Name: Laquando Young Date: 15/03/22

TITLE: Critical Angle

AIM: To investigate the refraction of light at an air/Perspex boundary and hence to determine
the critical angle for light travelling from Perspex to air.

THEORY:
 Critical angle is the angle of incidence beyond which rays of light passes through a
denser medium to the surface of a less dense medium are no longer refracted but totally
reflected.
 Refraction is defined as the deviation of light rays from its original path as it changes
sin α
mediums. The refractive index can be found using the formula = n. Where n is the
sin β
refractive index.
 The gradient of sin α vs sin β will therefore be refractive index of Perpex.
 The critical angle is the angle at which the angle of incidence in the optically denser
1
medium where the angle of refraction is 90°. It can be found using the formula sin c = .
n
Where c is the critical angle and n is the refractive index.
 Total internal reflection is the phenomenon which occurs when the incident ray is
reflected at the normal resulting in the ray not changing mediums.

APPARATUS: a block of semi-circular Perpex, pencil, 30cm rule, a piece of plain white paper,
laser light, protractor, optical pins
DIAGRAM:

METHOD:
1. A piece of plain white paper was placed on top of Styrofoam and a semi-circular block of
Perpex was placed on the paper and was outlined using a pencil.
2. A normal line was drawn at the centre of the block outline.
3. Using the protractor, (6) angles from the normal line at the edge of the outline were
noted.
4. A laser light (incident ray) was used to pass through the perpex block at the first angle,
through the normal line.
5. The refracted ray was then noted using a pin to trace the path of the beam of light through
the semi-circular block of Perspex.
6. A line was drawn from the normal line passing through the point noted for the refracted
ray.
7. Steps 4 to 6 was repeated for angles 2 to 6.
8. The perpex block was removed and a protractor was used to measure α and β where the
values were the tabulated.
9. A graph of sin α versus sin β was then plotted and a best fit line was drawn.
10. The line was extrapolated to determine the critical angle for light traveling from perpex to
air.
RESULTS AND CALCULATIONS:
α β sin α sin β

10 7 0.17 0.12
20 13 0.34 0.22
35 19 0.57 0.33
50 27 0.77 0.45
60 34 0.87 0.56
75 39 0.97 0.63

From graph,
Point A = (0.12, 0.17)
Point B = (0.63, 0.97)

y 2 – y 1 0.97−0.17
Gradient = =
x 2−x 1 0.63−0.12
= 1.569

Since g = n, then refractive Index of air to glass, n = 1.569.

−1 1
Therefore, critical angle c = sin
n
= 57.3°

SOURCES OF ERROR:
 Placing the pins used to locate the path of refracted ray too close to each other.
 Pin-pricked points not being clearly marked and labelled.

PRECAUTIONS:
 Ensure that the pins are more than 6cm apart to minimize errors.
 Ensure that the pin-pricked mark is clear and visible labeled correctly.
DISCUSSION:
Refraction is the process by which a ray of light deviates when passing through a medium and it
occurs in any medium that light can pass through. The refractive index was found to be 1.569.
Critical angle is the largest angle at which a ray of light travelling to one transparent medium can
strike the boundary between the first medium and a second of lower refractive index without
being totally internally refracted.
Total internal reflection takes place when the incidence ray exceeds the critical angle and is
reflected to the normal resulting in the refracted ray not exiting in a different medium but the
−1 1
same one it had entered. The critical angle is found using the formula c = sin , which was
n
found to be 57.3°

CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that after conducting the experiment, the critical angle was
57.3°.

REFLECTION: Total internal reflection occurs in mirages that can be seen at a distance in the
road and at the dessert producing the optical illusion of water.