Physics
Physics
Date:
Skills Assessed: AI
Aim: To investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence and the corresponding angle
Apparatus: plain paper, protractor, ruler, rectangular glass block, pencil, three optical pins,
Diagram:
Procedure: -
2.The glass block was placed in the middle of the paper and the outline of it was drawn with a
pencil.
3. The protractor was used to draw a normal in the middle of the long side of the block.
4. The intersection of the normal and glass block was labelled as point O.
5. The protractor was used to measure and draw the angles of incidence, i, of 10°, 20°, up to
6.Two pins (A and B) were placed upright on the 10o line, so that A was as close to the block as
7. Through the glass block of the images of A and B, tilt your head in the position where the
8. A pin was placed close to the block so that it appeared to be in line with the images A and B.
9. A fourth pin D was placed close to the edge of the page, so that it was in line with C and the
images of A and B.
10.The pins were removed and an x was placed over the holes for pins C and D that have the
11. A line was drawn through the pinholes and was extended back to the glass block (point R).
12. Point O to point R were connected and drawn in a refracted ray. Arrows on incident and
emergent rays indicating the direction in which the light travels were also drawn.
13. A protractor was used to measure the angle of refraction, θ2, and its corresponding angle of
14, The procedure was repeated for all the angles of incidence drawn.
Data Collected: Draw a table showing the values of θ1, θ2, sin θ1 and sin θ2.
TABLE SHOWING THE VALUES OF θ1, θ2, sin θ1 AND sin θ2.
θ1 θ2 sin θ1 sin θ2
b) What is the connection between the gradient and the refractive index, n? The gradient of the
graph of sin i against sin r shows how much the light is bent in the denser medium. This
x= 0.35 y=0.50
Yes, the graph is directly proportional as sin θ2 increases so does sin θ1. Also, it goes through
the origin.
e) From your graph, find the value of the angle of refraction when the angle of incidence is 25°.
36°
f) Given that n =1/sin co, where co is the critical angle of glass, calculate the value of the critical
angle of glass.
Conclusion: To conclude,the sine angle of incidence is directly proportional to the sine angle of
refraction.