray:

(Continued next page)

Sample calculation for the refractive index of the prism:

The average refractive index can be calculated by finding the mean of all the refractive index
values.

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 Ronnakit Mekkararut
William Kirk
IP11 Physics
Conclusion:
This experiment was successful as the refractive index was calculated correctly by using
Snell’s law. The average refractive index value is 1.38. This is considered accurate for the setup
provided. The index of refraction of a typical glass prism is around 1.4 - 1.6. The percent error
can’t be calculated in this lab as the provided prism does not have specifications. All of the
refractive indices calculated in this lab were also close to each other, which means that each of
the trials are consistent. The angles of the 2 sides (ray entering and leaving the prism) were not
the same for the first 2 trials. This results in an error that could be resolved in future attempts of
this lab. The possible errors are listed below
- Outlines drawn hastily could lead to improper outline. This leads to angles that don’t
match reality, which messes with the calculations. Furthermore, if the pencil/pen used
was at an angle the shape may turn out slightly differently.
- Pins not being in line with each other. Because of how this entire experiment was based
on human eyes there are bound to be errors. To mitigate the effects a laser could be used
on top of the pins to ensure accuracy.
- Improper measurements. Whether it's a ruler or a protractor human eyes are bound to
make mistakes whether it’s assuming a significant digit or simply not placing the
measuring tool in the right position. This could lead to a measurement error which
messes up the calculations.
- If the pins are placed at an angle large enough, then total internal reflection may occur
leading to no image on the opposite side of the prism.
To improve this lab all of the errors from above can be fixed by being more cautious or having
more methods of double-checking. Using lasers could dramatically reduce the errors as with
lasers there is a visible line to follow.

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