25th May 2021

Investigation to determine the refractive index with the relationship between the angle of
incidence on the angle of refraction

This report discusses an experiment which analyses the relationship between the angle of
incidence and angle of refraction to determine the refractive index of material B using
Snell’s Law.

Light, is an electromagnetic wave, which in a vacuum, travels at 3.00 x 10 8m/s. However,

when light enters a different medium, it changes speed and direction. This is called
refraction which can be calculated using Snell’s Law: n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2. ‘n1’ represents the
refractive index of medium 1, ‘n2’ represents the refractive index of medium 2, θ1 represents
the angle of incidence and θ2 represents the angle of refraction. In this investigation, we are
using PHeT’s “refractive index” simulation which has a laser pointer which shoots a beam of
red light passing from air into material ‘mystery B’. With a protractor to measure the angle
of incidence and angle of refraction, I will determine the refractive index of this
investigation with the study and analysis of the ratio of the angle of incidence to the angle
of refraction.

Research question

What is the effect of the angle of incidence on the angle of refraction and how can it be
used to determine the refractive index of a medium?

Hypothesis

I predict that as the angle of incidence increases, the angle of refraction increases (up to
90°) as based on Snell’s law, n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2, the angle of incidence and angle of refraction
share a linear relationship where the angle of refraction increases when the angle of
incidence increases. I also predict that I will use the formula x2-x1/y2-y1 with the values from
the graph to find the refractive index of ‘mystery B’. This mathematically correlates to
Snell’s Law of n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2 as the formula x2-x1/y2-y1 from the data in the graph, would be
the sine of the angle of incidence / sine of the angle of refraction which equals to the
formula n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2 in this case as the value of n1 is 1.
Table of variables

type of variable variable method

The angle of incidence is the angle between the
 Angle of incident ray and the normal. To measure the angle of
independent incidence incidence, I will use a protractor.
 The angle of refraction is the angle between the
 Angle of refracted ray and the normal. To measure the angle of
dependant refraction refraction, I will use a protractor.
As the refractive index of medium 1 affects angle of
incidence and angle of refraction, the medium should
be kept controlled. Medium 1 will be air throughout
 Medium 1 the experiment.
 The index of refraction depends on the frequency of
the light wave to a small degree across the visible part
of the spectrum. Therefore, the colour of the light,
Controlled which affects the frequency, needs to be controlled.
(All the The colour of the light will be controlled throughout
controlled the experiment as it is a stimulation.
variables do not The frequency of
have any light
limitations as  
the experiment) The height of   As I am carrying out the experiment digitally, the
is a digital which the laser height of which the laser pointer is at is controlled
simulation) pointer is at and does not change throughout the experiment.

Raw Data Table:

angle of angle of refraction (°) average angle of

incidence (°) trial 1 trial 2 trial 3 refraction (°) uncertainty
0 0 0 0 0 0
10 7 6 7 7 1
20 14 14 15 14 1
30 20 20 20 20 0
40 27 27 28 27 1
50 33 33 34 33 1
60 39 38 39 39 1
70 42 41 42 42 1
80 45 45 45 45 0
Processed Data Table:

sine of the angle of incidence sine of the average angle of refraction

0.00 0.00
0.17 0.12
0.34 0.25
0.50 0.34
0.64 0.46
0.77 0.55
0.87 0.63
0.94 0.67
0.99 0.71

Calculations:
Below you will find the calculations for the angle of incidence of 10° ( the values were
rounded up to values of ones)
Average angle of refraction: (7+6+7)/3=7
Uncertainty of the average angle of refraction: (7-6)/2=1

sine of the angle of incidence vs sine of the average angle of re-

fraction
0.80

0.70
f(x) = 0.719563153694673 x − 0.00480460107460184
R² = 0.999312279824539
0.60

0.50
sine of the angle of refraction

0.40

0.30

0.20

0.10

0.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

sine of the angle of incidence

Graph Analysis
The graph above shows that the correlation between the angle of incidence and the angle of
refraction is strong, negative and linear for the data points studied.

The linear best-fit line has an equation of y=0.7196x-0.0048, which means that as the sine of
the angle of incidence increases by 1, the sine of the angle of refraction increases by 0.72.
The R2 value of this graph is 0.9993, meaning that the best-fit line is a reliable
representation of the data which I have collected.

To find the refractive index of ‘mystery B’, I calculated the reciprocal of the gradient in the
graph by using the formula: x2-x1/y2-y1. I used this formula because based on Snell’s Law:
n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2 where the value of n1 is 1 as the medium is air, the equation to find the
refractive index of ‘mystery B’ is sinθ1/ sinθ2. As the values of x1 and y1 were 0, the formula
of x2-x1/y2-y1 had the same equation as n1sinθ1=n2sinθ2. My equation was 0.34 - 0.00/0.25 -
0.00 =1.36. Based on this formula, the refractive index of ‘mystery B’ is 1.36 which, based on
source (1), is acetone.

Conclusion and discussion

The aim in this experiment was to investigate the correlation between the angle of
incidence and angle of refraction to determine the refractive index of ‘mystery B’. In order
to find the correlation between the angle of incidence and angle of refraction, the angle of
refraction at different angles of incidence, which were changed by a constant of 10, were
measured and recorded. After the data of the correlation between the sine of the angle of
incidence and the sine of the angle of refraction was recorded and made into a graph, the
reciprocal of the gradient, which is x2-x1/y2-y1, was used to determine the refractive index of
‘mystery B’ and what material it is.

The data which I have collected in this experiment strongly supports my hypothesis, since as
the sine of the angle of incidence increases by 1°,the sine of the angle of refraction
increases, therefore the angle of refraction increases as the angle of incidence increases and
in my hypothesis, I stated that as the angle of incidence increases, the angle of refraction
increases.

Moreover, with the data I collected of the correlation between the angle of incidence and
the angle of refraction, I found the refractive index of ‘mystery B’ and its material which was
1.38, the refractive index of acetone.

Although there were no limitations in the data analysis, there were some limitations of
human error in the experiment such as the misalignment of the protractor on the normal
and the wrong measurement of the angle of refraction due to the unclear placement of the
laser beam on the protractor.

However, the uncertainty value in the raw data table were relatively small, meaning that the
trials had been controlled and the measurements were accurate to a large extent.
Furthermore, the R2 value was high with a value of 0.9993, meaning that the best-fit line of
the graph was a reliable representation of my data.

In spite of this, I could make some improvements in my methods of experiments to increase

the reliability of my scientific evidence.

Evaluation
The experiment had little limitations as it was a digital simulation with controlled variables
and mostly accurate measurements. However, there were some limitations which may have
affected my data.

Limitation Effect on data Suggested improvement

The misalignment of the
protractor on the normal
It was difficult to read
where the laser beam was
on the protractor
The independent variable
having large difference in
the changes with a constant
change of 10°
This was a human error as I
may have placed the
protractor inaccurately
which would have led to the
wrong measurements of the
angle incidence and angle of
refraction
As the digital laser beam
was quite thick, it was
difficult to read the angle of
refraction, especially where
the laser beam covered two
lines (2°) on the protractor.
This could cause the wrong
measurements of the angle
of refraction.
If the constant for the
change in the independent
variable is too big, it would
create a different best-fit
line and equation.
I could find another digital
stimulation which would
place the protractor on the
normal accurately which
would not cause the
chances of the wrong
measurements of the
angles.
I could use another digital
simulation which would
directly show the angle of
refraction.
To make the reliability of
the best-fit line even higher,
I could change the constant
of 10° to 5°.

Bibliography
1) _ _ _ . N/A. “Index of Refraction”. LivePhysics.
https://www.livephysics.com/physical-constants/optics-pc/index-refraction/ (Accessed 2nd
June 2021)

2) _ _ _ . 2021. “Snell’s Law”. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/Snells-law

(Accessed 4th June 2021)

3) _ _ _ . N/A. “Experiment 2: Snell’s Law of refraction”. North Western.

https://groups.physics.northwestern.edu/lab/third/snells-law.pdf (Accessed 4th June 2021)