PHYSICS PROJECT 2019-20

DETERMINATION OF
REFRACTIVE INDEX OF
WATER AND COCONUT OIL

BY: SHIVANE S S

CLASS : 12

SCHOOL: NARAYANA

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 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Shivane S.S has successfully completed
the Physics project titled “Determination of refractive index”
as part of the 12th standard practical examination as
prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education for
the year 2019-2020.

Signature of the teacher:__________________________

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Any task successfully completed involves the efforts of many
people and this project is not different.
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude towards our
physics teacher, for his invaluable inputs, guidance and
support. I would also thank our principal for giving us this
opportunity to perform this project.

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INDEX
 Introduction
 Objective And Apparatus
 Diagram
 Theory
 Procedure
 Observations
 Calculations
 Results
 Precautions
 Sources Of Errors
 Bibliography
 Time chart

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INTRODUCTION
Every person on this planet is curious. Everybody wants the
answers to what, when, why and how. Science encourages and
nurtures this questioning nature in humans. It is often said
that the more you learn, the more you yearn to know. The
more you experiment, the more wonderful phenomena you
discover in the world around you. Hence, curiosity is the basis
of the experiment that we have performed.

This project is about the determination of the refractive indices

of two liquids- water and coconut oil. I have used materials
that are easily available in our physics laboratory to perform
this experiment. I adopted simple yet effective techniques to
determine the refractive index of the two liquids.

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OBJECTIVE:
To find the refractive indexes of (a)water
(b)coconut oil using a plane mirror, an equiconvex
lens, and an adjustable object needle.

APPARATUS:
A convex lens, a plane mirror, water, coconut oil,
clamp, stand, an optical needle, plumb line,
knitting needle, half meter scale, glass slab, a
spherometer.

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DIAGRAM:

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 THEORY:
1.If f1 and f2 be the focal length of the glass
convex lens and liquid lens and f be the focal
length of their combination then:-

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝒇𝒇𝟐
= + or f2 =
𝒇 𝒇𝟏 𝒇𝟐 𝒇𝟏 −𝒇

2.Liquid lens formed a plano-concave kens with

R1=R and R2=∞ then by using lens make’s
formula

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= (𝒏 − 𝟏) ⌊ − ⌋
𝒇𝟐 𝑹𝟏 𝑹𝟐
𝟏 𝟏
=(𝒏 − 𝟏) ⌊ − ⌋
𝑹𝟏 ∞
𝟏
=(n-1)⌊ − 𝟎⌋
𝑹

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 𝟏 𝒏−𝟏
=
𝒇𝟐 𝑹
𝑹
n= +𝟏
𝒇𝟐

Where n=Refractive index of the liquid

R=The radius of the curvature of the
convex lens.

3.The radius of the lower surface of the convex

lens is given by:
𝒍𝟐 𝒉
R= +
𝟔𝒉 𝟐

Here, l is the average distance between the legs

of the spherometer and h is the difference in
the reading of the spherometer when placed
first on the convex lens and then on plane
mirror.

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PROCEDURE:
(a) For focal length of convex lens:
1.Find the rough focal length of the convex
lens.
2.Place a plane mirror on the horizontal base
of the iron stand and then a convex lens on
the plane mirror.
3.Hold the needle in the clamp stand and
adjust its position on the stand such that
there is no parallax between tip of the needle
and its image.
4.Measure distance between tip and upper
surface of the lens by using a plumb line and
half meter scale. Also measure the distance
between tip of needle and upper surface of
the mirror. Take the mean of the two
readings. This mean distance will be equal to
the focal length of the convex lens(f1).

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(b) For focal length of the combination:
5.Put a few drops of the water on the plane
mirror and put the convex lens over it with its
same face above as before. The water spreads
in a form of layer and acts like a plano-
concave lens.
6.Repeat the steps 3 and 4 to determine the
equivalent focal length of the combination.
7.Record the observation.
8.Repeat the steps 5,6,7 for other transparent
liquid(oil).

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(c) For radius of curvature of convex lens surface:
9.Determine the pitch and the least count of
the spherometer.
10.Remove the convex lens and dry it
completely. Put the spherometer on this lens
surface.
11.All the three legs of the spherometer
should be placed symmetrically on the lens
and adjust the central screw tip to touch the
surface of the lens.
12.Remove the spherometer from the surface
of the lens and place on the plane mirror
surface and record the reading.
13.Repeat the steps 10 and 11 three times.
14.Obtain the impressions of the three legs of
the spherometer on a paper and mark them
and their average distance.

𝒍𝟏 + 𝒍𝟐 + 𝒍𝟑
l=
𝟑

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OBSERVATIONS:
1.Rough focal length of convex lens= 21cm

SPHEROMETER:
SL.no L.S.R C.S.R C.S.D T.R
1. 0 16 0.016cm 0.016cm
2. 1 2 0.002cm 0.102cm

h=h2-h1=0.076cm
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CALCULATION:
𝒍𝟏 + 𝒍𝟐 + 𝒍𝟑
(i) 𝑙= = 3.3cm
3
𝑙2 ℎ
(ii) 𝑅= + = 23.956cm
6ℎ 2
𝑓𝑓1
(iii) 𝑓2 = = 18.8cm(water)
𝒇𝟏 −𝒇

= 15.54cm(transparent liquid)
𝑅
(iv) 𝑛 = 1 + = 2.27(water)
𝑓2
= 2.54(transparent liquid)

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RESULTS:
1. The refractive index of water 𝒏𝒘 = 2.27
2. The refractive index of other liquid 𝒏𝒍 = 2.54

PRECAUTIONS:
1. The plane mirror should be clean and fully
shining surface.
2. The liquid taken should be transparent.
3. The parallax should be removed tip to tip.
4. The eye should be at a distance about 30 cm
from the needle while removing the parallax.
5. Only few drops of liquid should be taken so
that its layer should be thick.
6. The legs of the spherometer should be
vertical.
7. The centre leg of the spherometer should
turn in one direction only.

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SOURCES OF ERROR:
1. Liquid may not be quite transparent.
2. The parallax may not be fully removed.
3. The spherometer legs should be placed
symmetrical on the surface of the convex
lens.
4. The tip of the central screw should not just
touch the surface of lens or mirror.

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Bibliography
www.1000sciencefairprojects.com
www.wikipedia.org

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TIME CHART
RESEARCH: 2 HOURS
Selecting the project,
gathering information

COLLECTING 0.5 HOURS

NECESSARY
MATERIALS

EXPERIMENTATION 1.5 HOURS

AND OBSERVATION

PREPARING THE 3 HOURS

REPORT:
Calculating & Compiling
the readings, formatting the
text, proof-reading and
printing

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Research
Collecting Necessary Materials
Experimentation And Observation
Preparing the Report

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