DETERMINATION OF REFRACTIVE

INDICES OF VARIOUS LIQUIDS USING A

HOLLOW PRISM
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Arjun Choudhary of class 12th
A of St Anne’s School has completed this project
under my supervision and guidance. He has taken
proper care and has shown utmost sincerity in
completion of this project.
I certify that this project is up to my expectations
and as per the guidelines shared by CBSE.

ARVIND YADAV External Examiner

INDEX
Aim
Apparatus required
Theory
Observation
Procedure
Conclusion
Bibliography
Aim
To find out the refractive index of different liquids using a
hollow prism

Apparatus Required
 hollow glass prism
 Various liquids like water, honey, oil etc.

Theory
A prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished
surfaces that refract light. Prisms can be
made from any material that is transparent including glass,
plastic and fluorite. A prism can be used to break light up into its
constituent spectral colors. Prisms can also be used to reflect
light, or to split light into components with different
polarizations.
Procedure

 Fix a white sheet of paper on the drawing board with help

of drawing pins.

 Keep the prism and mark the outline of it as ABC.

 Drop a normal PQ on the side AB.

 Place the prism filled with given sample of liquid ,on the
marked outline ABC

 Draw the angle of incidence in accordance with the normal

PQ and place a laser light on one side of the prism.

 Now switch on the laser light and sprinkle some powder

having fine particles to trace the path followed by it.

 Remove the prism and draw the path of line .

 Mark the diagram as shown in the figure.

 Repeat this with different liquids and different angle of

incidence.
Observation
 Water
S.no a º(angle of i º (angle of d º (angle of
prism) incidence) deviation)
1 60 30 25
2 60 35 22
3 60 40 20
4 60 45 22
5 60 50 25
6 60 55 28

U=sin((60+22)/2)/sin(30)=1.306

 Vegetable oil
S.no a º(angle of i º (angle of d º (angle of
prism) incidence) deviation)
1 60 35 33
2 60 40 30
3 60 45 25
4 60 50 29
5 60 55 30

U=sin((60+)/2)/sin(30)=1.451
Conclusion

Refractive indices at room temperature:

 Water

o Actual: 1.33
o Experimental: 1.306

 Vegetable oil

o Actual: 1.45
o Experimental: 1.421

Precautions
 Angle of incidence should lie between 35-60 degree.

 Laser light should be kept still in one direction.

 Distance b/w laser light and prism should not be less
than 10mm.

 Same angle of prism should be used for all observation.

 Arrow head should be marked to represent emergent and

incident ray.

 Handle the apparatus carefully.

 Don’t flash the laser light in the eyes of the observer.

Bibliography
 PHYSICS NCERT TEXTBOOK for class 12 part 2