Phy Lab 16.docx - Reflection and Refraction of Light Phy...

Reflection and Refraction of Light
Phy 216-06
Group 1
Destiny Ball,
Amanda Harvey,
Ajahni Franklin,
Andre Roots,
Dylan Scott
03/19/19
Title Page & Format _____(10 pt max)
Purpose & Introduction _____(10 pt max
Experimental Details _____(10 pt max)
Results and Discussion _____(50 pt max)
Conclusion _____(15 pt max)
References _____(5 pt max)
Total Grade ________
Section 1: Purpose and Introduction

The purpose of the experiment was to use the relationship between light and mirrors to
observe and study the occurrences of refraction and reflection. The main physics concepts in this
experiment were the properties of mirrors, glass and air and their perspective index of refraction
values. Light is an electromagnetic wave that does not require a medium to travel that is why it
travels in the vacuum of space. When light does travel through a medium it becomes slower and
the light rays get reflected in certain spots and refracted in other. That property is what causes a
shift in the angle of the refracted ray and the incident ray. In this experiment a light was passed
from the source on to a flat mirror and the angle of reflection was measured to be the same as the
angle of incidence which is represented by the law of reflection. Another part of the experiment
consisted of using a prism made of glass and reflecting light off of a curved end and a flat end.
The light refracted off of the curved part was governed by Snell’s Law and used to find the index
of refraction of the prism. The curved end refracted the ray and that was used to determine the
index of refraction of the glass prism used. The law of reflection can be written as such [1]:
θ
i
= θ
r
(1)
Where
θ
i
is the angle of incidence and
θ
r
is the angle of reflection. Snell’s Law is as
follows [1]:
n
1
sin θ
1
= n
2
sin θ
2
(2)
Where
n
1
is the index of refraction of the medium light is traveling from,
θ
1
is the angle
of incidence,
n
2
is the index of refraction of the medium light is traveling into and
θ
2
is
the angle of refraction.
Section 2: Experimental Details
In this experiment a light source, an optics bench, a ray table, a triangular mirror
and a semi-circular prism were used to examine the relationships between light and the
surfaces it encounters. The apparatus was set up as shown in figure 1. With the apparatus
set up the light source was activated, and the experiment began. The first part consisted
of the mirror pointed toward the light source as to get the reflection. In this part the angle
of incidence was moved and thus the angle of reflections was equally shifted. The second