Physics Project

To find the refractive index of different liquids

using hollow glass prism

Himanshu ranjan
upadhyay

Class Xii-c

Roll no.:-11
 Acknowledgement

We owe our special thanks to

our physics teacher Ms.
Chandrima Biswas ma’am whose
proper guidance, support and
encouragement helped us our
target of getting our project
completed in the period
through proper channels. I
would also like to thank Mr.
Dinesh our laboratory
assistance for his support.
 Himanshu ranjan upadhyay

Certificate

This is to certify that Himanshu

ranjan upadhyay of xii-c Banyan Tree
School has successfully
completed the assigned project
“To find the refractive index of
different liquids using hollow
glass prism” to my entire
satisfaction.
 Signature of Teacher

[Ms. Chandrima Biswas]

Table of contents

1. Aim & Apparatus

2. Theory
a) Refraction in general
b) Laws of refraction
c) Refraction through a prism
3. Procedure
4. Experiment with Water
5. Experiment with Glycerine
6. Experiment with Alcohol
7. Experiment with Acetic Acid
8. Result & Conclusion

Aim:

To find the refractive index of different

liquids using hollow glass prism.

Apparatus:

 Pins
 Drawing board
  White sheets
 Protractor
 Pencil
 Scale
 Water
 Glycerine
 Alcohol
 Acetic acid
 A hollow prism

Theory
The shape of a hollow prism is same
as any other glass prism except that
it is hollow. A liquid can be filled in
the prism through the hole on top.

Refraction in general

Refraction of light is the

phenomenon of change in path of
light when it travels from one
medium to another. The basic cause
of refraction is change in velocity of
light in going from one medium to
another. When a ray of light
travelling in one medium [air] falls
on the surface of another medium
[say glass slab] in an oblique way,
the direction of its path in the
second medium is changed as shown
below.
 Laws of refraction

 The incident ray, refracted ray

and the normal to the surface of
separation at the point of
incidence, all lie in the same
plane.
 The ratio of sine of the angle of

incidence to the sine of the angle

of refraction is constant for the
two media and this constant is
called the refractive index of the
second medium. This is known as
the Snell’s Law, i.e. refractive

index µ= .
 Refraction through a prism

When a ray of light passes from air

[rarer medium] into a prism [denser
medium], it bends towards the
normal. The angle through which the
ray of light is deviated is known as
angle of deviation (δ) i.e. the angle
between the emergent ray and the
incident.
To determine the refractive index the
following relation is used:

Refractive index µ=

Where,
δm is the angle of minimum
deviation
A is the angle of prism (600)
Refractive index is also defined as
the ratio of velocity of light in air to
the velocity of light in any other
medium.

Procedure
 Take the hollow prism, clean it &
then fill it with liquid whose
 refractive index is to be
determined.
 Fix a drawing sheet on the
drawing board with the help of the
drawing pins.
 Place the prism on the sheet &
outline its boundary.
 Using a protractor, draw a normal
to the refracting side of the prism.
Draw a line making an angle to the
normal.
 Place 2 pins on the incident line
drawn.
 Look for the images of the pins
from the other side of prism. Now
place 2 more pins such that they
are in line with the incident line
pins.
 Remove the pins and join the
incident and emergent ray.
 Repeat the above steps for
various angles of incident.
 Observations

Experiment with Water:

S. Angle of Incidence Angle of Deviation
No. (i)(0) (δ)(0)
1. 35 25
2. 40 23
3. 45 22
4. 50 20
5. 55 25

Calculations:
 µ= = =0.6427*2
µ=1.28

Experiment with Glycerine:

S. Angle of Incidence Angle of Deviation

No. (i)(0) (δ)(0)
1. 35 47
2. 40 40
3. 45 37
4. 50 38
 Calculations:

µ= = =0.7489*2
µ=1.49

Experiment with Alcohol:

S. Angle of Incidence Angle of Deviation

No. (i)(0) (δ)(0)
1. 35 28
2. 40 26
3. 45 25
4. 50 27
 Calculations:

µ= = =0.6755*2
µ=1.35

Experiment with Acetic Acid:

S. Angle of Incidence Angle of Deviation

No. (i)(0) (δ)(0)
1. 35 30
2. 40 29
3. 45 27
4. 50 23
5. 55 27
 Calculations:

µ= = =0.6626*2
µ=1.32

Result

The refractive index of water was

experimentally found to be equal
to 1.28.
The refractive index of glycerine was
experimentally found to be equal
to 1.49.
 The refractive index of alcohol was
experimentally found to be equal
to 1.35.
The refractive index of acetic acid
was experimentally found to be
equal to 1.32.

Conclusion

From the experiment we conclude

that different substances have
different refractive indices. This is
due to their different densities,
leading to change in velocity of light
differently.