Refraction

Experiment Instructions

Aim: To investigate the relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction when light passes from one medium to another.

  1. Open the refraction simulation. Set the top medium to Air (n₁ = 1.00) and the bottom medium to Glass
  2. Set the angle of incidence to 10°. Record the angle of refraction shown in the readout.
  3. Increase the angle of incidence in 10° steps up to 80°. Record each angle of refraction.
  4. Plot a graph of sin i (x-axis) against sin r (y-axis)
  5. Measure the gradient of the graph - what do you notice?

Results table

i (°) r (°) sin i sin r Action