Inference:

The angle of refraction depends on the angle of incidence

Hypothesis:
The greater the incident angle, the greater the refracted
angle
Aim:
To investigate the relationship between the angle of
incidence and the angle of refraction
Variables:
Manipulated: Angle of incidence, i
Responding: Angle of refraction, r
Fixed: Refractive index of glass

Apparatus & materials:

Ray box, glass block, white paper, protractor

Arrangement of apparatus:

Procedure:
1. Apparatus is set up as shown
2. The incident ray is positioned such that the incident
angle, i = 20o
3. The emerging ray is drawn
4. The glass block is removed and the refracted rays are
drawn
5. The refracted angle, r is measured using the protractor
6. The experiment is repeated for values of i = 30o, 40o,
50o and 60o
7. The values of sin i and sin r are calculated
8. All data collected are tabulated
9. A graph of sin i against sin r is plotted
Results:
sin i
o
i ( ) r ( ) sin i sin r
o n
sin r
20
30
40
50
60
Discussion:
1. The graph obtained is a straight line passing through the
origin
2. This shows that sin i is directly proportional to sin r
3. The gradient of the graph represents the refractive index
of the glass block
 sin i
n
sin r

4. Precautions to be taken during experiment:

a. Ensure that the experiment is carried out in a dark
environment so that the light rays are clearly seen
b. Ensure that the eye level is perpendicular with the
scale on the protractor to avoid parallax errors
Conclusion:
1. The graph obtained is a straight line passing through the
origin
2. This shows that sin i is directly proportional to sin r
3. This shows that the greater the incident angle, i, the
greater the refracted angle, r
4. Hypothesis is valid