ORCHIDS, THE INTERNATIONAL

SCHOOL
BANGALORE

Investigatory Project in Physics

Topic:
Angle Of Minimum
Deviation Of Prism

Submitted to
Nawaharsh Sir

Submitted by
Srirajendra B

Grade: XII
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Srirajendra B bonafide student

of class XII has successfully completed the project
titled Angle Of Minimum Deviation Of Prism in the
laboratory of Physics prescribed by the
Central Board of Secondary Education for the AISSCE for
the year 2023-24

Teacher in – charge HOD Principal

External Examiner Date:

 Acknowledgement

I wish to express my gratitude to my Physics teacher who

has been instrumental in helping me complete this
project.
I also wish to express my sincere thanks to our beloved
Principal Dr Leena Pascal, The Management of Orchids
for having changed our focus from exam-based
learning to knowledge-learning which I now
understand will go a long way in molding my future
ahead for better
prospects.

I wish to thank my parents, friends and all those who

have directly or indirectly contributed towards
completion this project effectively.
Index
S.NO Content
1. Introduction to Prism
2. About prism
3. Types of prism
4. Terms related to prism
5. Aim
6. Material Required
7. Theory
8. Procedure
9. Calculation
10. Result

11. Conclusions

12. Precaution

13. Sources of error

14. Bibliography
 Introduction to Prisms

About Prism
Prism is a three-dimensional solid object in which the two ends are
identical. It is the combination of the flat faces, identical bases and
equal cross-sections. The faces of the prism are parallelograms or
rectangles without the bases.
They are made from glass or other transparent material cut with
precise angles. Two of the three rectangular faces are polished and
are called refracting surfaces. The angle between these two
rectangular faces is called the refractive angle of the prism. Prisms are
made in different shapes depending on the application.
Types of Prisms
There are several types of prisms and they include;

Rectangular Prism
A rectangular prism also known as a cuboids is a 3-dimensional solid
object that has six faces that are all rectangles, this is also where it
gets its name from.

Triangular Prism
A triangular prism is a prism composed of two triangular bases and
three rectangular sides.

Square Prism
A square prism or commonly known as a cube is a three dimensional
solid object that has six identical square faces joined along their
identical sides.
Pentagonal Prisms
The pentagonal prism is a prism that has a 5 sided polygon also
known as a pentagon as its base and five rectangular sides.

Hexagonal Prism
The hexagonal prism is a prism that has a 6 sided polygon also known
as a hexagon as its base and six rectangular sides.
 Terms Related to Prisms
1. Refraction: Refraction is the change in direction of a wave
passing from one medium to another caused by its change in speed.

2. Laws of refraction:
The First Law: The incident ray, the refracted ray, and the normal at
the point of incidence, all lie in the same plane

The Second Law: The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence 'i' to
the sin of the angle of refraction 'r' is constant for the pair of given
media is always constant
3. Refractive Index (denoted by μ): Refractive Index
(Index of Refraction) is a value calculated from the ratio of the speed
of light in a vacuum to that in a second medium of greater density.

4. Angle of Incidence: The angle between a ray incident on a

surface and the line perpendicular to the surface at the point of
incidence

5. Angle of Deviation: The angle between the direction of the

refracted ray and the direction of the incident ray when a ray of light
passes from one medium to another.
4.Minimum Deviation: Angle of incidence where the angle of
deviation in a prism is minimum is called the minimum deviation
position of the prism and that very deviation angle is known as the
minimum angle of deviation

7. Dispersion: Dispersion is defined as the spreading of white

light into its full spectrum of wavelengths. More technically,
dispersion occurs whenever the propagation of light depends on
wavelength
 Experiment

AIM:
To find out the refractive indices of different liquids using a hollow
prism

MATERIALS REQUIRED:
●Hollow glass prism
●Drawing board
●Pins
●Metre scale
●Protractor
●Sheets of white paper
●Various liquids: -
Water
Acid
Vegetable oil
THEORY:
A prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces
that refract light. Prisms can be made from any material that is
transparent including glass, plastic and fluorite. A prism can be used
to break light up into its constituent spectral colours. Prisms can also
be used to reflect light, or to split light into components with different
polarizations.

The refractive index of the liquid Is given by the formula:

U=sini/sinr
=sin((a+d)/2)/sin(a/2)
Where,
U=refractive index of the liquid.
a= the angle of minimum deviation
d=angle of prism
i=angle of incidence
r=angle of refraction

Procedure:
●Fix a white sheet of paper on the drawing board with help of
drawing pins.
●Keep the prism and mark the outline of it as ABC.
●Drop a normal PQ on the side AB.
●Draw the angle of incidence in accordance with the normal PQ and
place 2 pins so that they appear to be in the straight line.
●Place the prism filled with given sample of liquid, on the marked
outline ABC.
●Now take the pins and place them on the side AC so that all the 4
pins appear to be in same line.
●Remove the prism and draw the line joining the points so obtained.
●Mark the diagram as shown in the figure.
●Repeat this with different liquids and different angle of incidence.

Observations
For Vegetable Oil
Sl.no Angle of prism Angle of Incidence(I) Angle of Deviation (D)
1. 60° 35o 37o
2. 60° 40o 34o
3. 60° 45o 34o
4. 60° 55o 35o

For Dil. Sulphuric Acid

Sl.no Angle of prism Angle of Incidence(I) Angle of Deviation (D)
1. 60° 20o 33o
2. 60° 30o 30o
3. 60° 35o 25o
4. 60° 45o 30o

For Acetic Acid (Vinegar)

Sl.no Angle of prism Angle of Incidence(I) Angle of Deviation (D)
1. 60° 35o 26o
2. 60° 40o 25o
3. 60° 45o 23.5o
4. 60° 55o 28o

Calculations –
Refractive index of liquids –
Angle of prism (A) = 60°
Formula used: µ= {sin ((A + Dm)/2)}/{sin (A/2)}

 For Vegetable Oil –

The angle of minimum deviation= 35°
Therefore µ = {sin((60+35)/2)}/sin(30)
= 1.474

 For Dil. Sulphuric Acid –

The angle of minimum deviation=29.5°
 Therefore µ = {sin((60+29.5)/2)}/sin(30)
= 1.408

 For Vinegar–
The angle of minimum deviation=25.6°
Therefore µ = {sin(60+25.6)/2}/sin(30)
= 1.358

The refractive indices of the following –

1. Vegetable Oil
 Actual: 1.47
 Experimental: 1.474

2. Dil. Sulphuric Acid

 Actual: 1.43
 Experimental: 1.408

3. Vinegar
 Actual = Not specified
 Experimental = 1.358
RESULT –
The angle of deviation first decreases with increase in angle of
incidence attains a minimum value and then increases with further
increase in angle of incidence.

 For Vegetable Oil –

The angle of minimum deviation= 35°

Angle Of Deviati on(D)

37.5
37
36.5
36
35.5
35
34.5
34
33.5
33
32.5
30 35 40 45 50 55 60

 For Dil. Sulphuric Acid –

The angle of minimum deviation=29.5°

Angle Of Deviati on(D)

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
  For Vinegar–
The angle of minimum deviation=25.6°

Angle Of Deviati on(D)

29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
30 35 40 45 50 55 60

CONCLUSION –
By increasing the angle of incidence, the angle of deviation first
decreases and reaches a minimum value and then starts increasing

Precautions
 35°-60° is the angle of incidence that needs to be maintained.
 The placement of the pins must be vertical.
 The placement of two pins should be such that the distance is
not more than 10mm.
 To represent incident and emergent rays, arrowheads must be
marked.
 The angle of prism used should be the same for all the
observations.
Sources of Error
 The pricks made by the pins might be thick.
 Angles might go wrong while measuring them.

Bibliography
1. Byjus.com
2. Stats.blue
3. Wikipedia.com
4. Britannica.com