National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)

SMME

LAB REPORT
Report # 2

Course : Applied Physics

Section : ME-10 (A)

Group : B-3

Group Members: Experiment Info:

Ali Asad Experiment Date: Sep 25, 2018
Altaf Ahmad Topic: Ripple Tank
Ali Raza Submitted to: Mam Bushra Yasin
INTRODUCTION:
Ripple tank is an apparatus to study the processes like reflection, refraction, diffraction etc. It
consists of a tank, wave generator and a light source. Waves are generated by wave generator
whose frequency and amplitude can be controlled. A light source helps to projects the waves
onto a screen.
It has two parts:

• Screen display: consists of a reflector and projection screen

• Ripple tank display: It consists of a the body of ripple tank, light source and its stand
 REFLECTION
Abstract:
The purpose of this experiment is to show the law of reflection. This can be proved by using a
vibrator to generate waves which will then collide with a relatively denser obstacle and waves
reflect by the denser part. The angle of incidence and reflection will be measured in plan surface
and if equal, it shows that the law of reflection is true. Three types of barriers will be used plane
barriers, convex barriers and concave barriers. In the case of convex or concave barriers, the
distance between the point where the reflected waves interfere destructively and the middle of
the barrier will be one half of the distance of the two normal drawn from 2 points, symmetrically
placed, at a distance away from the middle of the barrier.

Theory:
Reflection encompasses the bouncing back of a wave front when it strikes another
medium(denser). The direction of a wave front is shown by a ray. Ray is basically a line
perpendicular to a wave front and it used to show the wave front. This property of waves is
explained by the law of reflection which emphasizes that the angle of incidence and reflection
must be same in all cases. The angle of incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the
normal to surface. The angle of reflection is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal
to the surface.

REFLECTION BY A PLANE SURFACE:

Procedure:
• The ripple tank is set up and level by balancing screws on the stand and
the frequency generator.
• Add the sufficient amount of water and barrier is placed at a certain angle
to the generator in the water .
• Turn on the generator and light. Set the light in strobe mode. Adjust the
specific frequency of the ripple generator and strobe light so that
stationary image of waves obtained. The frequency is generally set up at
20 Hz. The amplitude of generator is set up slightly less than half of its max
value.
• Place a sheet below the glass plate of the ripple tank. Using a ruler, draw
lines parallel to the wave fronts obtained on the paper. Draw two lines
each for incident and reflected waves respectively.
• Mark the boundary of the barrier to show the straight surface of the long
barrier.
• Make clear, accurate and straight lines using the ruler.
• Draw a line perpendicular to the line of the incident wave front. Join this
line to the straight surface of the long barrier. Draw a normal at the
surface of the long barrier.
• Draw a line perpendicular to the reflected wave front at the point where
a normal was previously drawn.
• Using a protractor, measure the angle of incidence and angle of reflection
respectively (with respect to the normal).
• Percentage Error is then calculated using the
formula
(𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖−𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅)
%Error= ∗100
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
Data Analysis:

Angle of incidence 37.5𝑜𝑜

Angle of reflection 39𝑜𝑜

37.5 −39
%Error = ( )*100 = - 4.0 %
37.5

.Conclusion:
The angle of incidence is not equal to angle of reflection, thus there is a slightly error of -4.0%.
The -ve sign shows that the obtained value is less than intended value.

REFLECTION BY A PLANE SURFACE IMAGE:

REFLECTION USING A CONVEX BARRIER
Procedure:
• Add water to the tray of ripple tank and place a curved convex barrier in front of the wave
generator
• Adjust the frequency of strobe light so that waves become clearly visible
• Place a sheet under the tray as a screen and trace the curved barrier the produced wave
fronts as well as the reflected ones. Mark the spot at which the reflected waves appear
to converge.
• Draw tangent lines to the reflected curved waves to show their direction of travel.
• When the normal at the points of tangency drawn they should pass through the marked
focal point. Measure the distance, f, to the focal point from the middle of the barrier.
• Draw tangents to the surface of barrier and construct their normal. Extend the normal so
that they meet each other at a point. This is the radius of curvature of the convex barrier.
Measure the radius, R.
• Multiply the f with 2 it gives the radius R.
| Measured R−Expected R|
• Calculate the percentage error by, %error = Expected R
* 100

Date Analysis:

Focal Length 6 cm
Radius of Curvature, R. 12.2 cm
Expected R 12 cm

12.2−12
%error =( )*100 = 1.67 %
12

CONCLUSION:
The error in the experiment comes to 1.67 % which is an acceptable error, therefore it can be
concluded that the focal length is approximately equal to one-half of the radius of the
curvature. The error can be accounted by the difficulty to find the exact point of focus due to
the slight disturbance of the water at the point, furthermore the inability to sketch the exact
curve of the barrier, thus resulting in errors in the radius of curvature measured.

REFLECTION USING A CONVEX BARRIER IMAGE:

 REFRACTION OF WAVES
Abstract
The refraction is done in a ripple tank with the help of refractors like:

1. Trapezoidal Refractor
2. Convex Refractor
3. Concave Refractor
REFRACTION:
“Refraction is the bending of waves on passing from one medium to another.”
In refraction the angle of refraction depends upon the ratio of refractive indices of two media of
travel.

Theory:
Refraction show the change in direction, speed and wavelength of waves on entering from one
medium to another. Frequency does not change by the phenomena refraction. The ray which is
refracted may be bent towards the normal or away the normal. Angle of refraction depends
upon the refractive index of the medium.

REFRACTION FROM A TRAPEZOIDAL REFRACTOR:

PROCEDURE:
 Adjust the horizontal level of the ripple tank. Add water in the tank with the help of dropper.
Place a trapezoidal refractor in the tank with its straight edge parallel to plane wave dipper. It
should be carefully noticed that the refractor fully immersed in water.
• Set the light to ‘STROBE’. Turn on the plane wave generator with its
frequency equal to 15 Hz. Note the pattern of the plane waves.
• On the sheet below, trace the pattern of the plane waves with the help of
ruler. Also trace the pattern of the refracted waves on the outline of the
refractor.
• Repeat the same procedure by reversing the sides with the triangular part
on top.
• Turn off the device.
|Measured n−Expected n |
• Calculate the percentage error by, %error = ( Expected n
) ∗100

DATA ANALYSIS:
• Draw a line perpendicular to incident waves with an arrow head pointing
towards the refractor. This line is the incident line.
• Similarly, at the outline of the refractor where the incident wave bends,
draw another line perpendicular to the refracted wave. This line is the
refracted line.
• Draw a normal to the refractor’s refracting edge and measure the angles
made by the incident line and refracted line with the normal. They are
called as angle of incidence and angle of refraction respectively.
TRAPEZOID UP:
Angle of incidence <i = 51 degrees,
Angle of refraction <r= 25 degrees,
sin<𝑖𝑖
Refractive index = n2 = = 1.84
sin<𝑟𝑟
Wavelength of incident ray = 2.1 cm
Wavelength of refracted ray = 1.8 cm
𝑣𝑣1 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓2 𝜆𝜆2
Refractive index n1 = = = = 1.167
v2 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓1 𝜆𝜆1
|1.84 −1.167 |
Error = ( )*100 = 36.57%
1.167
Conclusion:
The error is 12.43%. The error can be reduced by reading the meter rule with line of sight correctly
placed, overcoming all parallax.
TRAPEZOID DOWN:
Angle of incidence <i = 90 degrees,
Angle of refraction <r= 78 degrees,
sin<𝑖𝑖
Refractive index = n2 = = 1.022
sin<𝑟𝑟
Wavelength of incident ray = 2.1 cm
Wavelength of refracted ray = 1.8 cm
𝑣𝑣1 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓2 𝜆𝜆2
Refractive index n1 = = = = 1.167
v2 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓1 𝜆𝜆1

|1.167−1.02 |
Error = ( )*100 = 12.43%
1.167
Conclusion:
The error is 12.43%. The error can be reduced by reading the meter rule with line of sight correctly
placed, overcoming all parallax.

REFRACTION BY TRAPEZOIDAL BARRIERS IMAGES:

REFRACTION FROM CONVEX REFRACTOR:
PROCEDURE:
1.Place the convex refractor, placing it in the middle of the tank with the straight side parallel to
the plane wave dipper and about 5 cm from the dipper.
2. Turn on the ripple generator and light source. Trace the position of the convex refractor on
the paper below the ripple tank.
3. Trace the pattern of plane waves as they move from the plane wave dipper over the convex
refractor.
4. Use the ruler to measure the focal length of the convex ‘lens’. This is the distance from the
center of the lens to the point where the refracted plane waves appear to converge (come to a
focus).
DATA ANALYSIS:
Use the ruler to sketch three rays that represents the direction of motion for three sections of the
plane waves from the dipper as they pass over the convex refractor. Draw one ray for the wave
fronts that move over the upper third of the convex refractor; draw a second ray for the wave
fronts that move over the center third of the refractor, and draw a third ray for the wave fronts
that move over the lower third of the refractor.

Conclusion:
The incident rays after passing through the convex refractor appear to converge at a
specific point as shown.

REFRACTION FROM CONVEX REFRACTOR IMAGE:

REFRACTION FROM CONCAVE REFRACTOR:
PROCEDURE:
1.Place the concave refractor, placing it in the middle of the tank with the straight side parallel
to the plane wave dipper and about 5 cm from the dipper.
2. Turn on the ripple generator and light source. Trace the position of the concave refractor on
the paper below the ripple tank.
3. Trace the pattern of plane waves as they move from the plane wave dipper over the concave
refractor.
4. Use the ruler to make the lines that appear to diverge.

DATA ANALYSIS:
Repeat the sketching of rays for the wave pattern of the waves moving over the concave refractor.
Draw one ray for the wave fronts that move over the upper third of the concave refractor; draw
a second ray for the wave fronts that move over the center third of the refractor, and draw a third
ray for the wave fronts that move over the lower third of the refractor.
Conclusion:
The incident rays after passing through the convex refractor appear to converge at a
specific point as shown.
REFRACTION FROM CONCAVE REFRACTOR IMAGE: