Bending of light

By P. Lamichhane

Name:
Partner’s Name(s):
Date:

Objective:
The objectives of this lab activities are :

 To study the law of reflection and refraction of light using different media
 To study the phenomenon and condition of total internal reflection
 To observe the dispersion of light by prism and refraction of light by different kinds of lens

Introduction:
The law of reflection of light states that when light bounces off from a surface, the angle of reflection is
always equal to angle of incidence. Additionally, incident ray, reflected ray and normal all lie in the same
plane.

The law of refraction of light states that, when a ray of light passes from one medium to another
medium, light bends towards or away from the normal. When a light ray passes from a rarer medium to

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the denser medium, light ray bends towards the normal. When light ray passes from denser to rare
medium, it bends away from the normal. The Snell’s law for refraction is given by :

Picture Copyright to Britannica https://www.britannica.com/science/light/Reflection-and-refraction

n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

Where, n1 is the refractive index of one medium and θ1is the angle of incidence. Similarly, n2 is the
refractive index of another medium and θ2 is the angle of refraction.

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Picture Copy right to http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/teach_res/hsp/sp/mod31/m31_rays.htm

When a ray of white light passes through a prism, it is separated into its component colors. This
separation of visible light into seven colors is known as dispersion.

Procedure :

Go to https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/bending-light and open the Bending Light Sim. Click on

Intro. Press the red button to turn on laser which passes from one medium to another and learn how
you can move the protractor and how to measure incident angles, reflected angles and refracted angles.

For each scenario, select the top and bottom material as specified in each data table. Record the index
of refraction, n, for each material in the data table. Choose two incident angles between 5 o – 85o for
each scenario, and record the incident, reflected, and refracted angles in the table.
After filing in the table, draw the rays as they are in the sim. The following picture shows the simulation
page.

STUDY OF LAW OF REFLECTION OF LIGHT

Top Material: Air Top Index of Refraction (n): _____________

Bottom Material: Water Bottom Index of Refraction (n): _____________
1. Flash the light at certain angle (with certain angle of incidence) so that light gets reflected and
bounce back to the same medium with certain angle of reflection.
2. After you complete the predictions, you can observe using the protractor and provide the
observed refracted angle.
Trials Incident Angle ( Predicted Reflected Observed Reflected Comments
θ1 ¿ Angle (θ2 ¿ Angle( θ2 ¿
1

3
 2
3
4
5

3. Draw the ray diagram here for at least two different incident angles. Just focus on the incident
ray and reflected ray NOT the refracted ray, we will study law of refraction later on.

STUDY OF LAW OF REFRACTION OF LIGHT

Top Material: Air Top Index of Refraction (n): _____________

Bottom Material: Water Bottom Index of Refraction (n): _____________
1. Flash the light at certain angle so that light gets refracted and passes from one medium to
another medium. Do it for 5 different incident angles.
Use the equations n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2
−1
Use the equation to predict for θ2=sin ¿

2. After you complete the predictions, you can observe using the protractor and provide the
observed refracted angle.

Trials Incident Angle ( Predicted Observed Comments

θ1 ¿ Reflected Angle ( Refracted Angle(
θ2 ¿ θ2 ¿
1

2
3
4
5

3. Draw the ray diagram here for at least two different incident angles.

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STUDY OF LAW OF REFRACTION OF LIGHT

Top Material: Air Top Index of Refraction (n): _____________

Bottom Material: Glass Bottom Index of Refraction (n): _____________
1. Flash the light at certain angle so that light gets refracted and passes from one medium to
another medium. Do it for 5 different incident angles.
Use the equations n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

Use the equation to predict for θ2=sin−1 ¿

2. After you complete the predictions, you can observe using the protractor and provide the
observed refracted angle.
Trials Incident Angle ( Predicted Observed Comments
θ1 ¿ Reflected Angle ( Refracted Angle(
θ2 ¿ θ2 ¿
1

2
3
4
5

3. Draw the ray diagram here for at least two different incident angles.

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STUDY OF LAW OF REFRACTION OF LIGHT

Top Material: Water Top Index of Refraction (n): _____________

Bottom Material: Glass Bottom Index of Refraction (n): _____________
1. Flash the light at certain angle so that light gets refracted and passes from one medium to
another medium. Do it for 5 different incident angles.
Use the equations n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

Use the equation to predict for θ2=sin−1 ¿

2. After you complete the predictions, you can observe using the protractor and provide the
observed refracted angle.
Trials Incident Angle ( Predicted Observed Comments
θ1 ¿ Reflected Angle ( Refracted Angle(
θ2 ¿ θ2 ¿
1

2
3
4
5

3. Draw the ray diagram here for at least two different incident angles.

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STUDY OF LAW OF REFRACTION OF LIGHT

Top Material: Water Top Index of Refraction (n): _____________

Bottom Material: Air Bottom Index of Refraction (n): _____________
1. Flash the light at certain angle so that light gets refracted and passes from one medium to
another medium. Do it for 5 different incident angles.
Use the equations n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

Use the equation to predict for θ2=sin−1 ¿

2. After you complete the predictions, you can observe using the protractor and provide the
observed refracted angle.

Trials Incident Angle ( Predicted Observed Comments

θ1 ¿ Reflected Angle ( Refracted Angle(
θ2 ¿ θ2 ¿
1

2
3
4
5

3. Draw the ray diagram here for at least two different incident angles.

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STUDY OF LAW OF REFRACTION OF LIGHT

Top Material: Glass Top Index of Refraction (n): _____________ Bottom Material: Air
Bottom Index of Refraction (n): _____________
1. Flash the light at certain angle so that light gets refracted and passes from one medium to
another medium. Do it for 5 different incident angles.
Use the equations n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

Use the equation to predict for θ2=sin−1 ¿

2. After you complete the predictions, you can observe using the protractor and provide the
observed refracted angle.

Trials Incident Angle ( Predicted Observed Comments

θ1 ¿ Reflected Angle ( Refracted Angle(
θ2 ¿ θ2 ¿
1

2
3
4
5

3. Draw the ray diagram here for at least two different incident angles.

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STUDY OF LAW OF REFRACTION OF LIGHT
Top Material: Glass Top Index of Refraction (n): _____________
Bottom Material: Water Bottom Index of Refraction (n): _____________
1. Flash the light at certain angle so that light gets refracted and passes from one medium to
another medium. Do it for 5 different incident angles.
Use the equations n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

Use the equation to predict for θ2=sin−1 ¿

2. After you complete the predictions, you can observe using the protractor and provide the
observed refracted angle.

Trials Incident Angle ( Predicted Observed Comments

θ1 ¿ Reflected Angle ( Refracted Angle(
θ2 ¿ θ2 ¿
1

2
3
4
5

3. Draw the ray diagram here for at least two different incident angles.

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Based on your data in the data tables, what patterns do you observe? Write at least three summary
statements.

Total Internal reflection:

Flash the light at certain angle so that light gets refracted and passes from one medium to another
medium with refracted angle is 900.

Use the equations n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2

−1
Use the equation to predict for θ1=sin ¿

When you plug θ2= 900 , corresponding value for θ1is called critical angle. When you increase the
incident angle, the ray undergoes total internal reflection.

Predict the critical angle for the following condition and check the predicted angle using the simulation.
Make sure to provide necessary screen shot here.

1. Glass – water interface ( rays pass from Glass to Water)

Predicted θ1for critical angle = θC = _____________

2. Glass – air interface (rays pass from Glass to air)

Predicted θ1for critical angle = θC = _____________

3. Water to air interface ( rays pass from Water to air)

Predicted θ1for critical angle = θC = _____________

After you complete the predictions, you can observe using the protractor and provide the observed
refracted angle.

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 Trials Predicted Angle ( Observed Angle ( Comments
θC ¿ θC ¿
Glass – water
interface
Glass – air
interface
Water to air
interface

Discussion questions: Is it possible for total internal reflection if light passes from air to Glass, why or
why not? Provide answer with reasons:

Prepare a formal lab report, attach this worksheet as well and submit online.

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