Lab Report 1

Part 1: No. 2

   Snell’s Law experiment

22, April 2021.

Objectives

 To investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence,i and the angle of
refraction, r when light passing through medium of different optical densities.
 To determine the refractive index of glass, n2 .

Introduction

When a light ray travels to mediums of different densities, the speed and direction will
change. The light that travels from a medium of less density to a denser medium will be
“bended” or refracted. Refraction could be defined as the change of direction of light ray and
its velocity when travelling through medium of different optical densities. The speed of light in
vacuum is 300,000 km/s, while in clear glass is 200,000 km/s.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows a light ray travelling from a medium with lower density to a higher density
where n1 <n 2 .

The light ray bends nearing the normal line when travelling from air to the glass block
because the speed of light decrease. Therefore, the refraction angle, r is smaller.

The relationship between the incidence angle,i and the refraction angle,r can be explained by
Snell’s law of refraction. Snell’s law of refraction relates the relationship of the sin of
incidence angle and refraction angle with the refraction index for each material.

sin i n2
=
sin r n1

n2 sin i=n2 sin r

 n1 = the refractive index of medium 1
n2 = the refractive index of medium 2
i= angle of incidence
r = angle of refraction
The angles should be measured from the normal line to the light ray. From the experiment,
medium 1 is air while medium 2 is glass. The refractive index of medium 2 can be calculated
from sin i and sin r measured. The experiment is repeated 3 times to get a consistent data
and reduce the systematic errors from the instruments.

Experimental procedure/ setup

Apparatus :

A glass block, A laser pointer, A white paper, A ruler, A pencil, A protractor,

Procedure :

Figure 2

1. The apparatus is set up similar to Figure 2.

2. The glass block is placed on a white paper and the outline of the glass block is
drawn by using a pencil.
3. The glass block is removed. The normal line is drawn on a white A4 paper at point
A and P. By using a protractor, the angle of incidence are marked

i=100 , 200 ,30 0 , 400 ,500 ¿ 600 from the normal line.
4. The glass block is put on its position.
 5. A light ray is pointed towards the glass block with an angle of 100from the normal
by using a laser pointer.
6. The refracted ray, r is marked.
7. The glass block is removed. Then, a straight line is drawn from point O to point P.
8. The refraction angle, r is measured by using a protractor and the reading is
recorded.
9. The steps are repeated from step 5 to 8 with increment of angle of incidence,

i=200 , 300 , 400 , 500 ¿ 60 0.

Results and Analysis

Data

No. i(°) r (°) r 1 +r 2 +r 3 sin i sin r sini

r= n2 =
3 sin r
(± 0.5 °)
(± 0.5 °)

r1 r2 r3 (° )
1. 10.0 6.0 7.0 6.0 6.3± 0.7 0.1736 0.109 1.59
7 ± 0.07
2. 20.0 14.0 12.0 13.0 13.0±1.0 0.3420 0.225 1.52
0 ± 0.00
3. 30.0 19.0 18.5 19.0 18.8 ± 0.3 0.5000 0.322 1.55
3 ± 0.03
4. 40.0 24.0 25.0 26.0 25.0±1.0 0.6428 0.422 1.52
6 ± 0.01
5. 50.0 29.0 28.5 29.0 28.8±0.3 0.7660 0.482 1.59
2 ± 0.07
6. 60.0 35.5 36.0 36.0 35.7±0.3 0.8660 0.580 1.51
7 ± 0.01
Calculations

The value of refractive index for medium 2 can be calculated by using mean.

( 1.59+1.52+1.55+1.52+1.59+1.51 )
n2 =
6
n2 =1.55

The figure 3 below is the refractive index for the glass block. The value obtained from the calculation
will be compared to the theoritical value.

Figure 3

n2
Standard deviation, S for the = 0.03615

S ( 0.0362 )
Standard error = =
√( N ) √ ( 6 )

measured−expected 1.55−1.52
Accuracy Relative Error = = =0.02
expected 1.52

Graph

Centroid

3.2904 2.1470
=( , ¿=(0.5484 , 0.3571)
6 6

By using the least square method,

 ( 6 ) ( 1.4011 )− (3.2904 ) (2.1425 ) ( 2.1470 )( 2.1425 ) −( 3.2904 ) ( 1.4011 )
m= b=
( 6 ) ( 2.1470 )−( 3.2904 )2 6 ( 2.1470 )−( 3.2904 )2
m=0.660 b=−0.005

Error Analysis

( ( 6 )( 1.4010 ) −3.2904 ( 2.1425 ) )2

√
¿ ( 6 ) ( 0.9149 )−( 2.1425 ) −

¿ 0.064
2

6 ( 2.1470 )− ( 3.2904 )
2

∂b
∂m
0.064 ¿
√ ( ( 0.064 )( 2.1470 ) )
¿ 2

√ 4 [ 6 ( 2.1470 )− (3.2904 )2 ] √6 ( 4 ) [ 6 ( 2.1470 )− (3.2904 ) ]

¿ 0.053
¿ 0.02
Discussion

At first I could not find the refractive ray, r on the glass block because the ray is weak. Then,
the experiment is conducted in a dark place for a better measurement. As the experiment is
conducted on our own, the apparatus are not specifically used for experimental purposes.
Hence, there are a few variables needed to take care of such as the source of light, the angle
of incident ray and how to take accurate measurement. The apparatus used also might lack
in sensitivity causing undetected calibration error.

The standard deviation calculated for the data is 0.0362, which is quite low shows that the
value is precise. The standard error is 0.01 shows that the mean obtained is close to the
mean calculated. Mean while, the value from the experiment is 2% lower than theoritical
value. The theoritical value is 1.52. Whereas, the value obtained is 1.55 with with 95%
confidence level. Thus, I could assume that the data obtained is quite accurate and precise.

For graphical analysis, the graph of sin i and sin r is a linear graph. Sin i is directly
proportional to sin r. From the calculation, the y-intercept is -0.005 which can be considered
as a graph passing through the origin. The error for y-intercept is 0.053 from standard
deviation. The gradient of graph,m is 0.660 with relative error of 0.02. The error bar is 0.01.
Almost all points plotted are placed around the straight line.

The error can be reduced with actual apparatus used in Snell’s law experiment. The
experiment is repeated 3 times to get multiple measurements hence reducing operational
and personal errors especially parallax error.

The snell law is used to measure the direction of light ray when it goes through medium with
different optical densities. The higher the refractive index, the lower the speed of ray across
the medium. From the experiment, the light goes from a medium with less optical density to a
medium with high optical density. Hence, the refraction angle, r measured is lesser that the
incidence angle,i. Fiber optics is one of the application for Snell’s Law. Data transmission at
a very high speed is possible because of light refraction occurs in fiber optics.

Conclusion

The refractive index of a glass is 1.52 while the obtained value is 1.55 which is 2% lower
than theoritical value. The incidence angle and refractive angle must be measured
repeatedly to get a consistent value within the range. I can conclude that the experiment is
suitable to estimate the type of material by using Snell’s law of refraction but not that
accurate to measure the value of the refractve index. This is because a change of 0.1 in data
could change the type of material. The refraction angle, r measured is lesser that the
incidence angle,i because the light goes from a medium with less optical density to a medium
with high optical density. The value of refractive index will also increase when the optical
density increase.

Reference

Chia Song Choy, Koay Kheng Chuan, Dr. Ooi Hean Beng, Mohd Khairul Anuar bin Md
Mustafa, & Rema Ragavan. (2019). Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah Physics
Form 4. Shah Alam, Selangor: Sasbadi SDN BHD.
Libretexts. (2020, October 21). Snell's law. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from
https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Materials_Science/Supplemental_Modules_(Mat
erials_Science)/Optical_Properties/Snell's_Law#:~:text=A%20very%20important
%20application%20of,transmission%20in%20high%20speed%20servers.&text=In
%20step%2Dindex%20fibers%2C%20there,glass%20fiber%20and%20its%20cladding.
Sample Lab Report. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2021, from
https://www.baylor.edu/physics/doc.php/110769.pdf