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    cholly17
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    The document describes an experiment to measure the index of refraction of an acrylic block using Snell's law. Samples of a laser beam passing through the acrylic at different angles were measured. The index of refraction was calculated for each sample and the average was determined to be 1.466. The experiment proved the validity of Snell's law and showed that light bends toward the normal when entering a denser medium and away from the normal when exiting a denser medium.

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    The document describes an experiment to measure the index of refraction of an acrylic block using Snell's law. Samples of a laser beam passing through the acrylic at different angles were measured. The index of refraction was calculated for each sample and the average was determined to be 1.466. The experiment proved the validity of Snell's law and showed that light bends toward the normal when entering a denser medium and away from the normal when exiting a denser medium.

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    23 views6 pages

    Refraction

    Uploaded by

    cholly17
    The document describes an experiment to measure the index of refraction of an acrylic block using Snell's law. Samples of a laser beam passing through the acrylic at different angles were measured. The index of refraction was calculated for each sample and the average was determined to be 1.466. The experiment proved the validity of Snell's law and showed that light bends toward the normal when entering a denser medium and away from the normal when exiting a denser medium.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 6

    Photonics

    Page 1 of 6

    Law of refraction

    Photonics

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    Law of refraction
    Objective: Observe and measure the index of refraction of an acrylic block using Snells Law.

    Equipment: -Industrial Laser -Acrylic block -Protractor Introduction: The laws of physics have shown that as a wave enters a more dens medium the light is impeded by the density of the second medium. This causes the wave to bend toward the normal. As the wave leaves the more dense medium the inverse is observed and the wave increases in speed. Snells law maybe used to predict the angle of diffraction as the medium enters or leaves the medium. refraction index 1*sin(theta1) = refraction Index 2 *sin(theta2) Procedure: Samples of an incident laser was taken at different angles to calculate the indexed of refraction of a transparent acrylic block. The path of the laser light was plotted on a piece of paper by drawing a dot at two points on the incident wave and the exiting wave which was visible as read light. The interface between the two mediums where the beam entered the acrylic block was taken as the normal and drawn perpendicular to the blocks surface as shown in the figures that follow. Results:

    Sample 1.

    Photonics

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    Sample 2.

    Photonics

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    Sample 3.

    Photonics

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    As shown above measurements of the incident and exit angles was taken relative to the normal. By using a protractor and applying geometric rules the angles where deduced. The refraction index for each sample was calculated and an averaging was used to determine the average index of refraction of the acrylic block as 1.466. Conclusion: It is possible to measure the index of refraction of transparent objects using relatively simple procedures. This data is very interesting and maybe used to determine the destination or crystal structure of transparent materials. It also proves the validity of Snells law and the general rule of geometry. Questions: 1. What was your average index of refraction? 1.466 2. What was the speed of light in the acrylic? 3. At the air/acrylic interface, light was bent __toward_________________ (toward/away from) the normal.

    Photonics

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    4. At the acrylic/air interface, light was bent __away from_________________ (toward/away from) the normal. 5. By calculation, determine the incident angle at the second interface required to have the refracted beam parallel to the interface (refraction angle = 90o). 6. Using your results and some algebra, determine the relationship between the input and output angles of the rectangular acrylic plate.

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