Stage 1 Physics

Practical Report

Word Count: 664

Geometric Optics Experiment

Aim:
The aim of this investigation is to estimate the refractive index of
Perspex using white light, and to investigate dispersion of white light
through a prism.
Hypothesis:
If we make the light very narrow and shine it through a prism of
some shape then the light will either come out of the prism
refracted or it will come out reflected, this happens because when
the light travels through a medium it wants to get to where it is
going the fastest it can and that may not be straight.
Materials:
Light Box
Paper
Ruler
Optical Set
Single Slit Black Plate
Protractor
Light Cable
Power Pack
Apparatus:
Refraction

Reflection
Method:
1. Firstly, plug in the light box into the power pack and the power
pack into the power point.
2. Insert the single narrow slit black plate into the light box so
that only one beam of light is visible and place a piece of
paper infront of the light box.
3. Place a prism of your choice on the paper and so that the
beam of light is shining through the prism.
4. Position the prism in front of the light so that the light refracts
out of the prism.
5. Trace the prism and mark where the light comes in and out
and its direction.

Stage 1 Physics
Practical Report

Word Count: 664

6. Find the angles of incidence (i) and the angle of refraction (r)
using a protractor and a ruler.
7. Determine the critical angle for the light moving from air into
perspex and the angle for total internal reflection for perspex.
Results and Analysis:
In this investigation we had to make a slit beam of light travel
through a prism of some shape, in my case, a rectangle, and record
the results. We also recorded the angle of incidence, the angle of
refraction, the angle for total internal reflection and the critical
angle. When the light travels from one medium and travels through
a medium which is less dense, the light beam travels away from the
normal, but when a beam of light travels from one medium to
another medium which is more dense, the beam of light travels
toward the normal. This means that when light travels from a less
dense medium into a more dense medium the value of sin i
becomes smaller, also when light travels from a more dense
medium to a less dense medium the value of sin i becomes larger.
So in this practical the light first going into the prism the light was
closer to the normal, but the emergent ray traveled away from the
normal.
The refractive index is a ratio between the speed of light in a
vacuum compared to the speed of light in the medium. It is
represented by:
Vc
Vm
V c is the speed of light in a vacuum and V m is the speed of light
in a medium.
Snells law is a law that states that the ratio of the sines of the
angles of incidence and refraction of a wave are constant when it
passes through two objects. It is represented by:
n2 V c sin i
= =
n1 V m sin r
Or:
n2 sin r =n1 sin i
Some errors that we found whilst doing the practical were:
When tracing around the shape, it may have been bumped
resulting in faulty results.
When the beam of light travelled further, the beam got wider,
this can affect the result because when marking where the
beam ended up you couldnt just put a small dot on the beam
but t had to be larger. This can be prevented if we were to use
lasers instead of a light box because the lasers beam is
coherent and the light boxs is incoherent.

Stage 1 Physics
Practical Report

Word Count: 664

These errors can be reduced by having some sort of clamp to hold

the prism in place, and we could also use a laser instead of a light
box.
Conclusion
In the end we did measure the refractive index using the white light,
we also saw what the white light does when it is dispersed through a
prism.
Suggestions:
- You need to actually calculate the refractive index and critical
angle of Perspex from your results
- Where are the questions from the analysis section of the
practical instructions?