AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS SCHOOL

The Effect of Salt

Concentration on
Refractive Index
Waves Investigation Practical
By Jasmin Malhotra
LSG15
Marking Teacher: Charlotte Twizell
Due: 3rd April 2015
Sensing Science: Waves summative Practical Report
SACE Task

Introduction
For thousands of years, people have noticed that a straight object placed in
water appears t be broken at an angle where it enters the water. This is known as
refraction, which literally means broken back.
When a light ray passes from one medium into another, for example from air to
water its direction changes. This is what is meant by refraction. The actual law of
refraction was discovered in the early 1600s by a Dutch Mathematician and
geodesist1, Willebrord Snel Van Royen. In Latin, his name is Snellius, because of
this, the law is often called Snells law instead of Snel law (Young, 2015)).
This practical is based on using Snells law to find the refractive indexes of a
beam of light travelling through a glass beaker, then through water dissolved
salt.

Research Question
What is the effect of salt concentration on Refractive Index?

Hypothesis
If the Salt concentration is increased, then the refractive index will increase.

Variables and Constants

Independent Variable:
-

Salt Concentration
This will be changed by increasing the amount of salt: water ratio.

Dependent Variable:
-

The refractive Index

To measure the refractive index, the angle of the light beam from the
normal will be measured.

Constant Factors:
-

Water Temperature
Container
Light strength
Angle of which the light beam enters the medium
Point of which the light intersects with the box

1 Definition of GEODESY: a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the

determination of the size and shape of the earth and the exact positions of points on its
surface and with the description of variations of its gravity field (Young, 2015).

Type of salt used

Water level

Method
1. A light box, 4 (275ml) beakers, a thermometer, 60g of salt, scales, stirring
rod, 4 A4 sized pieces of paper, 30cm ruler and a protractor were collected
and placed on a bench top based around a usable tap.
2. A straight line was drawn on the upper half of a piece of paper to
represent the normal. This was done so that 3 trials for 1 sample could be
drawn on one piece of paper.
3. An empty beaker was placed on top of that piece of paper piece of paper.
Given that the normal was already drawn, the beaker was placed in a
position to make the normal centred through the beaker.
4. By using the light box, a single beam of light was pointed through the
centre of the empty beaker.
5. Dots were drawn where the light ray entered and exited the beaker. The
beaker was then taken off piece of paper and the dots were then joined to
show whether the light ray refracted away from the normal or just made a
straight line.
6. The angle of refraction was then recorded from the normal.
7. Steps 2-6 were repeated three times for each sample.
8. The results were then recorded on a separate piece of paper and
averaged. These averages were then used in Snells Law to find the
refractive index through the different type of samples.

Materials and Equipment

-

Light box
4 (250ml) beakers
A thermometer
60 grams of salt
Scales
Stirring rod
4 A4 sized pieces of paper
30cm Ruler
Protractor
Water
Voltage Control box

Data and Analysis

To solve the refractive index for each average given, Snells Law needed to be
used. Snells Law is given by the equation:

n sin =n sin

Part of the practical was to measure n. As n was not given, this was to be found
using Snells Law.

To find n

n2=

the equation needs to be rearranged. It then becomes

n sin
sin

As the light travelled through air, then through glass, n is the refractive index
which is 1. n is what we have to find which is the refractive index for the water
and the salt through the glass.

n2=

1 sin ( 90)
sin ( 90+1)

n =

sin ( 90)
sin ( 91)

n =8.435
The rest of the results can be seen in the table below.

Results Table
Sampl
e
Standa
rd
Beaker
With
Water

Tria
l1
1

Trial 2

Trial 3
2

Avera
ge
1

Refractive
Index
8.435

7.7

-2.925

With 5
Grams
of salt

10

10

9.3

-0.948

With
10
Grams
of salt

7.3

10.016

This table represent the refractive indexes of the results found after the practical
was completed.

Results Graph

Average Refractive Index vs Salt Concentration

12
10

10.02
8.44

8
6
Refractive Index ()

4
2

0
-2
-4

3
-0.95

-2.93
Salt Concentration (grams)

This graph represents the Refractive index of each sample put against the salt
concentration of each sample.

Discussion
When a wave enters a certain medium due to its speed, the wave begins to
refract or in other words bend. The refractive index varies with the wavelength
of light. This is called dispersion and causes the white light to split into the main
seven different colours of the rainbow or colour spectrum.
The amount of bending or the size of the angle from the normal to refracted ray
depends on the indices of refraction of the two different mediums (media) the
light passes through which is described using Snells Law.
To determine the angle of refraction, the initial angle of the light and the index of
refraction of the two materials must be known. When waves move from one type
of medium to another, for example, in this practical from air to water, they bed
or change direction. The reason this bending occurs is because waves travel at
different speeds in different materials. Light is just one example of a wave that is
refracted when it moves through different media. The initial and bent angles of a
beam of light are measured based on the relation to the normal. The normal is a
straight line that is perpendicular (at right angles) to the surface where the light
enters the medium. The angle of incidence is the angle that the light makes with
the normal on the surface. The angle of refraction is the angle that the light is
refracted toward or away from the normal within the new medium.

The density of the medium within which the light is travelling will determine the
speed of the light. If a light ray moves into a denser medium, it will slow down;
therefore the light will bend toward the normal. Bending towards the normal
makes the angle of refraction smaller than the angle of incidence. If the light
moves into a less dense medium, it speeds up which causes the light to bend
away from the normal and in the end the angle of refraction will be larger than
the angle of incidence.
Given the data collected after the practical was completed, the water with the
most salt concentration is the densest. Therefore the salt concentrated solutions
have the smaller angles of refraction than the sample with no water and the
sample with just water. Therefore the hypothesis is unsupported given the
information and results of this practical.

The limitations involved in this practical are: the beam of light coming out of
the light box made it difficult to draw a perfect straight line. To improve this,
someone could have held the light box in place while a ruler was used to
draw the incidents and refracted ray. Also the measuring cylinder was not
held still while the ruler was being used to draw the rays of light.

Conclusion
The hypothesis stating, if the Salt concentration is increased, then the refractive
index will increase was not supported given the results from this practical. The
Research question, What is the effect of salt concentration on Refractive Index
was answered in averages and therefore it was answered.

Referencing
wiseGEEK, (2015). What Is Snell's Law?. [online] Available at:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-snells-law.htm [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015].
Young, A. (2015). Refraction. [online] Www-rohan.sdsu.edu. Available at:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~aty/explain/optics/refr.html [Accessed 3 Apr. 2015].