STUDIES OF REFRACTIVE INDEX OF

DIFFERENT LIQUIDS

The project report submitted to the West Bengal Council

of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) in partial
fulfilment of the requirement of HS practical
examination -2019

Physics
NAME : SAMRAT HALDER
REGISTRATION NO. :4181102016

Under the guidance of

Dr. Satrudhna Bera ( Assistant Master)

HINDU SCHOOL, KOLKATA
2019
 CERTIFICATE

This is certified that the investigation report on

the project work entitled “Studies of Refractive
Index of Different Liquids” is a record of
bonafide work carried out by Samrat Halder
under my supervision. Sri Samrat Halder
submits the project report to fulfill the partial
requirement of HS Annual Practical
Examination – 2019 of WBCHSE been submitted
previously.
I wish him success in life.

Dr. Satrughna Bera

Assistant Master
Hindu School, Kolkata
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deep sense of gratitude and

thanks to Dr. Sartughna Bera for his
constant valuable guidance, help and
encouragement during the project work. I also
express my sincere gratitude to the
Headmaster and Assistant Headmaster of
Hindu School for permitting me to complete
the project work in the institute.

DATE : 20.08.2019
NAME : SAMRAT HALDER

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 CONTENTS
SUBJECT PAGE NO.
1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 1
2. OBJECTIVE AND APPARATUS 2
3. DIAGRAM 3
4. THEORY 4
5. PROCEDURE 5-6
6. CLACULATIONS 7
7. PRECAUTIONS 8
8. SOURCES OF ERRORS 9
9. DETERMINATION OF h 10
10. AVERAGE DISTANCE 11
BETWEEN LEGS OF
SPHEROMETER
11. DETERMINATION OF 11
FOCAL LENGTH
OF CONVEX LENS
12. DETERMINATION OF 12
FOCAL LENGTH
OF LENS COMBINATION
13. CONCLUSION 13
14. REFERENCE 13
 OBJECTIVE :

To find the refractive indexes of (a) water (b) oil

using a plane mirror, an equiconvex lens, and an
adjustable object needle.

Apparatus :

A convex lens, a plane mirror , water , oil, clamp, stand,

an optical needle, plump line, knitting needle, half meter
scale, glass slab, a spheromerer.

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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 :
Or,(1/f)=(1/f1)+(1/f2)
Or,f2=(f*f2)/(f1-f)
2. Liquid lens formed a plano-concave lens with R1=R
and R2=∞ then by using lens make’s formula
Or,(1/f2)=(µ-1) (1/R1 – 1/R2)
=(µ-1) (1/R1 – 1/∞)
=(µ-1) (1/R – 0)
Or,(1/f2)=(µ-1)/R
Or,µ=(R/f2)+1
Where µ=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 :
R=(l2/6h)+(h/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 distance will be equal to the focal length of
the convex lens(f1).
(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 and adjust the central
screw tip to touch the surface of the lens.
11. All the three legs of the spherometer should be
placed symmetrically on the lens and adjust the
central screw tip to the lens.
12. Remove the spherometer from the surface of the
lens and placed on the mirror surface and record the
reading.
13. Repeat the steps 10 and 11 three times.
14. Obtained the impressions of the three legs of the
spherometer on a paper and marked them and their
average distance.
L=(l1+l2+l3)/3

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 Calculation

(i) L=(l1+l2+l3)/3 = …………cm

(ii) R=(l2/6h)+(h/2) = …………cm

(iii) f 2 =(f*f1)/(f – f1) = ………….cm(water)

= ………….cm(transparent

liquid)

(iv) µ=1+(R/f2) = …………cm(water)

= …………cm(transparent liquid)

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 Precautions

1. The plane mirror should be cleaned 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 of mirror.

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 DRAWING OF µ VS DENSITY GRAPH

On the mm. graph paper XOX/ and YOY/ are mutually

perpendicular axes. The density are plotted along (+ve) X –
axis and corresponding refractive index along (+ve) Y –
axis.

Nature of the graph

There is no relation of refractive index with the density of
different liquids.

Conclusion
From the above experiment , it can be concluded that the
density and the refractive index are independent to each
other.

Reference
A) Sansad Byabaharik Padarthabidya (XI & XII) by
Dr. Satrughna Bera and Dr. Tanika Kar, Bani
Sansad Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. 4A, Ramanath
Majumder Street, Kolkata – 9, New edition – 2019
B) Physics class – XII by D. Dutta, B. Pal and P.
Guchhait, Publishing Syndicate, 61,Mahatma
Gandhi road , Kolkata – 700009

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