Exercise 3: Refraction and reflection of light

Aim:

In this experiment, you will explore how an incident beam of light is reflected or refracted after passing through a prism.

Note: After reading through these instructions, you will need to think carefully about what the specific aim of the experiment is. What are you trying to determine or prove?   You will need to write a concise aim in your report and use the proper report format.

 Theory:

You will need to identify the relevant formulae from lecture notes/the textbook. Include the formulae and brief description in your report.

Materials:

For this experiment you will need:

• Lightbox (refer to instructions on how to assemble)
• Semi-circular prism
• 360 degree protractor
• Pen or pencil and paper to make notes

Procedure:

Part A: Snell’s Law

Part B: Critical Angle

Using your result from Part A, calculate the expected critical angle at which Total Internal Reflection should occur.

Devise a setup to measure the critical angle, again using the semi-circular prism. Include a diagram of this setup in your report.

Compare your calculated critical angle with your measured critical angle.

Report:

Write up the results in a proper report format.