Kevin Schwartz

Aims

Investigation on how variables of a medium affect the speed of light and the index of
refraction.
I want to investigate how different variables can affect how a beam of light interacts with
a medium. Nothing is faster than the speed of light in a vacuum, the speed of light in a
vacuum is represented by c. The speed of light can however be slowed when light
travels through a medium, such as water, air, or glass. When a beam of light crosses
into another medium it refracts/the angle changes, (this can be seen when a stick half
submerged in water looks disconnected). Using this index of refraction one can
calculate the speed of light in any (clear) medium with the ratio n=c/v (n=index c=speed
of light in vacuum v=speed of light in medium). I want to test the speed of light in
multiple clear mediums. To accomplish this I will shoot a laser through the air and into
the medium being tested, and then calculate n with the ratio. I want to see what
variables determine what makes a medium optically dense or optically rare. There are
two reasons I want to run these tests. 1. Refraction is used in our daily lives, in glasses,
magnifying glasses, rainbows, etc. So refraction is proven to be a useful phenomenon.
2. Light is the fastest known aspect of our universe, so it is no wonder that we would
want to study it, I hope that through my extended essay I can begin to further
understand the nature of light and its speed. Perhaps in the future I would like to use
what I learn to further technology and our understanding of the universe as a whole. For
now though, I am finding how variables affect the speed of light in a medium.