SUMMATIVE

ASSESSMENT 3A
Laboratory Activity 28 Bending of Light

MALABANAN, Matthew L.
June 24, 2021
Submitted to Engr. Jocelyn Caro
PHYLA1
APPENDIX A. WATER TO GLASS lower index to a higher one

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APPENDIX B. GLASS TO WATER higher index to a lower one

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1. Explain what happened to the speed and angle of refracted ray when the light ray travels
from a lower index to a higher one? and vice versa? Use different angles of incidence.

Angles are relatively measured perpendicular to the surface at the point where the light
ray crosses it. The change in direction of a ray of light depends on variations on the speed of
light as it travels through varying media. With PHET’s experimental simulation, the behavior of
the light ray is examined as it travels from a lower index of refraction to a higher one (water to
glass) and vice-versa (glass to water). For the first set-up (see TABLE A below), both the
incident ray and reflected ray have an angle of 39.1 degrees whilst the refracted ray has an
angle of 34.1 degrees. When the incident ray and reflected ray were both adjusted to an angle
of 54.0 degrees (see TABLE A), it gives a corresponding refracted ray measuring 46.0 degrees.
The speed of the refracted ray is maintained constant at 0.67 c for both scenarios. With respect
to the indices of refraction of the media, glass has a given value of 1.500 n and water with 1.333
n. Emphatically, the speed of the refracted light ray remains independent from any alterations on
the angle of incidence. For the second set-up (see TABLE B reversed scenario), the angle of
incidence and angle of refraction measured up to 46.6 degrees and 54.9 degrees respectively.
Whilst upon altering the angle of incidence to 27.8 degrees, it corresponds to an angle of
refraction of 31.7 degrees. Speed of refracted light remains constant at 0.75 c; however, at an
angle of 62.8 degrees and above, no refracted light ray and thus no speed is detected.

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 Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao in Science Learning Hub website (n.d.) elucidates that the
amount of refraction is dependent on two variables: (a) change in speed and (b) angle of
incident ray. When the medium causes the light to either speed up or slow down more, the
amount of refraction or bending is more. Whereas, light rays entering the substance at a greater
angle, the degree to which the light refracted is more. Evidently, the angle of refraction
increases from 34.1 degrees to 46.0 degrees with the corresponding increase in angle of
incidence from 39.1 degrees to 54.0 degrees with the varying media being from water to glass.
BBC (n.d.) also states that when a ray of light is incident at normal incidence - that is oriented at
right angles - to the surface between two optical materials, the ray travels in a straight line.
When the ray is incident at any other angle, the ray changes direction as it refracts. On a
general note, the more optically dense the medium, the slower light travels. In line with this, light
propagates slower in glass than in water and this change in ray direction depends on the
variation on the speed of light. Whereas the change in the speed of light is influenced by the
indices of refraction involved in the set-up. Reasonably, light travels faster in water than its glass
medium counterpart.

TABLE A. FIRST SET-UP (please refer to Appendix A for screenshots)

Angle of Angle of speed Intensity of Intensity of

incidence refraction reflection refraction

39.1 34.1 0.67 c 0.83 % 99.17%

54.0 46.0 0.67 c 2.01% 97.99%

TABLE B. SECOND SET-UP (please refer to Appendix B for screenshots)

Angle of Angle of speed Intensity of Intensity of

incidence refraction reflection refraction

46.6 54.9 0.75 c 2.15 % 97.85%

27.8 31.7 0.75 c 0.61% 99.39%

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2. Describe how the intensity of light reflected and refracted changes with the angle of incidence
when light ray travels from a lower index to a higher one, and vice versa.

There is an inverse proportionality between the intensity of the angle of incidence and
intensity of the refracted light rays as demonstrated in the virtual simulation. Utilizing the first
set-up (see TABLE A), it is observed that the intensity of refraction decreases with the increase
of the angle of incidence from 39.1 to 54.0 degrees. From 99.17% intensity it was reduced to
97.99% intensity marked by a 1.18 percent decrease. As for the intensity of reflection, with an
increase in angle of incidence, it moved from 0.83% to 2.01 %. These tabular results apply to
when light rays travel from a medium with lower index of refraction to a higher counterpart - that
is from water to glass. Whereas, in the second set-up which is the reverse-concept (glass to
water) of the prior set-up, the angle of incidence was reduced from 46.6 to 27.8 degrees. The
intensity of reflection lowered from 2.15% to 0.61% whilst intensity of refraction increased from
97.85% to 99.39% at a constant speed of light in the media of 0.75 c. however, at an angle of
62.8 degrees and above, no refracted light ray is formed. On the flipside, the intensity of the
refracted ray reduces and the intensity of the reflected ray increases when the angle of
incidence increases. In this light, the index of refraction decreases as the light rays cross the
medium’s boundary where its speed increases. Referential to Physics classroom (n.d.), total
internal reflection refers to the phenomenon wherein the incidence angle reaches a critical
threshold such that angle of refraction is equal to 90 degrees. In this experiment, 62.8 degrees
is the critical angle where no light travels through the water and is thus reflected in the glass
media. Sensibly, all of the light is reflected back into the glass and no part of the light is refracted
through the water.

APPENDIX C. MYSTERY MATERIALS A AND B WITH CALCULATED SOLUTION

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3. Show your computed values of the index of refraction (n) of Material A and Material B.
Attached copy of the solution and images from the simulation.

Mystery Material A obtains an approximated ‘n’ value of 2.44 whilst Mystery Material B
obtains a value of 1.41 (refer to Appendix C for the Calculations). This is calculated using the
value of the speed of light in vacuum divided by the speed of light in media multiplied by c to
derive the value of n. The variable v is derived by manipulating the available elements
(0.41)(c-value) and (0.71)(c-value) in m/s. The value of c is given by :

c = 2.9972458×10^8 m/s ≈ 3.00×10^8 m/s

Urone and Hinrichs (2020), states that light’s speed is significantly related with the type
of material; hence, influencing light’s interaction with atoms, crystal lattices, and other
substructures in varying ways. The index of refraction n of a material is defined as n = c / v ,
where v is the observed speed of light in the respective medium. Since the speed of light is
always less than c in medium and equals c only in a vacuum, the index of refraction is logically
always greater than or equal to one.

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REFERENCES

BBC. (n.d.). Refraction of light. Retrieved from

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z88dd2p/revision/2

Pūtaiao, P. (n.d.). Refraction of light. Retrieved from:

https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/49-refraction-of-light#:~:text=If%20light%2
0travels%20enters%20into,as%20it%20enters%20the%20substance.

Physics Classroom. (n.d.). The Angle of Refraction. Retrieved from Physics Tutorial:
The Angle of Refraction (physicsclassroom.com)

Physics Classroom. (n.d.). Refraction and the Ray Model of Light - Lesson 3 - Total
Internal Reflection. Retrieved from:
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/Lesson-3/Total-Internal-Reflection

Urone, P., & Hinrichs, R. (2020, Mar 26). Physics. OpenStax. Houston Texas. Retrieved
from https://openstax.org/books/physics/pages

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