Abstract

Aim is to find the refractive index of:

a) water

b) coconut oil

using a plane mirror, and an equiconvex lens made of glass and an

adjustable object needle.

The theory behind liquid lens is based on the properties of one or more
liquids to create magnifications within a small amount of space. The focus
of a liquid lens is controlled by the surface of the liquid .Water normally
forms a bubble shape when adhered to materials such as glass.

To generate a liquid lens , a liquid is sandwiched between two pieces of a

clear plastic or a glass. Oil (necessarily transparent) can also be chosen to
be used as a fluid in a liquid lens system. The surface profiles of the liquid
determines the focal length of liquid lens system and how the liquid lens
focusses light rays.
Theory:
In optics, refractive index or index of refraction ‘n’ of a substance (optical
medium) is a dimensionless number that describes how light or any
radiation propagates through that medium.It is defined as

n = c/v

where’ c’ is the speed of light in vaccum and ‘v’ is the speed of light in a
substance.

Eg : ‘n’ of water is 1.33, which means, light travels 1.33 times as fast in
vaccum as it does in water.

The historically first occurance of refractive index was in Snell’s law of

refraction.

ie are the angles of incidence of the ray crossing the interface between 2
medias with refractive indeces n_1 and n_2.

In this project, we shall make use of the property of liquid lens to find the
refractive index of water and coconut oil.
 Materials Required:
 Convex lens
 Plain mirror
 Water
 Coconut oil
 Optical needle
 Iron stand
 Meter scale

Procedure:
Finding the focal length of convex lens:-

• Place the plane mirror with the convex lens placed on it above the
horizontal base of a clamp stand horizontally as its tip lies
vertically above the optic centre of the lens. Adjust the needle at a
height a little more than the rough focal length of the convex lens.

• Bring the tip of the needle, at the vertical principal axis of the
lens, so that the tip of the needle appears touching the tip of its
image.

• Move the needle up and down to remove the parallax between tips
of needle and its image.

• Measure the distance between tip of the needle and upper surface
of the lens by using a meter scale. Let it be (x1 ).

• Again measure the distance between tip and upper surface of the
plane mirror. Let it be x2

Finding the focal length of the combination:

• Take a few drops of the given transparent liquid and place it on
the surface of plane mirror. The convex lens is placed over it as
before. (A plano concave lens is formed between plane mirror and
convex lens).

• Repeat the steps (ii) to (v)

• Record the observations.

• To find the radius of curvature of the liquid lens. (R of convex lens

surface in contact).

The convex lens is turned towards a source such that, the required
surface is away from the source the distance is to adjusted that the
image is, formed on the side of the source. The distance 'd' between
the source and the lens is measured.

Finally the refractive index of liquid lens is given by.

n = 1+ R/f2 Result :
The observations of the experiment is tabulated as follows

Precautions:

• The parallax must be removed tip to tip properly.

• The lens and plane mirror should be cleaned thouroughly.

• The liquid taken should be essentially transparent.

Only few drops of liquid should be taken so that the liquid lens
layer is not thick Sources of error :
• Liquid may not be quite transparent

• The parallax any not be fully removed

• The needle may not be properly horizontal

The distance x1 and x2 may not be essentially clean

The experiment described in this project is an effective and simple

method of measuring the refractive index of any liquid
(transparent) using a convex lens and plane mirror.

If we keep the mirror behind a lens and put an object at the focus
point of the lens above it, the image of the object will form at the
same focus point where the object is. If it is an extended object, its
image will be inverted and the size of image is same as that of the
object.

This property has enabled the efficient use of liquid lens to find the
refractive index of a fluid by this method. If a liquid is sandwiched
between the lens and the mirror, the focal length of liquid lens can
be calculated knowing the focal length of the combination and that
of the convex lens, from which the refractive index of the fluid can
easily be estimated .