CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that …………………………...... of Class XII-A has

completed the Physics project titled “REFRACTIVE INDICES

OF VARIOUS LIQUIDS” in

partial fulfilment of curriculum of ALL INDIA SENIOR

SECONDARY EXAM (CBSE). This project was carried out in the

school laboratory of K.V. Pangode during the academic year

2014-15.

Internal Examiner External Examiner

School Seal Principal

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 Acknowledgement
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude in few

words and respect to all those who helped me in the

completion of this project. The successful completion of any

task would be incomplete without mentioning the names of

those persons who helped to make it possible.

It is my humble pleasure to acknowledge my deep senses

of gratitude and heartfelt indebtedness to my teacher

Smt.Lekshmi Devi for her valuable support, constant help and

guidance at each and every stage, without which this project

would not have come forth.

I also register my sense of gratitude to our Principal, my

teacher Shri K. B. K Unnithan, for his immense encouragement

that has made this project successful.

I would also like to thank my friends and family for their

endless support without which I could not have

completed this work in time.

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 INDEX

Page
Sl Title
no: no:

1. Certificate 0
2

2. Acknowledgemen 0
t 3

3. Introduction 0
5

4. Experiment 1
3

5. Bibliography 2
3

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Introduction
This project envisages the use of hollow glass prism to

calculate the refractive indices of various liquids. The hollow

glass prism is filled with the liquid and then the deviation in

the path of the ray of light, as it suffers refraction, is

studied. Readings of the experiment are noted with the

various liquids and refractive index is calculated for each

pair of media.It has been assumed that the refractive index

of the liquids is with respect to that of air.Important general

terms related to refraction of light are given below:-

Refraction:

In a homogenous medium, light travels along a straight line.

But whenever it falls on the surface of another medium, a very

small fraction of it is reflected back and most of the light

passes

into the medium, though with a change of direction. This

phenomenon of the bending of light at the surface of

separation of two media is called refraction of light.

4
Cause of Refraction:

The phenomenon of refraction takes place when a beam of

light enters a medium in which light travels with a different

velocity.

Laws Of Reflection:

1. The reflected ray, the incident ray, and the normal at the

point of incidence all lie in the same plane.

2. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of

reflection.

Laws Of Refraction:

1. The incident ray, the refracted ray, and the normal at the

point of incidence all lie in the same plane.

2. For any two given media the ratio sin i / sin r is a constant

(where i is the angle of incidence, r is the angle of refraction).

This is also called Snell's Law.

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For a monochromatic light, the ratio of the sine of the angle of

incidence to the angle of refraction is a constant for two given

media in contact.If "i" is the angle of incidence and "r" the

angle of

refraction then sin i / sin r = constant.

This constant is called the refractive index. For most purposes it

may be assumed that the refractive index is

w.r.t. air. When light travels from rarer to denser medium it bends

towards the normal and when it travels from denser to rarer

medium it bends away from the normal. It has been

experimentally determined that refractive index of a substance,

µ= c/v.

c=the speed of light in vacuum

v= the speed of light in the substance

6
7
Prism:

A portion of transparent medium bounded by two

plane surfaces inclined to each other at a suitable angle is

called a prism. The angle between the two faces is known as

the angle of the angle of the prism or the refracting angle.

Refractive Edge:

The line of interaction of the edges of the planes is known as

the refractive edge of the prism.

Angle of Deviation:

The angle through which the incident ray of light is

deviated is called the angle of deviation.

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Angle of Minimum Deviation:

As the value of the angle of incidence (i) increases, the angle of

deviation (d) decreases till for a particular value of angle of

incidence, it attains a minimum value 'Dm' called the

angle of minimum deviation and then increases again. At this

angle (Dm) the incident ray and the emergent ray are

symmetrical w.r.t. the refracting surfaces.

Critical Angle:

It is that angle of incidence in the denser medium for which

the corresponding angle of refraction in the rarer medium is

90 degrees.

µ = l/sin c where

µ = Refractive Index
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c= critical angle

Relation between refractive index and critical angle according

to Snell's Law:

b
µa= sin i/ sin r where i = c and r = 90°

b
µa = sin c/ sin 90° = sin c

But bµa = 1/ aµb

i.e. 1/ aµb = sin

c or aµb= 1/sin c

PRISM FORMULA

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Let ABC represent a section of the glass prism and let L be a ray

incident at an angle "I" on the first face AB of the prism at a point

"E". NN’ is the normal to this face.

The material of the prism is denser with respect to air, as such the

ray would refract in the direction EF making an angle r with the

normal, reaching the second face AC of the prism at the point F

making an angle e with the normal MM’ .

The ray emerges in the

direction FS bending away from the normal making an angle "e"

with the normal.

If the incident ray PE be produced forwards to meet FS (also to be

produced backwards) at G then the angle HGF is called the angle of

deviation and is represented by D. Angle "BAC" is called the

refracting angle of the prism and represented by "A".

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From the figure it can be proved:

D = (I + e) - (r1 + r2) (using exterior angle property of a

triangle)

and A = (r1 + r2)

Therefore A + D = I + e; when angle of deviation D has the

minimum value Dm, the following conditions are fulfilled

I = e and r1 = r2 = r (say)

Applying these conditions in the equation A =

2r Or r = A/2 A + Dm = 2I

I = (A + Dm)/2

Since 1µ2 = sin i/ sin r

1
µ = {sin(A + Dm)/2}/{sin A/2}

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 Experiment
AIM:

To find out the refractive indices of different liquids using a

hollow prism and to find the speed of light in given transparent

fluids.

APPARATUS:

● Hollow glass prism

● Drawing board

● Pins

● Meter scale

● Protractor

● Sheets of white paper

● Various liquids
a) Glycerine
b) Water
c) Vinegar d)
Vegetable Oil

THEORY:
Light is an electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the

human eye usually having a wavelength in the range of 400 nm

to 700 nm between the infrared, with longer wavelengths and

the ultraviolet with the shorter wavelength. The speed of light

in vacuum is found to be
exactly 299,792,458 m/s. Observable events that result from the

interaction of light and matter are called optical phenomenon.

Refraction is a surface phenomenon due to a change in its

transmission medium.

When a ray of light passes from one medium into the other, it

either bends towards the normal or away from the normal in the

second medium. This phenomenon is known as the refraction of

light.

A prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished

surfaces that refract light. Prisms can be made from any material

that is transparent including glass, plastic and fluorite. A prism

can be used to break light up into its constituent spectral colors.

Prisms can also be used to reflect light, or to split light into

components with different polarizations.

For a particular pair of two media and for a particular

wavelength of light (colour) the ratio of the sine of the angle of

incidence and the sine of the angle of refraction is a constant

quantity called the refractive index of the second medium w.r.t.

the first. It is represented by 2µ1= sin i / sin r.The value of the

angle of incidence "i" can be obtained in the terms of the

refracting angle "A" of the prism and the angle of minimum

deviation "Dm" and the angle of refraction "R" can also be

obtained in terms of the refracting angle "A" of the prism. Thus

we find that we can use the above relation derived for

determining the refractive index.

The experiment thus consists in finding the value of the

refracting angle "A" of the prism and the value of the angle of

minimum deviation Dm.

The refractive index of the liquid Is

given by the formula:

µ = {sin(A + Dm)/2}/{sin A/2}

For finding the value of Dm a curve is plotted between

 angles of incidence (i) and their respective angles of deviations

(d).

PROCEDURE

A) For finding the angle of prism

● Take a piece of white paper, fix it on a drawing board

using board pins.

● Place the hollow glass prism on the sheet and carefully
draw its outline. Draw a normal and carefully draw its outline.
● Draw a normal and an incident ray at an angle of 35

degrees with the normal on side AB of the prism.

● Fix two pins P1 and P2 on the incident ray which are at

least 5 cm apart.
● Fill the prism with water and place it over its outline.

Observe the refracted ray that comes after refraction from

the face AB

of the prism.

● Fix two more pins P3 and P4 to cover the image of P1 and

P2.
● Obtained angles r1 and r2 and add them to obtain the
 angle of the prism.
B) For finding the angle of minimum deviation
● Fix a white sheet of paper on a drawing board using

board pins
● Place a hollow glass prism on the sheet and carefully draw

its outline. Draw a normal and an incident ray of angle of

incidence 35 degrees on the side AB of the

prism.
● Fix two pins P1 and P2 on the incident ray at least 5 cm

apart.
● Fill the hollow prism with water and place it over its drawn

outline. Observe the refracted ray which comes after

refraction by placing two more pins P3 and P4 covering P1

and P2.
● Extended the incident and refracted ray to obtain the

angle of deviation, D.
● Repeat the above procedure taking other liquids and the

angles of incidence as 40° , 45° , 50° , 55° and 60°. Note the

lowest obtained value of angle of deviation as

the angle of minimum deviation, Dm .

● Using the value of the angle of prism (A) and the angle of

minimum deviation (Dm), calculate the value of the

refractive index of the liquids by using the equation

given in the theory.

● Select suitable scales to represent the angle of incidence
along the X-axis and angle of deviation along
the Y-axis and plot a graph. The graph gives the value of Dm,

which is the minimum most point of the parabola.

S.No. Angle of Angle of

Name of Liquid
Incidence Deviation
1 35° 25°
2 40° 24°
3 Water 45° 23°
4 50° 25°
5 55° 27°
6 60° 28°
7 35° 26°
8 40° 25°
9 Vinegar 45° 23.5°
10 50° 25°
11 55° 27°
12 60° 28°
13 30° 49°
14 35° 40°
15 Vegetable Oil 40° 39°
16 45° 34°
17 50° 36°
18 55° 39°
19 35° 41°
20 40° 38°
21 Glycerine 45° 36°
22 50° 35°
23 55° 36°
24 60° 38°
OBSERVATIONS:
CALCULATIONS:

A) Refractive index of liquids

Angle of prism (A) = 60°

Formula used: µ= {sin ((A + Dm)/2}/{sin (A/2)}

Water:

Dm=23°

Therefore µ = sin 41.5

sin= 0.66260=1.3252

Vinegar:

Dm=23.5°

sin 41.25 = 0.6593 =1.

Therefore µ = 3186
sin 0

Vegetable Oil:

Dm=34°

Therefore µ = sinsin47.0 = 0.7314

0 =1.4628

Glycerine:
 Dm=35°

Therefore µ = sinsin47.5 = 0.7373

0 =1.4746

Speed of light v= Speed of

Sl
Liquid light
no c
(m/s)
n (m/s)
1 Water 3×108/1.3252 2.26×108
2 Vinegar 3×108/1.3186 2.27×108
3 Vegetable oil 3×108/1.4626 2.05×108
4 Glycerine 3×108/1.4726 2.03×108
B) Speed of light in liquids

Graph for angle of minimum deviation

 RESULT
The refractive indexes of the four liquids were found to be
as follows:-

● Water, µ = 1.3252

● Vinegar, µ = 1.3186

● Vegetable Oil, µ = 1.4628

● Glycerine, µ = 1.4726

The speeds of light in the four liquids were found to be as

follows:-

● Water, v=2.26×108 m/s

● Vinegar, v=2.27×108 m/s

● Vegetable oil, v=2.05×108 m/s

● Glycerine, v=2.03×108 m/s

PRECAUTIONS
● The position of the prism should not be disturbed

on the white sheet.

● There should be no parallax between the pins P1,

P2 and their images P3, P4.

● The angles should be measured carefully.

● The curve of the graph should be smooth.

SOURCES OF ERROR

● Pin pricks may be thick

● Measurement of angles may be wrong

 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Physics Class XII NCERT Textbook

Comprehensive Practical Physics by Lakshmi Publications

www.hyperphysics.com

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