Manuel S.

Enverga University Foundation

Lucena City, Philippines
……………………………………………………………………….
Granted Autonomous Status

Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program

(ETEEAP)
College of Arts and Sciences
PACUCOA Accredited Level IV
Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Name: ___Reyned M. Balingbing______________ Rating: ____________________

Course: __BS in Computer Engineering_______ Date: ___December 16, 2017____

Take Home Laboratory Activity No. 8

Deep Down Inside

Introduction:
A spoon in a glass of water appears broken at the surface and distorted below
the surface. A stone seen through water is not where it appears to be. A glass
paperweight displaces the printing seen through it. A pool seems shallower than it
actually is. All these are due to REFRACTION OF LIGHT.
The change in the velocity of light as it enters a different medium is called
REFRACTION. Refraction occurs whenever light goes into a substance of different
optical density. When light passes obliquely from a less dense to denser medium, it is
bent toward the normal. When the path of light is reversed, light is bent away from
the normal. In 1621, Willebrord Snell formulated the exact law of refraction, which
now bears his name. Snell’s Law, in equation form is:
𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟐
Where: 𝜽𝟏 = is the change of incidence, 𝜽𝟐 = is the angle of refraction, 𝒏𝟏 =is the index of refraction of the
first medium, and 𝒏𝟐 =is the index of refraction of the second medium.

The index of refraction 𝒏 = is the ratio of the speed of air c to the speed of light in the given medium
v. In equation form, it is:
𝒄
𝒏=
𝒗

Objectives:
1. Verify the shallowing effect of refraction.
2. Determine the index of refraction of glass.

Materials:
A glass plate meterstick a paper protractor
A laser pointer an opaque mug
A conventional microscope a coin
Procedure:
A. Shallowing effect of Refraction
a. Place a coin at the center of an opaque mug.
b. Position yourself in such a way that you do not see the coin when you look obliquely into the
mug.
c. Now hold yourself perfectly still, while someone fills the mug with water without disturbing
the coin.
d. Can you see the coin now?
e. Why?
 B. Snell’s Law
a. Place a rectangular glass plate at the center of a polar graph paper. Draw the normal to the
glass plate.

b. Focus a laser light to the glass plate at the following angle of incidence: 100, 150, 200, 250,
300, 350, 400.
c. Measure the angle of refraction for each angle of incidence mentioned in step b.
d. Solve for the index of refraction of glass for each angle of incidence and its corresponding
angle of refraction using Snell’s law. (show your computations)
e. Get the average index of refraction of glass.

Data and Observations

A. Shallowing Effect of Refraction
a. Make an illustration and short descriptions of your experiment.
At first I can’t see the coin inside the glass, but when my friend pour some water, I began to see the coin,

it is like bigger and distorted. It happens because the light reaching me from the portion of the coin inside the

glass comes from different direction. It is all because of light refraction.

B. Snell’s Law

Angle of Angle of Computations Index of

Incidence Refraction (0) Refraction
(0)
𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟐
0
6.6 1 sin (100) = 𝒏𝟐 sin (6.60)
100 0.17 = 𝒏𝟐 0.11
0.17
= 𝒏𝟐 1.55
0.11
𝒏𝟐 = 1.545
𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟐
1 sin (150) = 𝒏𝟐 sin (9.90)
150 0.26 = 𝒏𝟐 0.17 1.53
9.9 0.26
= 𝒏𝟐
0.17
𝒏𝟐 = 1.53
𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟐 1.48
1 sin (200) = 𝒏𝟐 sin (13.2 0)
200 0.34 = 𝒏𝟐 0.23
13.2 0.34
= 𝒏𝟐
0.23
𝒏𝟐 = 1.48
16.4 1.50
𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟐
250 1 sin (250) = 𝒏𝟐 sin (16.40)
0.42 = 𝒏𝟐 0.28
0.42
= 𝒏𝟐
0.28
𝒏𝟐 = 1.50
19.5 𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟐 1.515
1 sin (300) = 𝒏𝟐 sin (19.50)
300 0. = 𝒏𝟐 0.33
0.5
= 𝒏𝟐
0.33
𝒏𝟐 = 1.515
22.5 𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟐 1.5
1 sin (350) = 𝒏𝟐 sin (22.50)
350 0.57 = 𝒏𝟐 0.38
0.57
= 𝒏𝟐
0.38
𝒏𝟐 = 1.50
25.4 𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽𝟐 1.49
1 sin (400) = 𝒏𝟐 sin (25.40)
400 0.64 = 𝒏𝟐 0.43
0.64
= 𝒏𝟐
0.43
𝒏𝟐 = 1.49

Data for Index of Refraction of Glass

Conclusion:

In this laboratory experiment, I concluded that light bends as it enters a new medium like glass or water

and it is because of what we called refractions. I also concluded that if the lights enter on a more optically

dense material, the speed decreases and the light bends towards the normal.

Questions:
1. Light travels from medium A to medium B. The angle of refraction is greater than the angle of
incidence. (a) Which medium has the greater index of refraction? (b) Where does light travel faster?

a. Medium B has the greater index of refraction than the medium A

b. The light travel faster in medium A because it has lesser index of refraction

2. A rat if light enters a piece of glass plate, the angle of incidence is 630 and the angle of refraction is
360. What is the index of refraction of glass?

𝒏𝟏 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝜽𝟏 = 𝒏𝟐 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝜽𝟐
1 sin (630) = 𝒏𝟐 sin (360)
0.89 = 𝒏𝟐 0.59
0.89
= 𝒏𝟐
0.59
𝒏𝟐 = 1.51

3. Cite at least 10 practical uses of refraction of light.

1. Glasses

2. Camera lenses

3. Binoculars

4. Magnifying glass

5. Spectacles

6. Prism

7. Optometry - Contact/Corrective lenses

8. Knowledge of refraction creates the most sparkly diamonds

9. Movie screen

10. Television