PRUDENCE SCHOOL

GRADE- 10
PHYSICS PRACTICAL

Experiment- 1

Aim
To determine the focal length of Concave mirror by obtaining the image of a distant object.

 Convex lens by obtaining the image of a distant object.

Materials Required
 A concave mirror

 A measuring scale

 A screen holder

 A mirror holder

 A mirror stand

Theory
Following are the ways to obtain the focal length of the concave mirror:

 A concave mirror is defined as the spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved inwards and
follows laws of reflection of light.

 The light rays coming from a distant object can be considered to be parallel to each other.

 If the image formed is real, inverted and very small in size, then the parallel rays of light meet the
point in the front of the mirror.

 The image formed by the convex lens is real and can be obtained on the screen.

 f is used to denote the difference between the principal axis P and the focus F of the concave
mirror.

Procedure
1. The distance between the selected distinct object should be more than 50 ft.
 2. The concave mirror placed on the mirror stand and the distant object should be facing each other.

3. The screen should be placed in front of the reflecting surface of the mirror. To obtain a clear, sharp
image the screen should be adjusted.

4. Using a metre scale the distance between the concave mirror and screen can be determined. The
distance is the same as the focal length of the given concave mirror.

5. Repeat the above procedure thrice to calculate the average focal length.

Result
__________________ is the focal length of the concave mirror.

Precautions
1. To get a well illuminated and distinct image of the distinct object, the distant object should be well
illuminated.

2. A concave mirror should be always placed near an open window.

3. The polished surface of the concave mirror and the distinct object should be facing each other.

4. There should not be any hurdle between the rays of light from the object and the concave mirror.

5. The screen and the concave mirror stand should be parallel to the measuring scale.

6. The mirror holder along with the mirror should be perpendicular to the measuring scale.

To determine focal length of a convex lens

Materials Required
1. A wooden bench

2. A convex lens

3. A lens holder

4. A screen fixed to a stand

5. A measuring scale

Theory

How to Find the Focal Length of Convex Lens?

Following are the ways to obtain the focal length of convex lens:

 The convex lens is thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges and is also known as the
converging lens.
  The refracted rays from the parallel beam of light converge on the other side of the convex lens.

 If the image is obtained at the focus of the lens, the image would be real, inverted and very small.

 f is the focal length which is the difference between the optical centre of the lens and the principal
focus.

 The image can be obtained on the screen as the image formed by the lens is real.

Experimental Setup

Procedure
1. Without disturbing the lens and screen, arrange both of them on the wooden bench.

2. Place the lens on the holder facing a distant object.

3. Place the holder with the screen on the bench.

4. The position of the screen should be such that the sharp image of the distant object is obtained on
it.

5. The difference between the position of the lens and the screen is equal to the focal length of the
given convex lens.

6. Now shift the focus to towards various other distant object and calculate the focal length of the
convex lens.

Result
-------------------is the focal length of the convex lens.

Precautions
1. The placing of the convex lens should be vertical.
 2. There should not be any hurdle between the rays of light from the object and the convex lens.

3. To get a well illuminated and distinct image of the distinct object, the distant object should be well
illuminated.

4. The convex lens stand and the screen should be parallel to the measuring scale.
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Experiment- 2

Aim
To trace the path of a ray of light passing through a rectangular glass slab for different angles of incidence.
Measure the angle of incidence, angle of refraction, and angle of emergence, and interpret the result.

Theory
What are the laws of refraction?
Following are the laws of refraction:

 The incident ray, the normal at the point of incidence, and the refracted ray lie in the same plane.

 Snell’s law states that the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of
refraction is constant.

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What is refraction of light?

The refraction of light is a property of light due to which it changes its path when it passes from one
medium to the other.

What is lateral displacement?

Lateral displacement is defined as the perpendicular shift in the path of light when it emerges out from the
refracting medium.

Materials Required
1. A drawing board
 2. 4-6 all pins

3. White sheet of paper

4. Rectangular glass slab

5. A protractor

6. A scale

7. A pencil

8. Thumb pins

Procedure
1. Fix a white sheet on the soft drawing board using thumb pins.

2. Place the glass slab at the centre of the white paper and draw its outline boundary using a sharp
pencil.

3. Let ABCD be the rectangular figure obtained by drawing.

4. Mark a point E on AB and draw a perpendicular EN and label it as a normal ray.

5. Draw one angle of 30° with the help of protractor with EN. Fix pins at P and Q at 4-5 cm on the ray
that is obtained by the angle.

6. Place the glass slab on the rectangular figure ABCD.

7. To fix R and S, see through the glass slab from side CD, such that when seen through the glass
slab, all the pins P, Q, R, and S should lie in a straight line.

8. Draw small circles around the pins P, Q, R and S and remove the pins.
 9. Remove the glass slab.

10. Join points R and S such that it meets CD at point F. Draw a perpendicular N’M’ to CD at point F.

11. Using a pencil, join the points E and F.

12. Measure the angles formed at AB and CD, i.e, the incident angle, refracted angle, and emergent
angle.

13. The lateral displacement is obtained by extending the ray PQ in a dotted line which is parallel to ray
FRS.

14. Measure the lateral displacement.

15. Repeat the same procedure for angles 45° and 60°.

Conclusion
1. The angle of incidence and the angle of emergence are almost equal.

2. As the light is traveling from rarer to denser optical medium, the angle of refraction will be lesser
than the angle of incidence.

3. For different angles of incidence, the lateral displacement will remain the same.

4. The light will bend towards the normal when it travels from an optically rarer medium to an
optically denser medium.

Experiment- 3

Aim
To trace the path of the rays of light through a glass prism.

Theory
A prism is defined as a polyhedron with a triangular base and three rectangular lateral surfaces. It is used
as an optical object to study the behaviour of white light when it is passed through it. The light bends at
various angles like an angle of incidence, angle of reflection, angle of refraction, and angle of deviation.

Materials Required
Following are the list of materials required for this experiment:

 A white sheet

 Soft board

 Thumb pins
  4-6 all pins

 Prism

 Pencil

 Scale

 Protractor

 Drawing board

Procedure
1. Fix a white sheet on a drawing board using drawing pins.

2. Place the triangular prism resting on its triangular base. Using a pencil, draw the outline of the
prism.

3. Draw NEN normal to the face of the prism AB. Make an angle between 30° and 60° with the normal.

4. On the line PE, fix two pins at a distance of 5cm from each other and mark these as P and Q.

5. Look for the images of the pins at P and Q through the other face of the prism AC.

6. Fix two pins at R and S such that they appear as a straight line as that of the P and Q when it is
viewed from the AC face of the prism.

7. Remove the pins and the prism.

8. At point F, make the points R and S meet by extending them.

9. PQE is the incident ray which is extended till it meets face AC. SRF is the emergent ray which is
extended backward to meet at point G.

10. Now mark the angle of incidence ∠i, angle of refraction ∠r and the angle of emergence ∠e and the
angle of deviation ∠D as shown in the experimental setup.

11. Repeat the experiment for more angles between 30° and 60°.

Observations
1. At surface AB, the light ray enters and bends towards the normal on refraction.
 2. At surface AC, the light ray bends away from the normal as it travels from one medium (glass) to
the other (air).

3. The angle of deviation is observed. Here, the emergent ray bends at an angle from the direction of
the incident ray.

Conclusion
1. The incident ray bends towards the normal when it enters the prism and while leaving the prism it
bends away from the normal.

2. With the increase in the angle of incidence, the angle of deviation decreases. After attaining the
minimum value, it increases with an increase in the angle of incidence.

Precautions
 For drawing the boundary of the prism, a sharp pencil should be used.

 Soft board and pointed pins should be used.

 The distance between the pins should be 5cm or more.

 The pins should be fixed vertically and should be encircled when they are removed from the board.

 The angle of incidence should be between 30° and 60°.

 The arrows drawn for incident ray, reflected ray and emergent ray should be proper.

 For viewing the col-linearity of all four pins and images, the head should be slightly tilted on either
side. While doing this it can appear as if all are moving together.