MYP3

30th Sept 2021

Summative Assessment

Task Description:
Design a lab to investigate ANY innovation in communication within any energy system of light or
sound.

Assessment criteria:
You will be assessed on the following criteria:
Criterion B: Inquiring and designing
Criterion C: Processing and evaluating

Research question:
How does the refractive index of a medium affect the speed of light in that medium when
the angle of incidence and source of light is kept the same?

The reason why this problem has to be tested by a scientific investigation is because light in
our everyday lives refracts through a variety of different materials from water to glass. It is
important to note that the speed of light can vary in different mediums and this difference
can be measured by the refractive index.

Background research:

What is a transverse and electromagnetic wave?

Transverse waves are waves where the displacement of particles is perpendicular to that of the
direction of propagation. When the wave moves side waves, the particles will move up and down at a
right angle. In a vacuum, there are no particles but the oscillations are perpendicular to the direction
of energy transfer.

Electromagnetic waves are waves that do not need a medium to propagate. This means
electromagnetic waves can travel through a vacuum. All electromagnetic waves are transverse waves
(but not all transverse waves are electromagnetic). These waves transfer energy as radiation from a
source to an absorber (“Light as a Wave”). Electromagnetic waves form a spectrum which is a range
of electromagnetic waves based on wavelength and frequency. It ranges from long wavelength and
low frequency to short wavelength and high frequency. Here it is:
This spectrum shows us the wavelength, frequency, and energy of several types of waves. For
example, “red” has the longest wavelength of all the colors while violet has the shortest wavelength
of all the colors.

How does light travel

As mentioned above, light is an electromagnetic wave and can travel through a vacuum. Light is made
up of photons which contain energy. These photons travel at the speed of light and can travel as both
a wave and a particle. Because of this light does not need a medium for propagation. Electromagnetic
waves (including light) are made up of oscillating electric and magnetic fields as shown in the picture
below (“Electromagnetic Radiation”).

What is the refraction of light and refractive index?

Light refracts when it moves from one medium to another when the refractive index changes. This
means that the light bends. This is caused by a change in speed as light will travel faster in certain
mediums than others. The amount of refraction depends on the angle of incidence and the change of
speed. The formula for refractive index is:
n = refractive index
c = Speed of Light in vacuum
v = Speed of Light in the medium

What are the factors affecting speed of light?

The speed of light is a constant meaning that it does not change when in the same medium. One
factor that affects the speed of light is the medium (or if there is a medium at all). This is because the
speed of light differs depending on what the material is and is constant in that specific medium.
Another factor is the frequency of the wave. This means the color of the wave affects the speed of
light but very minimally.

How does the refractive index affect the speed of light?

The index of refraction refers to how much slower light is in that medium as compared to the speed
of light in vacuum is shown in the equation above. This means that the speed of light slows down in
mediums with a higher refractive index. The slower the speed of light in the medium, the higher the
refractive index in the medium. This is because there is a change of speed in the medium that causes
light to go slower or faster, thus bending light. When light hits a surface at an angle, the wavelength
of the wave of light decreases (if going from a rarer medium to a denser one) which causes it to
refract. The refractive index and Speed of light are inversely proportional.

Hypothesis:

As the refractive index increases in a medium, the speed of light in those mediums decreases. This is
speed of light ∈vacuum
because the refractive index formula states that refractive index = . The
speed of light ∈medium
formula shows that the refractive index is how much slower the speed of light in a specific medium is
compared to the medium. This shows that the speed of light decreases as a medium’s refractive
index increases. By this logic, it can be predicted that the wave with the 2 nd medium as air will travel
at the fastest speed. The second fastest wave will be the wave with the 2nd medium as Material A,
then water, then glass. The slowest wave will be the one that refracts in Material B because the
refractive index of Material B is the least of them all. The relationship between refractive index and
speed of light is inversely proportional because if the speed of light decreases it means the refractive
index of the medium increases.
Variables:

Independent variable:

Description Variations and trials How will it be manipulated /

The independent variable for
this experiment is the
refractive index of the 2nd
medium.
There will be 5 variations in
this experiment. These
variations will be air (n = 1),
water (n = 1.33), glass (n =
1.499), material A (n = 1.2) and
material B (n = 1.598). For each
of these variations there will be
only a singular trial since there
is a tool measuring speed in
the software directly meaning
that the result will be the same
in every trial. This means that
there is elimination of human
error in measurement.
varied?
The refractive index of the
medium will be varied on the
simulation. This can be
manipulated by either typing in
the refractive index, dragging
the scroll wheel or selecting
the medium. This will only be
varied for the 2nd medium.

Dependant variable:

Description How will it be measured?

The dependant variable for this experiment is A tool in this simulation allows the user to
speed of the wave in the medium in relation to measure the specific wave’s speed. This tool can
the speed of the wave in vacuum. This is be the Fizeau Foucault apparatus that allows us
because the speed of the wave in air is marked to measure the speed of light.
as 1.00c in the simulation which means it is 1
multiplied by the speed of light (3 * 10^8). This
is because the tool in the simulation allows the
user to directly measure the speed of the wave
which is why speed is not calculated in this
experiment.

Control variables:

Description How will it be controlled?

The distance of the source of the light from the It will be controlled as there is no way to change
surface of the 2nd medium its fixed axis.
The angle of incidence This can be controlled as there is an angle
function in the simulation which allows the user

The initial medium/The index of refraction of
the 1st medium.
to measure the angle of incidence. This will
allow to keep the angle of incidence controlled.
The 1st medium in which the light travels will be
air. This will be controlled through the
simulation’s drop-down menu for the 1st
medium.

Source of light
The light will be a wave and not a ray
The source of light will be the laser pointer. The
wavelength of the wave will be the same which
means that the colour will be the same. This can
be controlled on the top left corner of the
simulation and it will be set to 700nm.
This can be manipulated by the setting on the
top left of the simulation. It will be set to “wave”
for the entire experiment.

Apparatus:

Apparatus name Unit Description

Operating System (Nil) An operating system is needed
for Google Chrome to function
Search Engine Application 1 A search engine is needed in
order to open the simulation,
this can be Google Chrome,
Yahoo etc.
Device 1 Any device which has the
search engine app installed and
can run the simulation is
appropriate for this
 experiment. It can be a laptop,
a desktop, an iPad etc.

Laser pointer 1 This laser pointer will be used

Speed Tool
Angles Tool
Wavelength scroll wheel
Refractive Index scroll wheel
as the source of light in the
experiment. The colour of the
laser pointer will remain the
same with a wavelength of
700nm.
1 This tool will be used to
measure the speed of the wave
in the 2nd medium
1 This is used to measure the
angle of incidence.
1 This will help control the
wavelength of the laser pointer.
1 This can help change the 2nd
medium and set the refractive
index of the 2nd medium.

Procedure:
1. Open the web browser on your computer
2. Open the simulation on a new tab
3. Make sure you are on the “More Tools” setting on the simulation.
4. Change the setting from “ray” to “wave” on the top left
 5. Set the wavelength of the wave as 700nm
6. Click the checkbox for “angles” on the bottom left
7. Set the angle of the light source from the medium as 40˚.
8. Set the material for the 1st medium as “air”
9. Set the material for the 2nd medium as “air”
10. Drag the “speed” tool from the tool box to the wave below the line
11. Record the measurement on the tool
12. Repeat steps 9 to 11 with the 2nd medium being water and glass (change medium by using
scroll wheel)
13. Repeat steps 9-11 with the 2nd medium’s refractive index being set to 1.6 and 1.2 (change
refractive index by using scroll wheel)

Risk assessment:
1. Any and all firewalls will be activated during the experiment
2. Only the tab of the experiment will be open
3. There will be no food and drink near the vicinity of the device where the experiment is being
performed
4. Any and all sensitive files will be backed up to the cloud
5. All software will be up to date in the latest version
6. The tab with the simulation will not be force quit.

Data collection:

Raw Data Table

2nd Medium Refractive Index Speed of the Wave (m/s)

Air 1.000 1.00c
Material A 1.200 0.83c
Water 1.333 0.75c
Glass 1.499 0.67c
Material B 1.598 0.63c

Sample Calculation
Converting to Speed

Conversion = x × c
c = 3 ×10 8
(Note: “×10 8” will remain part of the equation because it is converting to scientific notation)

Example (Material A):

x = 0.83

= x×c
= 0.83 ×3 × 108
=2.49 ×10 8 m/s

Finding Difference between Results

Result 1 – Result 2

Example (Air and Material A)

=3.00 ×10 8−2.49 ×108
=0.51 ×108 m/s

Multiplying Refractive Index and Speed of Light

xy
x = Refractive Index
y = Speed of Light

Example (Air)
x=1
y = 3.00 ×10 8
3.00 ×10 8 × 1=3 ×108
(Note: “×10 8” will remain part of the equation because it is converting to scientific notation)

Processed Data Tables

2nd Medium Refractive Index Speed of the Wave (m/s)

Air 1.000 3.00 ×10 8
Material A 1.200 2.49 ×10 8
Water 1.333 2.22 ×10 8
Glass 1.499 2.0 ×10 8
Material B 1.598 1.89 ×10 8

Mediums Difference in Speed (m/s)

Air – Material A 0.51 ×10 8.
Material A – Water 0.27 ×10 8.
Water – Glass 0.22 ×10 8.
Glass – Material B 0.11 ×10 8.

2nd Medium Refractive Index ´ Speed of Light

Air 3 ×10 8.
Material A 2.99 ×10 8.
Water 2.95 ×10 8.
Glass 2.99 ×10 8.
Material B 3.02 ×10 8.
Plot graph:

Analysis of data:
As shown in the data table we can see that as the value of n increases the speed of the wave
decreases. This can also be seen in the graph because air has the fastest wave and the least refractive
index while Material B has the slowest wave and the greatest refractive index. The difference in speed
of the waves in the data tables can be noted, although this data is inconclusive because the cause of
this change is not determined; it can be due to the refractive index or the difference in refractive
index of the independent variables. From the graphs, we can say that refractive index and speed of
light are inversely proportional. This is because as one decreases, the other increases. Another way to
prove this is that if the data was inversely proportional, this would mean the product of the refractive
index and speed of light would be constant. This is true because the product of when we multiply the
refractive index and speed of light in air, the product is equal to 3 ×10 8. This can be seen in the
processed data table where the products of the refractive index and speed of light in each of the
mediums is constant (if rounded to whole number). The constant will be speed of light in vacuum
because if n = c/v, this means c = nv which is why the two are inversely proportional and the product
is constant.

Analysis of hypothesis:

Shown by the results of the experiment, my hypothesis was proven to be true. This is because the
prediction stated that Air would make the wave travel the fastest since its refractive index was the
least and Material B would make the wave travel the slowest since its refractive index is the greatest.
This also means that the light would refract the most in Material B least since the refractive index is
the greatest and that the light is travelling from a medium with a lesser refractive index to a medium
with a greater one. This is because when light travels from rarer medium such as air to a denser
medium such as Material B, light refracts towards normal. This is because the light takes more time to
travel through the denser medium meaning that the light moves slower. This relates to the main
findings of this experiment because the greater the refractive index, the denser the medium and the
lesser the speed of light. My hypothesis was also true because the prediction stated that speed of
light and refractive index is inversely proportional. It can be proven mathematically as n = c/v, which
means that c = nv. These calculations are shown in the data tables which show that the results are
equal to the speed of light in vacuum when rounded to the closest whole number.

Analysis of method

Errors in experiment Impact of error on Improvement

experiment
The rounding off in the Since we don’t know to what
simulation. degree of accuracy the
simulation rounded off the
measurements this could
create a great impact on the
experiment.
Method used to collect data – There is no guarantee on the
Simulation. accuracy of the simulation since
Not necessarily an
improvement but the
frequency of the wave could be
measured using the “Time”
tool but it may create more
inaccuracies than
improvements which is why it
is an alternative.
An improvement could be to do
the experiment in real life
 it is one found online. The
impact this can have on the
experiment varies on how far
inaccurate the measurements
are from the experiment. This
can be very great, or very less.
which will ensure that there are
no errors with the method
which are otherwise present
with a simulation.

Advantages of Method
1. Elimination of human error in measurement because a simulation is used.
2. The number of trials done has decreased.
3. Measurement of Angle of Incidence is more accurate.
4. Refractive index can be changed accurately.
5. Angle of Incidence is fixed, no threat of interference against the laser pointer.
6. The wave can be visualized completely.
7. Wavelength can be set and controlled.
Extension:
Some further experiments that could be done on this topic are about the wavelength of the wave and
how it affects the speed of light. This is because different colours have different wavelengths which
means that the speed of the wave will also have an effect. Another variation of this experiment could
be how the angle of incidence affects the angle of refraction and if there is any relationship between
the two values. The dependent variable could change from speed to intensity of the wave with the
independent variable remaining refractive index. Another thing could be measured was the intensity
of the reflection.

Works Cited

Admin. “Transverse Waves and Longitudinal Waves.” BYJUS, Byju’s, 24 Apr. 2019,

byjus.com/physics/mechanical-waves-transverse-waves-and-longitudinal-waves/.

“Electromagnetic Radiation.” Washington.edu, 2020,

depts.washington.edu/cmditr/modules/lum/electromagnetic_radiation.html.

“Electromagnetic Waves - Eduqas - Revision 1 - GCSE Combined Science - BBC Bitesize.”

BBC Bitesize, 2019, www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zc36w6f/revision/1.

“Light as a Wave.” Lco.global, lco.global/spacebook/light/light-wave/.

Science Learning Hub. “Refraction of Light.” Science Learning Hub, Science Learning Hub, 26

Apr. 2012, www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/49-refraction-of-light.