KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA

IIT KHARAGPUR
PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

Name- Rohit Sasmal

Class- XII-B
Roll No- 12214
Session- 2023-24

TOPIC: To Find The Refractive Index of Water, Oil Using A

Plane Mirror and A Equiconvex Lens and An Adjustable Object
Needle.
 Contents
• Certificate.
• Acknowledgement.
• Aim
• Apparatus Required
• Theory
• Procedure
• Observation
• Calculation
• Precaution
• Bibliography
 Certificate
This is to certify that this “Mathematics Investigatory
Project” on the topic “To Find the Refractive Index of
Water, Oil Using A Plane Mirror and A Equiconvex Lens
and An Adjustable Object Needle” has been successfully
completed by Shrivali Sahoo of class XII-B under the
guidance of Mr. Tapan Kar (PGT Physics). This project
work was carried out in accordance with the requirement
of the Physics investigatory project for the session 2023-
24.

Principal Mr. Tapan Kar

KV IIT Kharagpur KV IIT Kharagpur
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Kendriya
Vidyalaya Sangathan and Central Board of Secondary
Education for providing us the opportunity to carry out
this investigatory project.
I am grateful to our Principal and our Physics teacher who
guided me and made me self-efficient to complete the
project.
I would also like to thank my parents, friends and
Vidyalaya staff for their help in making our project
successful.
A

Introduction
Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another
with a different optical density. The refractive index (or index of refraction)
is a dimensionless number that characterizes how much a particular substance
can bend or refract light. It is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in a
vacuum to the speed of light in the medium of interest.
The formula for the refractive index (n) is given by:
c
n= v

where:
- n is the refractive index, - v is the speed of light in the medium
- c is the speed of light in a vacuum (approximately 3.00 x 108 m/s),
The refractive index determines the degree to which light slows down or
speeds up when entering a different medium. The higher the refractive index,
the slower light travels in that medium. Different materials have different
refractive indices, and this property is crucial in optics, explaining
phenomena like the bending of light in lenses, the creation of rainbows, and
the operation of optical fibers.
 AIM
To find the refractive indexes of (a) water (b) oil using a
plane mirror, an equiconvex lens, and an adjustable object
needle

APPARATUS
 Convex Lens
 Plane Mirror
 Water
 Oil
 Clamp Stand
 An Optical Needle
 Plumb Line
 Knitting Needle
 Half Metre Scale
 Glass Slab
 Spherometer
DIAGRAM

THEORY
If f 1 and f 2 be the focal length of the glass convex lens and liquid lens, and F
be the focal length of their combination, then:-
1 1 1 Ff1
= +
F f1 f2 or f 2 =
f 1−F

Liquid lens formed a Plano-concave lens with R1=R and R2=¿∞, then by
using lens make’s formula,
1
f2
=( n−1 )
1
−
[
1
R1 R2 ] [
=( n−1 )
1 1
R1 ∞ ] 1
[ ]
− =( n−1 ) −0 =
R
( n−1 )
R

R
 n= f 2
+1

Where,
n = Refractive index of liquid
R = Radius of the curvature of the convex lens
The radius of the lower surface of the convex lens is given by
2
l h
R= +
6h 2

Where,
l = average distance between the legs of the spherometer
h = difference in the readings of the spherometer when placed first on the
convex lens and then on plane mirror

PROCEDURE
(a) For focal length of convex lens
1. Find the rough focal length of the convex lens
2. Place a plane mirror on the horizontal base of the iron stand
and then a convex lens on the plane mirror
3. Hold the needle in the clamp stand and adjust its position on
the stand such that there is no parallax between tip of the
needle and its image.
4. Measure distance between tip and upper surface of the lens
by using a plumb line and half metre scale. Also, measure the
distance between tip of the needle and upper surface of
mirror. Take the mean of the two readings. This means
distance will be equal to the focal length of the convex lens (
f 1).

(b) For focal length of the combination

5. Put a few drops of the water on the plane mirror and put the
convex lens over it with its same face above as before. The
water spreads in a form of layer and acts like a plano-concave
lens.
6. Repeat the steps 3-4 to determine the equivalent focal length
of the combination
7. Record the observation
8. Repeat the steps 5-7 for other transparent liquid (oil).

(c) For radius of curvature of convex lens

surface
9. Determine the pitch and the least count of the spherometer.
10. Remove the convex lens and dry it completely. Put the
spherometer on this lens surface.
11. All the three legs of the spherometer should be placed
symmetrically on the lens and adjust the central screw tip to
touch the surface of the lens.
12. Remove the spherometer from the surface of the lens
and place on the plane mirror surface and record the reading
13. Repeat the steps 10-11 for three times
14. Obtain the impression of the three legs of the
spherometer on a paper and mark them and their average
distance.
l 1+ l2 +l 3
l=
3

OBSERVATION
PRECAUTIONS
 The plane mirror should be clean and fully shining surface
 The liquid taken should be transparent
 The parallax should be removed tip to tip
 The eye should be at a distance about 30cm from the needle
while removing the parallax
 Only few drops of liquid should be taken so that its layer
should be thick
 The legs of the spherometer should be vertical
 The centre leg of the spherometer should turn in one
direction only.

SOURCES OF
ERROR
 Liquid may not be quite transparent
 The parallax may not be fully removed
 The spherometer legs should be placed symmetrically on the
surface of the convex lens
 The tip of the central screw should not just touch the surface
of lens or mirror
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 NCERT Textbook
 NCERT Physics Lab Manual
 Scribd.com
 Wikipedia.com
 Encyclopedia.com