Ryan Christian D.

Taganahan ECE 322

BSECE – 4

Bending of Light
Objectives:
• Explain how light bends at the interface between two media and what determines the angle.
• Apply Snell’s law to a laser beam incident on the interface between media.
• Describe how the speed and wavelength of light changes in different media.
• Describe the effect of changing wavelength on the angle of refraction.
Introduction
Bending of light or also called as refraction is a phenomenon wherein a light bends on
different media which is basically materials. The best example of this is when a straw is being
placed on a glass of water, and the straw is not aligned to itself as seen on the glass of water. Light
refracts whenever it travels at an angle into a substance with a different refractive index or optical
density. The change of direction is caused by a change in speed of light.

Discussion and Results

1. Using the online simulator PHET Colorado interactive simulator, simulate different
combination of materials in different incident ray angles and get the angle of refraction.
Tabulate the data using a table. Here are some medium and their index of refraction.

Table 1. index of refraction of different mediums

Material Index of refraction

air 1.00
water 1.33
glass 1.50

As shown on table 1, different mediums have different index of refraction that will result
in different amount of bending of light.

Top medium: air, bottom medium: glass

Table 2. light in air and glass

angle Angle of Light

refraction intensity
10° 6.6° 95.84%
 20° 13.2° 95.30%
30° 19.5° 94.23%
40° 25.4° 92.29%
50° 30.7° 88.81%
60° 35.3° 82.37%
70° 38.8° 70.03%
80° 41.0° 46.23%
90° No refraction 100%

Top medium: water, bottom medium: glass

Table 3. light in water and glass

angle Angle of Light

refraction intensity
10° 8.9° 100%
20° 17.7° 100%
30° 26.4° 99.43%
40° 34.8° 99.13%
50° 42.9° 98.47%
60° 50.3° 96.77%
70° 56.6° 91.71%
80° 61.1° 73.33%
90° No refraction 100%

Top medium: air, bottom medium: water

Table 4. light in air and water

angle Angle of Light

refraction intensity
10° 7.5° 97.87%
20° 14.9° 97.55%
30° 22.0° 96.91%
40° 28.8° 95.69%
50° 35.1° 93.32%
60° 40.5° 88.49%
70° 44.8° 78.03%
80° 47.7° 54.26%
90° No refraction 100%
 As shown in table 2-4 the data acquired from PHET Colorado simulator. The similarities
among the three tables are that at 90°there is no refraction and the light intensity is at 100%. Table
3 has larger refraction angles in which the top medium is

2. Apply Snell’s law to a laser beam incident on the interface media. Prove the computed values
using PHET Colorado simulator to validate the computed value.

Snell’s Law formula:

𝑛1 sin 𝜃𝑖 = 𝑛2 sin 𝜃𝑟

N1 = 1.333 (water)
N2 = 1.500 (glass)
Incident angle = 55°
Refracted angle =?

Applying Snell’s law

𝑛1 sin 𝜃𝑖 = 𝑛2 sin 𝜃𝑟

1.333 sin(55°) = 1.500 sin 𝜃𝑟

1.091929675 = 1500 sin 𝜃𝑟
1.091929675 1.500 sin 𝜃𝑟
=
1.500 1.500
0.7279531167 = sin 𝜃𝑟
sin−1(0.7279531167) = sin−1(sin 𝜃𝑟 )
sin−1(0.7279531167) = 𝜃𝑟
𝜃𝑟 = 46.715°

Incident angle

refracted angle

Figure 1. PHET Colorado Simulation

3. Using the same set up, simulate and measure the speed and wavelength of light in different
media.

Table 5. speed of light at different media

Speed of light at Speed of light

Media incident angle at refracted
angle
Air & water 1.00 c 0.75 c
Air & glass 1.00 c 0.67 c
Water & glass 0.74 c 0.67 c

air and water measurements

air and glass measurements

water and glass measurements

 As we observe on the data, the speed of light varies in the incident angle and the refracted
angle. The speed of light differs on the material or medium used. We observe that when the top
medium is less dense like air the light travels faster, and when it passes on a denser medium the
light travels slower. If the top medium is air and the bottom medium is either glass or water, the
speed of light passing on the air is 1.00 c no matter what medium is in the bottom. The difference
is when the light passes on the bottom medium, on water the light travels with a speed of 0.75 c
while on glass the light travels with a speed of 0.67 c. This implies that light travels on a different
speed depending on the medium used. If the medium is less dense then the light travels much faster
and slower if the medium is denser.

4. Change the wavelength of the light source and observe the angle of refraction. Record the angle
of refraction and interpret it.

Table 6. Angle of refraction on different wavelengths

Wavelength Angle of
(in nm) refraction
400 27.8°
450 27.9°
500 28.0°
550 28.1°
600 28.1°
650 28.2°
700 28.2°
 As we observe, the changing wavelength also changes the angle of refraction slowly. At
lower wavelength the angle of refraction changes by 1°and it takes 50 nm to change the angle. On
the other hand, on 550 nm wavelength it takes 100 nm for the angle to change from 28.1°to 28.2°.

Conclusion
Light bends and the angle of bending or as refraction is determined by the index of
refraction of a certain material used. The angle of refraction can be determined using the Snell’s
law, wherein in the experiment we compute for the angle of refraction with a given incident ray
angle and index of refraction of two medium used which is water and glass. It is verified through
the simulation that the computed angle of refraction is correct. In the experiment we also show
how the angle of refraction is affected by the wavelength of the light source. The result shows a 1°
every 50 nm interval from 400 nm to 500 nm and 100 nm interval from 550 nm to 700 nm for the
angle to change by 1°. The speed of light is affected by the properties of the medium, the result of
the experiment shows that light travels faster in less dense medium than a denser medium which
slows the travel of light.