K***** S*****

Grade 10R
Mon 2nd May
Determination of the refractive index of agar using Snells
Law
Research Question
Can the refractive index be determined of an unknown medium from
the method outlined?
Hypothesis
When different angles of incidence are applied the refractive index
will stay the same because the angle of incidence and the angle of
refraction share a linear relationship defined as Snells law n1 x sini
= n2 x sinr.
Additionally the refractive index will be greater than 1 due to the
unknown medium having a greater density in comparison to air.
Airs refractive index is 1.0003.
Background Research
Refraction of light is the change of direction or bending of the light
path, when it travels to one medium to another. Refraction is caused
by the change of speed in a wave when it changes mediums. When
light travels to one medium to another the speed changes, as does
the wavelength however the frequency of the light remains
constant. The frequency of light does not change as it refracts. (BBC
Bite size) Speed, wavelength and frequency are related by the
equation V = /f.
The refractive index is measured by the change in speed of light as
it passes from a vacuum into the medium. The refractive index is a
dimensionless number with no units. The equation used to calculate
the refractive index is called Snells Law, also known as Law of
Refraction. Snell's Law is an equation that determines the angle at
which a ray or beam of light is refracted. (Ron Kurtus) The equation
used to calculate the refractive index or an unknown angle is
n1 x sini = n2 x sinr (refractive index x sin angle of incidence =
refractive index x sin angle of refraction). When calculating if any of
the two of the three (refractive index - n, the angle of incidence - i,
or the angle of refraction -r) are known, then the missing number
can be calculated (Refractive index & Snells Law notes 6)
The ray that is travelling towards the boundary between two
different mediums of different optical densities is the incidence ray.
The same ray that moves away from the boundary in the new
medium is the refracted ray. The normal is the line that is
perpendicular to the boundary, where the light ray enters the new
medium.
When a light wave travels through a less dense medium into a
denser medium, it slows downs and is refracted towards the normal.
However when a light wave travels from a denser medium to a less
dense medium, it speeds up and refracts away from the normal.
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K***** S*****
Grade 10R
Mon 2nd May
Furthermore when a light ray hits the boundary perpendicular to the
direction of travel, it changes speed but continues in the same
direction.
Variables:
Independent Variable

Dependant Variable

The independent variable is the angle of incidence;

this will be manipulated by changing the angle in
which the light goes into the agar. The angle of the
incidence ray will range from 5 to 85.
The dependant variable is the refractive index, this
will be calculated with Snells law by using the
angle of incidence and the angle of refraction

Controlled Variables
Controlled Variable Reason For Controlling
Type of Agar
This needs to be controlled so
there are consistent results.
Changing the type of Agar
could affect the results due to
the possibility of having a
different refractive index.
Intensity of light

The intensity of light needs to

be kept at the same voltage
to ensure there is limited
dispersion. By keeping it at
the same intensity it will
allow for the width of the light
beam to be consistent which
will allow for more accurate
measurements in GeoGebra.
Positioning of light on The positioning of light must
agar
always be on one side of the
normal; if it changes to the
other side identical angles
could occur.
The positioning of light
(incidence ray) should range
from 5 to 85.
Camera Position
The position of the camera
when taking a photo has to
be of a birds eye view to
ensure that when placed in
geogebra the angles are not
inaccurate. This allows for
more accurate readings of the
angles.

Method For Controlling

When completing the
experiment, the same
Agar has to be used for
each trial.

Throughout the whole

process of the experiment,
keep the voltage on the
same number so the
intensity is the same
throughout the
experiment.
When positioning the
light, make sure to keep it
to one side of the normal,
whilst trying to not repeat
the angle used before.

The position of the camera

needs to continue to be
the same throughout the
process whilst taking more
then one photo to confirm
that there are multiple
photos that can be used.

K***** S*****
Grade 10R
Mon 2nd May
Equipment
- Ray box
- Slit
- Lens
- Chemical Agar
- A4 paper
- Power pack
- Leads x2
- Camera
- Computer with GeoGebra installed
- Calculator
- Pencil
Safety Concerns
- Make sure not to look directly into the ray box or shine a laser
in yourself or someone elses eye as this can damage your
retina.
- Be careful of electricity
- Ray box will get hot after a certain amount of time.
Method
1. Collect the equipment labelled above.
2. Connect the power pack to the ray box
3. Place the light slit and the lens into the ray box making sure
the light slit is in front of the lens
4. Place the agar onto a A4 piece of paper
5. Place the ray box so the light shines through the agar
6. Take a birds eye picture of the agar.
7. Repeat five times making sure the angles are different each
time.
8. Upload pictures into GeoGebra to measure the incidence ray
and angle of refraction.
9. Make a line on the agar that is the boundary line between air
and the medium.
10.
Then choose the perpendicular line, place the point
where the incident and refracted angle meet at the boundary.
This will make the normal.
11.
Plot the points whilst making sure to be precise, place a
point in the middle of the incident angle and place one on the
normal.
12.
Click on angle, to measure the angles. Make sure to use
the 3 points that are incidence angle, the normal and where
the incidence and refracted angle meet.
13.
Repeat this step when trying to find the refracted angle.
14.
Use Snells law to calculated the refractive index of the
unknown medium.
Experiment Setup
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K***** S*****
Grade 10R
Mon 2nd May
Image to show the setup of the investigation, to find the refractive
index of an unknown medium, by using the incidence angle and
refractive angle.

Geogebra setup
A picture of the setup used in Geogebra to show how to measure
the incidence and refractive angle to be able to use them in the
calculations.

K***** S*****
Grade 10R
Mon 2nd May
Raw Data Quantitative
Raw data table to show the angle of incidence and the angle of
refraction of an unknown medium

Trial
Trial
Trial
Trial
Trial

1
2
3
4
5

Angle of Incidence ()

Angle of Refraction ()

(+/-1.00 degrees)

(+/-1.00 degrees)

53.35
40.43
29.22
17.55
0.06

36.36
34.19
23.63
14.50
0.04

Observations Qualitative
When completing the experiment you could see that once the ray
enters the Agar it abruptly deviates until it reaches the far face of
the Agar rather than continuing in a straight line. In a few pictures it
is seen that once the ray reaches the far face of the Agar the ray
changes as it moves back into the air, this ray is seen to be parallel
to the incident ray. In the experiment it was also evident that there
was some reflection from the agar in different angles. When the
light travels through the medium it is seen that the light starts to
disperse a quarter of the way through the Agar.
Calculations
The formula that was used was Snells law, which is n1 x sini = n2 x
sinr.

K***** S*****
Grade 10R
Mon 2nd May
Trial 1
n1 x sini = n2 x sinr
1.00x sin53.35 = n2 x sin36.36
0.80 = n2 x 0.59
0.80/0.59 = n2 x 0.59/0.59
0.80/0.59 = 1.35
n2 = 1.35
This same formula is used throughout the whole process of the
experiment however; i and r will be changed into accordance of the
results above. All calculations are rounded to 2 decimal points.
Processed Data
Incidence Angle () (+/-1.00

Refractive Index (n)

53.35
40.43
29.22
17.55
0.06
Average

1.35
1.16
1.25
1.24
1.43
1.29

degrees)

Conclusion
In relation to the hypothesis, when the different angles of incidence
were applied the refractive index somewhat stayed constant ranging
from 1.16 to 1.43. The differences are minimal however they mainly
occur because of human error when placing points in Geogebra.
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K***** S*****
Grade 10R
Mon 2nd May
Additionally the refractive index was greater than 1 due to the
chemical agar having a greater density in comparison to air, this is
linked with the effect on the refractive index as the density of the
medium increases (meaning if the density of a medium increases
than the refractive index of that medium will also increase). This
supports the results collected during the experiment. For example,
in trial 4 the angle of incidence was 17.55 degrees and the angle of
refraction was 14.50, whereas for trial 3 the angle of incidence
increased to 29.22 degrees and the angle of refraction was
increased to 23.63 degrees. When comparing these two trials they
both have very close refractive indexes where trial 3 has 1.25 and
trial 4 has 1.24. Including all refractive indexes calculated the
average is 1.29. This supports the linear relationship because when
the angle of incidence was increased so did the refraction. Also this
experiment proves that Snells law is correct and when light travels
through denser medium the light will refract towards the normal.
To extend inquiry one could investigate the relationships of different
mediums to see whether the procedure is reliable.
Evaluation
The results collected concluded that the method outlined was a
reliable source if followed appropriately with correct equipment. This
method allowed for somewhat accurate data to be collected. The
collected data reflected on the research question because in order
to determine the refractive index of an unknown medium, you need
to know both the incidence and refractive angle to allow for
sufficient results.
In relation to reliability of the data, it was relatively high to
moderate. The software geogebra allowed for the results to be
calculated more accurately rather than completing it by hand.
Geogebra was mostly accurate however finding the central point of
the light ray deemed to be challenging sometimes.
Throughout the experiment, it had to be repeated 3 times due to
insufficient results. In the first experiment the calculated refractive
index was not scientifically correct because two of them were under
1.00, if the refractive index is lower than 1.00 it would have to be
less dense then air. Also the agar used was the emart Agar, this
made it hard to see a definite line due to the large amount of
dispersion. In the second experiment the pictures were not taken
from a birds eye view resulting in inaccurate angles which made
plotting of the points difficult.

When completing the experiment the results could have been more
accurate if the width of the light beam was decreased. This would
7

K***** S*****
Grade 10R
Mon 2nd May
have made it easier to find the central point of the light beam in
geogebra, which would have made the data more reliable. The
results had no major abnormalities such as the refractive index
being lower than 1.00. The data points were placed relatively close
to the trend line, however from the lowest refractive index to the
highest there was a 0.27 difference, which suggests that human
error, and other factors interfered, as it should be constant due to
the linear relationship.
If this experiment were to be completed again, having set angles to
one side of the normal would be wise. This would allow for less
human error such as repeating an angle twice. Additionally it would
be evident that when choosing angles to make sure not to be
reasonably close to 90 because when a light ray hits the boundary
perpendicular to the direction of travel, it changes speed but
continues in the same direction.
Human error would have had a large impact on the accuracy of the
investigation. One being the accuracy of the images taken, this
could have been improved is by using a stand to capture the photos
at a 90 birds eye view that looked directly over the agar.
In general the experiment was successes because I was able to
calculate the refractive index with only a 0.27 difference. To
conclude, an improvement of this experiment be that there be more
than 5 trials of different angles, whilst having to have those angles
set rather than it being randomised.
Bibliography
"Refractive Index | Physics." Encyclopedia Britannica. N.p., n.d. Web.
04 May 2016.
Nave, R. "Refraction of Light." Refraction of Light. N.p., n.d. Web. 04
May 2016.
"Refraction of Light." Bitesize. BBC, n.d. Web. 4 May 2016.
"Willebrod Snell." TheScienceClassroom -. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May
2016.
Physics, Kent Hills. "- Refraction." - Refraction. N.p., n.d. Web. 04
May 2016.
"The Physics Classroom." The Cause of Refraction. N.p., n.d. Web. 04
May 2016.
Notes from class - Refractive index & Snells Law notes 6