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Equipment: The experiment consist of a laser ray box, optics bench, 2 beakers, 2 circular cartesian
coordinate ray trace table, roll of paper towel, hand sanitizer, 2 refraction cups, red desk lamp,
acrylic lenses, right angle triangle lense, parallel ray bar lense, meter stick, Laser safety goggles,
water, glycerin, and protractor.
PRECAUTION!!
This experiment uses a laser ray box. Do not let the laser beams or its reflections strike your
eyes. Also, watch out for the laser beams from other lab benches! People (sometime) dont always
look before they put the laser ray box on. Be cautious and use your goggles!!
1 Purpose
Observe and measure the effects of light transmission and refraction through various substances.
2 Theory
2.1 Index Of Refraction
You will be observing the effects of light being bent as it enters various mediums. This is defined
as refracted light. The refracted light you observe will be propagating through various materials
at speeds slower then c. Light waves that propagate through the various materials will slow down
and this will cause the beam of light to bend in the material.
The angle of bend varies on the index of refraction. Below is a table indicating the index of
refraction of various materials.
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General Physics II Lab: Snells law
Medium n
Vacuum 1
Air 1.00029
Water 1.33
Acrylic glass 1.49
Ethyl Alcohol 1.36
Crown glass 1.52
Plexiglass 1.51
Glycerol 1.4729
Keep in mind the index of refraction of any material varies on temperature, pressure, and the
wavelength of the light source. Typically light that is in the 400 nm range will deflect at a higher
index of refraction then light that is in the 700 nm range. The table above list the index of refraction
those various materials at around 589 nm.
n = c/v (1)
When light enters from one material to the next it will take a path that is dictated by Snells
law. The angle of the bend is determined by the index of refraction of the material. Again, the
bending of the beam of light in the material is called refraction. Snells law states the following.
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General Physics II Lab: Snells law
3 The Experiments
3.1 Equipment Arrangement and seeing Refraction
On your bench you should see an optical track that has two optical table mounts and a white screen
all mounted in one dimension. Mount the laser ray box on top of the outer table mount. The laser
ray box can produce one, three, or five laser beams at once. In this part we will use the single
beam and three beam output.
Set up the laser ray box on top of the outer table mount. Make sure the front of the ray box
runs perfectly along the center of the NORMAL line on the round table mount. Place your
goggles on and turn on the ray box. Select single beam output. Check the laser beam path and
make sure that the laser beam runs straight through the center of the following table mount into
the center of the white screen. The beam should be parallel to the NORMAL line of the of the
round table mount. Look at the following image.
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General Physics II Lab: Snells law
Data: Using the turntable rotate the acrylic glass parallel bar at the following angles below.
Calculate the index of refraction at each angle. Also, pick three other incident angles, below 60
degrees. Measure the angles of refraction by looking through the acrylic glass parallel bar and using
the small circular scale, then calculate n. Keep in mind that the measurement of refraction angle
is not exact. The small circular scale of measurement for refraction are in 5 degree increments, so
pick good incident angles.
Questions:
(1) What starts to occur to the incident beam when you go beyond 60 ?
(2) Explain what is occurring to the beam inside the parallel bar?
(1) How did you arrange the triangle on the round ray table?
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General Physics II Lab: Snells law
Measure the angles of refraction at the following angles, then using equation 2 you will calculate
the index of refraction of water. When you are done with water empty the refraction cup into the
correct beaker. Use the second refraction cup labeled glycerin and fill it up with glycerin. Repeat
as you have done before.
Questions:
(1) How would you calculate the index of refraction if you reverse the direction of the dish so that
the incident ray is hitting the curved side of the refraction cup instead of the flat side?
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General Physics II Lab: Snells law
4 Comment
Be considerate for your fellow humans and empty the refraction cups out into the proper beakers.
Wipe the refraction cups, round table, and the top of the bench dry. Place all the equipment back
in proper order. If not your TA will take off points. Cheers!