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Faculty of Engineering Physics 1 Laboratory: Reflection and Refraction I. Objectives

This document summarizes an experiment on reflection and refraction conducted by a physics laboratory group. The objectives were to experimentally confirm the laws of reflection and refraction. Procedures involved measuring the reflection of light off flat, concave, and convex mirrors, and measuring the refraction of light passing through an acrylic block. Measurements were taken of incident, reflected, and refracted angles. Calculations found the index of refraction of acrylic and air to be close to the theoretical values, and the critical angle was also measured. Sources of potential error included inaccurate angle readings, improper material placement, and incorrect computations.

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Margaret Flores
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58 views5 pages

Faculty of Engineering Physics 1 Laboratory: Reflection and Refraction I. Objectives

This document summarizes an experiment on reflection and refraction conducted by a physics laboratory group. The objectives were to experimentally confirm the laws of reflection and refraction. Procedures involved measuring the reflection of light off flat, concave, and convex mirrors, and measuring the refraction of light passing through an acrylic block. Measurements were taken of incident, reflected, and refracted angles. Calculations found the index of refraction of acrylic and air to be close to the theoretical values, and the critical angle was also measured. Sources of potential error included inaccurate angle readings, improper material placement, and incorrect computations.

Uploaded by

Margaret Flores
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Faculty of Engineering Physics 1 Laboratory

Group #3 Section 1-25


Members:
Franco, Laurence S.
Gomez, Kyle Eric Francis L. Rating _________
Flores, Margaret E.
Gavina, Jan Vincent P. Date submitted May 22, 2019
Flestado, Joshua C.
ACTIVITY # 9
REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
I. Objectives
- Determine how the rays are reflected from different types of mirrors, and experimentally confirm the
Law of Reflection;
- Determine the index of refraction of the acrylic rhomboid, and experimentally confirm the Law of
Refraction (Snell’s Law); and
- Determine the critical angle at which the total internal refraction occurs in the acrylic rhomboid.

II. Laboratory Equipment


1. Basic Optics Light Source
2. Ray Optics Kit
3. Ruler and Protractor

III. Procedures

A. Reflection through a Mirror

1. Flat Mirror

Angle of Incidence (Ꝋi) Angle of Reflection (Ꝋr)


30° 30°
45° 45°
60° 60°
Faculty of Engineering Physics 1 Laboratory

2. Concave Mirror

Angle of Incidence (Ꝋi) Angle of Reflection (Ꝋr)


30° 29°
45° 44°
60° 59°

3. Convex Mirror

Angle of Incidence (Ꝋi) Angle of Reflection (Ꝋr)


30° 28°
45° 43°
60° 58°
Faculty of Engineering Physics 1 Laboratory

B. Bending of Light by Refraction

Refraction
INTERFACE 1- From air to acrylic INTERFACE 2- From acrylic to air

Incident Refracted Index of Incident Refracted Index of


Angle (in air) Angle (in Refraction Angle (in Angle (in air) Refraction
acrylic) (computed) acrylic) (computed)
30° 20° 1.462 20° 30° 1.026
45° 28° 1.506 28° 45° 0.996
60° 36° 1.473 36° 61° 1.018

Acrylic Air
Average of Computed Indices 1.480 1.013
of Refraction
Percent Difference 1.33% 1.3%
Faculty of Engineering Physics 1 Laboratory

C. Total Internal Reflection

Theoretical Computed
Critical Angle 42° 41.81°

Percent Difference 0.45%

IV. Observation and Summary

Guide Questions:
1. When applying the Law of Reflection, does it matter whether the reflective surface of
the mirror is flat or curved? Why or why not?

Yes, because the shape of the surface predicts that rays incident at slightly
different points on the surface are reflected in completely different directions, because the
normal to a rough surface varies in direction very strongly from point to point on the
surface. But, in the application of Law of Reflection, light will always reflects regardless
of whether the reflective surface of a mirror is flat or a curved. Using the law allows one
to determine the image location for an object. The image location is the location where all
reflected light appears to diverge from. Therefore, in determining the location demands
that one merely needs to know how light reflects off a mirror. For each incident ray, a
normal line at the point of incidence on a curved surface must be drawn and then the law
of reflection must be applied.

2. Looking at Interface 1 of the acrylic rhomboid, where the light travels from air to
acrylic did the refracted ray bend toward or away from the normal line? How about that
of Interface 2, where light travels from acrylic to air? Why?

Looking at the data of Interface 1, we can say that the refracted ray bends
toward the normal line. While looking at the data of Interface 2, one can say that the
Faculty of Engineering Physics 1 Laboratory

refracted ray bends away from the normal line. They bend in that particular way, because
of the properties that affects the light when it passes through either air or acrylic.

4. How does the brightness of the internally reflected ray change when the incident
angle changes from less than Ꝋc?

It changes in a manner where the visible light becomes cloudy or foggy than
the usual form or brightness. For any angle of incidence with a larger angle than the
critical angle, will not be able to be solved for the angle of refraction (according to
Snell’s Law, due to the refracted angle having a sine larger than 1. In that case all the
light is totally reflected off the interface, obeying the law of reflection.

5. What are the possible sources of errors in this activity?

The possible sources of errors for this activity lie with the mistakes that the
person could possibly have done during the activity. Examples of this are inaccurate
reading of angles, wrong placement of materials and incorrect computations.

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