Reflection and Refraction of Light and Color Observations:

Purpose: To illustrate some of the properties of light

Theory:
The
electromagnetic
spectrum
includes all
radiation from
radio waves,
microwaves, infrared (IR), visible light, ultraviolet (UV), X-
rays, and gamma rays. The sun emits radiation in the UV,
visible, and IR. Each section of the spectrum is measured in
nanometers (nm).

Visible light (the light

can be detected by the
human retina) ranges
from 400nm (blue) to
700nm (red). A mixture
of different light waves
(or equivalently, a
mixture of photons with
different energies) is called a spectrum. Each spectrum of light
has a different biological activity. In this lab we will study the
spectrum and the atomic emission of visible light.

Our eyes are ideally adapted for the light produced by the sun
during daylight hours. Human eyes have receptors that receive
light for day vision (with a maximum absorption at 555 nm),
night vision (maximum absorption at 500 nm) and circadian
response (480 nm). White light from the sun is a composite of
all visible light particles.

We can simplify the radiation curve of visible light emitted by

the sun and divide it into three regions:
a. Photons of highest energy (blue), which have the shortest
wavelength.
b. Photons of medium energy (green), with an intermediate
wavelength.
c. Photons of lowest energy (red), which have the longest
wavelength.
Three types of photoreceptors (cone cells) in our eyes perceive
color. When all three types of cones are stimulated equally, we
see white.

The following will be performed in this this:

1. Light Reflection:
a. Using the plane mirror, a converging lens, and a
diverging lens to measure incident (I) and
reflected (R) angles.
2. Light Refraction:
a. Using the semi-circular slab to measure incident
(i) and refracted (r) angles.
3. Two total internal reflections:
a. Isosceles triangle prism to trace the path of totally
reflected light.
4. Color Dispersion:
a. Equilateral prism to indicate the red, green, and blue
rays

Reflection I: Single Rays:

 Single Ray:
1. Project a single ray along the
paper, and mark its two ends.
2. Place the plane mirror halfway along this path, crossing it
at an angle

3. Mark the position of

a. The glass front of the mirror
b. The reflected ray (or rays) of light

4. Draw a line perpendicular

to the mirror at the point
40 4z
where the incident and —
reflected rays meet the
mirror face. THis line is
called the NORMAL to
the mirror at this point.
5. Measure the angle
between the INCIDENT RAY and the NORMAL: this is
the angle of incidence.
6. Measure the angle between the REFLECTED RAY and the
NORMAL: this is the angle of reflection.
7. Write your angle of incidence and angle of reflection in the
image on the right.

Reflection II: Divergent Rays:

1. Place a triple slot former in the narrow front slide of the
light box.
2. Using the setup shown below, project a set of diverging
rays on a white piece of paper and mark the ray paths.
一
 3. Place a plane mirror so that the rays meet it at angles that
are not 90 .
o

4. Mark the reflecting surface of the mirror and the paths of

the reflected rays.
5. Draw normals to the mirror surface at each point of the
reflection.
6. Measure the angle of incidence and angle of reflection at
each reflection point.

Draw your results as follows

Ray Angle of Incidence Angle of Reflection
3
U

A 3
B 33 3号
C 23 50
. 23 50
.

I. Is the angle of reflection greater than, less than, or

equal to the angle of incidence?
equal
II. Did the diverging rays remain diverging after
reflection?
yes
III. Do parallel rays remain parallel after reflection (Try
it and see)?
yes
。
 IV. Do converging rays remain converging after
reflection?

yes
Refraction I:
1. Aim a single beam at an angle of
90 at the center point of the flat
o

side of the semicircular slab.

2. Record the slab position and the ray path.
a. Is there any deflection in the beam? (if there is, the
angle is not 90 ) o

3. Move the slab so that the ray strikes

the same central point on the flat side
of the slab, but at an angle of 10 to o

the normal
4. Record the ray path into and out of the slab, so that when
the slab is removed the ray path through it can be clearly
seen.
5. Move the slab several times and record the new ray paths
(all entering the same place on the slab). If you have
colored pencils, record the different ray paths with different
colors.
What happens when a light ray: -

Passes from one medium (air) to another medium (acrylic

plastic) at an angle of 90 ? o

no refraceon
changc , n at
Passes as before but at an angle different than 90 ? (i.e. the
angleof
o

angle of incidence is not zero?)

90
.

there is a
Refraction II: Color Dispersion:
changebetween
the oath ol ray -

7
 1. Fit the slit former that gives a wide beam
2. Aim a single wide beam
through the equilateral
prism and adjust the
prism so that the
maximum deflection of
the ray is obtained. The
refracted beam should be colored.
3. Place a white card (or paper) in the path of the ray
a. Note that the original beam from the
light box is white and when it passes
through the prism, not only is it
refracted (i.e. deflected from its
original path) but is dispersed into various colors.
Such a spread of color caused by the dispersion of
white light is called a spectrum.
4. If more than red and blue are present (and they should be!)
make a list of the order in which they appear. If you have
colored pencils, then draw what you see like in the images
above!

5. Which color has the lowest frequency? The lowest energy?

red
6. Which has the highest frequency? The highest energy?

violet
7. Which color is refracted (deflected) the least?
red
8. Which color is refracted the most?vibleast tet rost
Is there a correlation between the energy (or frequency) of the
light and the amount of refraction?
leat is theleast morefefrat s.

mosre frequeny
 9. In your own words, what is the correlation?

proport , ond relatonship

Color Observation: Mixing Colored Lights:

For this part of the experiment, use the end of the light box as
well as the side positions. You will use the red, green, and blue
filters provided (for the best results, place the filters vertically in
the path of the beam).

1. With the lamp off, place the red filter on the

left side position, the green in the center
position, and the blue in the right side
position.
2. Close the hinged side mirrors.
3. Turn the lamp on.
4. Use white paper in the path of the beam. You should see a
green light.
5. Open the left side and open the right side. Blue light should
appear. As you keep opening the red and green light mix.
What is the resultant color?

RED + GREEN = orange

6. Close the left side and open the right side. Blue light should
appear. As you keep opening the blue and green light mix.

bluef lighe green

What is the resultant color?

GREEN + BLUE =
lighe
7. Now open the two sides simultaneously (approximately 45 o

angle each). You should see at least 5 colors. What is the

color that results when the three beams overlap each other?
RED + GREEN + BLUE = white
*NOTE:
White light from the sun is a composite of all the visible
frequencies. We can simplify the radiation curve of the sun and
divide it into three regions: a) the low frequency b) the middle
frequency and c) high frequency. Three types of cone receptors
in our eyes perceive color. Light in the lowest third of the
spectral distribution stimulates the cones sensitive to low
frequencies and appears red; light in the middle third of the
spectral distribution stimulates the mid-frequency-sensitive
cones and appears green; light in the high-frequency third
stimulates the higher-frequency-sensitive cones and appears
blue. When all three types of cones are stimulated equally, we
see white.

By adding various amounts of red, green, and blue - the colors

to which each of our three types of cones are sensitive - we can
produce any color in the spectrum!

If you closely examine the color on a television screen, you will

notice that the picture is an assemblage of tiny spots. When the
screen is lit some of the spots will be red, some green, and some
blue. A mixture of these three colors provides the complete
range of colors plus white.

Afterimages:

An afterimage is an optical illusion that occurs when looking

away after staring intently at certain images or colors. When an
object is observed closely for a long time, the light stimulating
the retina eventually causes the color-sensing cone cells in that
area to become fatigued, desensitizing that part of the retina.
After looking away from the image, the less-stimulated cones in
the affected area, which are not fatigue, still function. The
affected portion of the retina continues to produce the image for
up to 30 seconds, but because the stimulation comes from only
the less-fatigued cones, it is perceived as a negative image.

1. With one eye closed, the subject looks at a light through the
red transparent square. Classroom lights or light from a
window are sufficient.
2. After about 30 seconds, the subject shifts his or her gaze
from the red transparent square to a piece of blank white
paper.
3. The subject notes on the student data sheet what they saw
in question 1.
4. The subject repeats the process with the green transparent
square, using the opposite eye.
5. The subject again notes on the data sheet what they saw in
question 2.
6. With both eyes open, the subject focuses for 30 seconds on
one of the kings from the deck of illusion cards
7. The subject then looks at a piece of white paper.
8. The subject draws on the data sheet, in color, the image
seen on the white paper (question 4).
9. The subject repeats this procedure for the other three kings
(question 4).
10. Repeat the process until everyone in the group has been
tested.

Lab Questions:
1. What afterimages did you see after looking through the red
transparent square?
greensh
2. What afterimage did you see after looking through the
 green transparent square?
purple
3. Why do you think it was necessary to use different eyes to
look through the red and the green pieces of transparent
square?
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phenomenon kmown as color

mixing or addive Color

Color Vision: miainy
The retina of the eye possesses two types of specialized nerve
cells known as photoreceptors. These cells are called rods and
cones because of their distinctive shapes. Rod cells function in
dim light and perceive shades of gray, like what you see when
your eyes adjust to darkness. There are about 120 million rods in
each eye, located at the edge, or periphery, of the retina. Cones
function in bright light and provide sharp, colorful daylight
images. Human eyes contain about 6 million cones concentrated
around the center of each retina. As stated previously, there are
three different types of cones (red, green, blue), where each is
sensitive to a different range of wavelengths of light. These
cones function together to interpret colors other than red, green,
and blue. For instance, in order for the eye to see yellow light,
red cones and green cones must work together.

If any of the three types of cones are either not present or do not
function properly, color vision deficiency (i.e. color blindness)
occurs. Total color vision deficiency is rare, but partial color
vision deficiency is common, especially among men. This is
because the genes responsible for several of the more common
types of color blindness are on the X chromosome. Because
males (XY) only have one X chromosome, they are more likely
to be color blind, whereas females (XY) have an additional X
chromosome and are typically carriers without actual trait
expression. There are several types of color vision deficiencies,
but the most common type is red-green color blindness. This
deficiency occurs when red cones are missing or do not function
properly. A person with this deficiency cannot establish between
red and green light. Studies have shown that one out of every
twelve men has this red-green vision deficiency versus one out
of every 200 women. Research has recently led to the creation of
corrective glasses that allow those with red-green deficiency to
see color as if they had normal cone cell functioning.

Color Blindness:
Red/green colorblindness is by far the most common form,
about 99%, and causes problems in distinguishing reds and
greens. Another color deficiency blue/yellow exists, but is rare
and there is no commonly available test for it.

It is extremely rare for a person to see no colors at all: rather,

these people usually either cannot detect one color, or they
perceive it differently from the normal population. Researchers
have determined that these defects are generally genetic, and
involve the photoreceptor pigment genes.

The genes for the red and green pigments

are both on the X chromosome, quite close
to one another, and because men have only
one X chromosome, they are more likely to
be missing one gene or to have a
recombined and thus abnormal gene; approximately 2% of men
are red-green colorblind. Mutations in blue cone pigment genes
are unusual: this gene is on chromosome 7, so everyone has two
copies and both would have to be defective in order for a
problem to occur. Approximately 8% of males, and fewer than
1% of females, have some difficulty with color vision.
Lab Questions:
1. Write down the six numbers that are
hidden in the dots. Were any
particularly difficult?
25 , 29 45, 56 6,
,
8 ,

2. To your knowledge, are you color vision deficient?

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3. Is anyone in your family color-vision deficient? If so,
whom?
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4. Some cities hang their traffic lights from left to right, rather
than top to bottom. Explain why this might cause problems
for a driver with red-green color vision deficiency.
thex ane recogniza bolor dirference
5. Besides driving, can you think of another situation where
,

the inability to distinguish colors may be an inconvenience

or even dangerous? 蜻
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buy grecery ,
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Optional: Holmgren-type Color Vision Test (1 demonstration kit)

ior

In this investigation, you will use a Holmgren-type color vision

test to analyze color perception. In this test, subjects are asked to
match various colored strands of wool to a set of samples. The
wool samples are multiple colors and shades, making it difficult
for those with color vision deficiencies to match the strands to
the samples. By observing which shades were difficult for the
subject to match, Holmgren was able to diagnose a deficiency
and determine its type (red-green, for example).

1. The subject opens the booklet containing the mounted

 strands of yarn and places it on a flat surface
2. The observer mixes the loose strands of yarn and hands
them to the subject.
3. The subject matches, as quickly as possible, each loose
strand of yarn with the mounted strand of the same color.
As soon as a loose strand is matched to the mounted strand,
it should be placed aside, forming a pile of already tested
strands.
4. The observer identifies which colors, if any, were difficult
for the subject for match.
5. The recorder documents the findings on the subject’s data
table.
6. Switch roles and repeat the process until everyone in the
group has been tested.
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