Experiment 9: REFLECTION AND REFRACTION OF LIGHT

Aim
To examine the behavior of light as it passes through different media.

Learning outcomes:
At the end of the experiment, the student should be able to:
1. Understand the law of reflection and refraction of light on different media
2. Explain the phenomenon and condition of total internal reflection
3. To observe the dispersion of light by prism and refraction of light by different
kinds of lens

Materials and Components

Web-based simulation tool
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/bending-light

Discussion
The law of reflection of light states that when light bounces off from a surface, the
angle of reflection is equal to angle of incidence. Additionally, reflected ray, incident ray
and normal, all lie in the same plane.

Fig. 9.1
 The law of refraction of light states that, when a ray of light passes from one
medium to another medium, light bends towards or away from the normal. When a light
ray passes from a less dense medium to the denser medium, light ray bends towards
the normal. When light ray passes from denser to rare medium, it bends away from the
normal. The Snell’s law for refraction is given by

Fig. 9.2
n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

Where:
n1 = refractive index of one medium
θ1= angle of incidence
n2 = refractive index of another medium and
θ2 = angle of refraction.

Total internal reflection is the phenomenon that involves the reflection of all the
incident light off the boundary. This can only take place when both of the following two
conditions are met:
 the light is coming from the more dense medium and approaching the less
dense medium.
  the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle.

Fig. 9.3

Procedure

A. Law of Reflection
1. Flash the light at an angle as given in table 9.1
2. Calculate the angle of reflection and place the value in Table 9.1 column 2
( Predicted Angle of Reflection)
3. After you complete the predictions, you can measure the angle using the
protractor and provide the observed reflected angle in Table 9.1 column 3
4. Do the same for Table 9.2 and 9.3 using different materials.

Table 9.1

Top Material : Air Bottom Material: Water

Index of Refraction: _______ Index of Refraction: ________

Incident Angle Predicted Angle Observed

(θ1 ¿ of Reflection ( Reflected Angle Comments
 θ2 ¿ ( θ2 ¿
15°
30°
45°
60°
85°

Table 9.2

Top Material : Air Bottom Material: Glass

Index of Refraction: _______ Index of Refraction: ________

Incident Angle Predicted Angle Observed

(θ1 ¿ of Reflection ( Reflected Angle Comments
θ2 ¿ ( θ2 ¿
15°
30°
45°
60°
85°

Table 9.3

Top Material : Water Bottom Material: Air

Index of Refraction: _______ Index of Refraction: ________

Incident Angle Predicted Angle Observed

(θ1 ¿ of Reflection ( Reflected Angle Comments
θ2 ¿ ( θ2 ¿
15°
30°
45°
60°
85°
5. Flash the light at an angle as given in table 9.4
5. Calculate the angle of refraction and place the value in Table 9.4 column 2
( Predicted Angle of Refraction)
6. After you complete the predictions, you can measure the angle using the protractor
and provide the observed reflected angle in Table 9.4 column 3
7. Do the same for Table 9.5 and 9.6 using different materials.

B. Law of Refraction

Table 9.4

Top Material : Air Bottom Material: Water

Index of Refraction: _______ Index of Refraction: ________

Incident Angle Predicted Angle Observed

(θ1 ¿ of Refraction ( Refracted Angle Comments
θ2 ¿ ( θ2 ¿
15°
30°
45°
60°
85°

Table 9.5

Top Material : Air Bottom Material: Glass

Index of Refraction: _______ Index of Refraction: ________

Incident Angle Predicted Angle Observed

(θ1 ¿ of Refraction ( Refracted Angle Comments
θ2 ¿ ( θ2 ¿
15°
 30°
45°
60°
85°

Table 9.6

Top Material : Water Bottom Material: Air

Index of Refraction: _______ Index of Refraction: ________

Incident Angle Predicted Angle Observed

(θ1 ¿ of Refraction ( Refracted Angle Comments
θ2 ¿ ( θ2 ¿
15°
30°
45°
60°
85°

C. Total Internal Reflection

1. Flash the light at certain angle so that light gets refracted and passes from
one medium to another medium with refracted angle is 900. Use the equations
n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

2. Use the equation to predict for θ1=sin−1 ¿

3. When you plug θ2= 900 , corresponding value for θ1is called critical angle.
When you increase the incident angle, the ray undergoes total internal reflection.
4. Predict the critical angle for the following conditions and check the predicted
angle using the simulation. Make sure to provide necessary screen shot here.

a. Glass – water interface ( rays pass from Glass to Water)

Predicted θ1for critical angle = θC = _____________
 b. Glass – air interface (rays pass from Glass to air)
Predicted θ1for critical angle = θC = _____________

c. Water to air interface ( rays pass from Water to air)

Predicted θ1for critical angle = θC = _____________

5. Write the values in Table 9.7

Media Predicted Angle Observed Angle ( Comments

(θC ¿ θC ¿
Glass – air
interface
Glass – water
interface
Water to air
interface

Data and Results

Observation
(Write your own observation)

Conclusion
(Write your own conclusion)

Questions

1. Based on your data from the tables, what patterns have you observed?
2. Is it possible for total internal reflection if light passes from air to Glass, why or why
not? Provide answer with reasons: