Experimental confirmation of the laws of reflection and refraction

Ledesma, Rafael Joshua, Institute of Civil Engineering

Abstract
The experiment was performed to measure the focal length and to determine the
radius of curvature of a concave mirror and a convex mirror. Further, it was
performed to determine the index of refraction of the acrylic trapezoid and to
measure the angles of incidence and refraction. It also involves the use of Snell’s
Law to calculate the index of refraction and to determine the critical angle at
which total internal reflection occurs in the acrylic trapezoid. The findings show
that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection in a plane mirror, and
a distinct relationship holds between the focal length and radius of curvature of
cylindrical mirrors. The Snell’s Law (Law of Refraction) was used to compute the
index of refraction and the critical angle of acrylic trapezoid.

1. Introduction
Light is reflected when there is an abrupt change in the direction of a wave that strikes the boundary between two
different media.
ϴi = ϴr (1)
On the other hand, refraction happens when there is a change in direction of propagation of a wave when the wave
passes two different mediums. Refraction can also be observed when light partly transmitted into a transparent object.
The reason behind this is that, transparent objects have a property called index of refraction or refractive index which
is denoted by n where,

n=c/v (2)

There are three laws that govern reflection and refraction: (1) the incident, reflected, and refracted rays and the
normal to the surface all lie in the same plane, (2) the angle of reflection θ r is equal to the angle of incidence θa for all
wavelengths and for any pair of materials, and (3) the Snell’s law which states that the ratio of the sines of the angles
θa and θb, where both angles are measured from the normal to the surface, is equal to the inverse ratio of the two indexes
of refraction:

nasin θa = nbsin θb (3)

2. Methodology

The exercise is comprised of four parts. The first part is about the reflection of light striking a plane mirror. A
plane mirror was placed on a paper and its surface has been traced. A light source, which is set to produce a single ray
of light, was then placed such that the ray of light strikes the surface of the plane mirror. The incident ray (the light
that strikes the plane mirror) was then traced, as well as the reflected ray. The light source was then removed and a
reference line was drawn to measure the angle of incidence and angle of reflection. Figure 9.1 shows the set up of the
experiment. This was repeated five times, each time observing the angle of incidence of relfection.
After this, the light source was again placed such that the light will hit the surface of the plane, but in this case, the
light source is set to produce three parallel rays of different colors. The incident ray and the reflected ray were also
traced, together with the label of color as the rays hit the plane and as they are reflected.
Figure 9.1. Angle measurement for reflection in a plane mirror.

For the second part of the experiment, the same set up was used, the only difference is that the light source was set
to produce five parallel rays which were reflected through a concave mirror. In this case, the surface of the curved
mirror and the light were also traced on the paper. Then, using a compass, a circle was drawn in a way that the surface
of the concave mirror is an arc of the whole circle. Measurement the radius of the circle followed. Locating the center
of the circle, a radial line, from the center of the circle passing through the focal point, was drawn until reaching the
side of the circle. This will be used to measure the focal length of the concave mirror (focal length was measured from
the focal point to the side of the circle along the radial line drawn). The same procedure was done but for this case, a
convex mirror was used. Take note that the traced light rays will not provide any intersecting lines. The traced lines
must be extended towards the position of the mirror until the lines intersects at a point, which will be marked as the
focal point.

Figure 9.2. Parallel rays incident to a curved mirror.

In the third part of the experiment, an acrylic trapezoid was placed on a paper. The surface of the trapezoid was
traced on the paper. A laser light was pointed towards the trapezoid such that the light will pass on the parallel sides
of the trapezoid, at a random angle, except 90˚ wherein the laser light is perpendicular with the parallel sides of the
trapezoid (shown at figure 10.3). The light hitting and passing through the trapezoid was also traced, marking also the
point wherein the ray enters the trapezoid and the point where it leaves the trapezoid. Remove the trapezoid and
connect the points where the ray entered and left the trapezoid, representing the ray of light inside the trapezoid. Draw
a line perpendicular to the surface and intersecting either of the two marked points. With this line as the reference,
measure the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction using a protractor. Repeat this procedure four times using
different angles (except 90˚).
Figure 9.3. Refraction of light in an acrylic trapezoid.

For the last part of the experiment, the acrylic trapezoid was placed on a paper, with the laser light entering the
trapezoid at least 2cm from its tip (see figure 10.4). Rotate the trapezoid little by little until the emerging ray almost
disappeared (it is correctly positioned if the light separated into colors and the red almost disappeared). Trace the
surface of the trapezoid and locate the entrance point of the incident light, the point of internal reflection and the exit
point of the internal reflection of the light. Also trace the incident ray and the refracted ray. Remove the trapezoid and
connect the point of internal reflection with the exit point of the reflected light. Also connect the entrance point of the
incident ray with the point of internal reflection. Measure the angle between these two lines and calculate the critical
angle using the concept of Snell’s Law, to solve for the index of refraction. Compare the measured and the theoretical
index of refraction by calculating the percent difference (index of refraction of Acrylic: n = 1.5).

Figure 9.4. Measurement of the total internal reflection in an acrylic trapezoid

3. Results and Discussions

On the first part of the experiment, the light source has been set to a single ray. A plane mirror has been placed
on the path of the ray to observe what happens to the angle of reflection when the angle of incidence was varied.

Table 10.1. Measured angle of reflection for different angles of incidence

Angle of Incidence (degrees) Angle of Reflection (degrees)
15 15
30 30
45 45
60 60
75 75

Table 10.1 show how the angles of reflection vary as the angle of incidence was varied. Based on the data, it can
be observed that the angle of reflection is always equal to the angle of incidence. This phenomenon proves the law of
reflection which states that the angle of refraction and the incidence angle lie in the same plane and that they form
equal angles with respect to the normal for all wavelengths and for any pair of materials.
Another set up was observed using a plane mirror but this time, a primary color ray was used. The source was
switched to a primary color ray and the plane mirror was placed along the path of the rays. As shown in figure 1, the
arrangements of the rays were reversed from left to right as if the rays are coming behind the mirror. The arrangement
of the color of the rays of the incident ray from left to right was blue-green-red and the arrangement of the rays of the
reflected ray was red-green-blue. In a plane mirror, the reflected have the same direction as though the image comes
from the point behind the mirror. This point is called the image point in which its distance is the same to that of the
object point which is the source of the rays.

In the second part of the exercise, the group used a light source that projected five parallel rays into the surface of
concave and convex mirrors. The surfaces of the mirrors were traced as well as the incident and reflected rays. The
incoming and outgoing rays were indicted through the use of arrows as shown in figures 10.5 and 10.7. The focal
points were marked and the focal lengths and the radii of curvature of both the convex and concave mirrors were
measured and recorded in Table 10.2.

In the figure above, the surface of the mirror, the incident and refracted rays, and the focal point are shown. When
the convex mirror was used, it can be noticed that the refracted rays bended away from a point found on the other side
of the mirror. That point is the focal point of the mirror and it was projected on the opposite side of the light source.
The radius of curvature of the mirror is represented by the dot located on the same side as the focal point.

Table 10.2. Focal length of a cylindrical mirror

Concave Mirror Convex Mirror
Focal length (m) 0.06 0.058

When concave mirror was used, the measured focal length was 0.058m and the radius of curvature was 0.116m.
Meanwhile, when the convex mirror was used, the focal length was 0.064m and the radius of curvature was 0.125m.
From the data gathered, we can notice that the focal length is approximately half of the radius of curvature of the
mirrors and these observations follow the expected relationship between focal length and radius. That is because from
the geometry of spherical mirrors, we can derive the formula
−𝑟
𝑓 = (4)
2
wherein f is the focal length and r is the radius of curvature .
For a plane mirror, the radius of curvature is infinity since it has a plane surface. And so it follows that the focal
length of the plane mirror is also infinite. Substituting the value of the focal length to the mirror equation
1 1 1
+ = (5)
𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 𝑓
where do is the distance of the object from the mirror, di is the distance of the image from the mirror, and f is the focal
length, we can derive the relationship 𝑑𝑖 = −𝑑𝑜 which means that the image formed by plane mirrors are always
virtual, upright, and “behind” the mirror with the same distance as the object is in front of the mirror [4].
On the third part of the experiment, the angles of refraction in an acrylic trapezoid for different angles of incidence
were determined. A single-ray light was used in this part. The trapezoid was positioned on a paper with the parallel
surfaces on the trapezoid are marked. The path of light was then traced, carefully marking the directions of the
incoming and the outgoing rays. Different angle of incidence were used such as, 14˚, 15˚, 16˚, 19˚, and 18˚. The
trapezoid was then removed from the paper and the points where the rays entered and left the trapezoid were marked.
The angles of the incident ray and the refracted ray were then measured from the normal surface on either of the point
where the ray enters or leaves the trapezoid. The actual ray trace is represented by the figure below.

Figure 10.8. Actual tracing of the incoming rays and the outgoing rays on the trapezoid using single
ray light source.

From the actual tracing, the angles of incidence and the angle of refraction were determined. The values are entered
in the table below.

Table 10.3. Angles of refraction in an acrylic trapezoid for different angles of incidence.
 Angle of Incidence Angle of Refraction Experimental index of
(Degrees) (Degrees) refraction of acrylic
15 28 1.22
22 12 1.28
13 10 1.29
10 7 1.42
41 49 1.20
Average: 1.28

The law of reflection and refraction states that when a light wave strikes a smooth interface separating two
transparent materials (in this case, air and the acrylic trapezoid), the wave is generally partially reflected and partially
refracted (transmitted) into the second material. In this experiment, a smooth surface was used to produce a definite
single ray. When a rough surface is used instead, both refracted light and the reflected light are scattered in different
directions hence, determination of the angle of incidence and refraction is not applicable because no single line is
produced. This reflection from a rough surface is called diffuse reflection and on the other hand, from a smooth surface
is called specular reflection.
According to Snell’s law or the law of refraction, the incident, reflected, and refracted rays and the normal to the
surface lie in the same plane. Generally, the plane is called the plane of incidence. Also, for a monochromatic light,
given two materials, a and b, of different compositions, on the opposite sides of the interface, the ratio of the sines of
the angle θa and θb, where both angles are measured from the normal to the surface, is equal to the inverse ratio of the
two indexes of refraction. Mathematically,

sin 𝜃𝑎 𝑛𝑏
= (6)
sin 𝜃𝑏 𝑛𝑎

From the data gathered, given an angle of incidence and refraction and the index of refraction of the air, the
experimental index of refraction of acrylic can be determined (see table 10.3). Let the interface a is the air and the
interface b is the acrylic trapezoid. Manipulating the equation 1, nb can be calculated using this equation,

(𝑛𝑎)(sin 𝜃𝑎)
𝑛𝑏 = (7)
sin 𝜃𝑏

The index of refraction for each angle of incidence was determined using the equation 7, and then get the average
index of refraction of the acrylic, which is 1.484 [5]. From the accepted value of the index of refraction of the acrylic,
n=1.5, the percent difference calculated is 1.07%. From the small percent difference, it can be concluded that the
determination of the index of refraction of acrylic trapezoid experimentally was successfully done.
Furthermore, it was observed that the angle of incidence is always greater than the angle of refraction. Hence, it
can be said that the refracted ray is bent towards the normal to the surface. This observation is supported by the fact
that when the index of refraction of the second material (acrylic trapezoid) is greater that the index of refraction of the
another material (air), from the equation 8,
𝑐
𝑛= (8)
𝑣

the wave speed is slower and the θb from the normal is smaller in the second material than the θa of the first material.
Therefore, the refracted ray is bent towards the normal to the surface.

Figure 10.9. Angle of incidence relative to the angle of refracted where the
index of refraction of material b is greater than material a (nb>na).
On the other hand, index of refraction of material a is greater than material b, the speed of the wave is faster and thus
smaller angle θa can be observed and the refracted ray is bent away from the normal to the surface.

Figure 10.10. Angle of incidence relative to the angle of refracted where the
index of refraction of material a is greater than material b (na>nb).

In the case where the indexes of refraction of material a is equal to the material b, it can be assumed that it behaves
just like a single material, the refracted ray is not bent at all regardless of the type of the material [5,6].

Figure 10.11. Angle of incidence relative to the angle of refracted where the
index of refraction of material a is equal to the material b (na=nb).
In the last part of the experiment, total internal reflection with the use of an acrylic trapezoid is to be observed.
Total internal reflection is a phenomenon that occurs when there is a complete reflection of a ray of light in a medium
of lower index of refraction. This occurs when there is a greater angle of incidence than a limiting angle also known
as the critical angle. [7].

Figure 10.12. Total internal reflection.

As the angle of incidence in increased, there would be less refraction and more reflection. The brightness of the
refracted ray decreases while the brightness of the reflected ray increases. Therefore, the brightness of the internally
reflected ray increases as the angle exceeds the critical angle [9].
Due to the unexpected power shortage, the group was only able to use laser instead of white light. Nevertheless,
theoretically, if the group was able to use white light they should have observed that the critical angle for the red light
is greater than that of the violet light. Since the critical angle is directly proportional to n, this implies that the red light
has greater index of refraction in acrylic than that of the violet light.
(9)
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
The curvatures of mirrors affect the direction of the refracted rays and the position of the focal point. In concave
mirrors, refracted rays bend towards the focal point which is located on the side where the light source is. The radius
of curvature can also be found on that side. In convex mirrors, the refracted rays bend away from the focal point which
is located on the opposite side of the mirror where the radius of curvature also lies. Also, because of mirror geometry,
the radius of curvature of the cylindrical mirrors is equal to twice the focal length.
Using the Snell’s law, the index of refraction of the material, which is acrylic trapezoid, was determined to be 1.28
which is near from the accepted value which is 1.5 by a percent difference of 14.67%. From the low percent difference
obtained, it can be concluded that this part of the experiment was successful and the data gathered can be used to show
the relationship of each qualities. Generally, the relationship of the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction on a
two interfaces depends on the indexes of refraction of the materials involved. In this experiment, the first material a
is the air and the second material b is the acrylic trapezoid. It was found in this experiment that varying the angle of
incidence will give different angle of refraction but the value of the angle refracted is always smaller than that of the
incident ray. That is, the angle of refraction will bent towards the normal to the surface. This is true for all similar set-
up which the index of refraction of the first material is less than the index of refraction of the second material.
Oppositely, when the index of the first material is greater than the second material, the angle of incidence is less than
the angle of refraction. That is, the angle of refraction will bent away from the normal to the surface. On the other
hand, when the indexes of refraction of the two materials are the same, it can be treated as a single object and therefore,
angle of incidence and refraction is equal to zero measured from the normal to the surface.
Lastly, in the total internal reflection, increasing the angle of incidence will decrease the brightness of the refracted
ray and increase the brightness of the reflected ray. Furthermore, the critical angle is directly proportional to n.

5. References
1. No Author, Reflection and Refraction, Electron6, Retrieved from http://www.electron6.phys.utk.edu
2. H. Young, A. Freedman, University Physics, 13th ed., Chapter 21, 26, 33, Pearson Education, Inc., San Francisco,
CA, 2012
3. No Author, Mirror, Retrieved from http://www.hyperphysics.phy-astr.psu
4. No Author, Plane Mirror, Retrieved from http://www.physics.tutorvista.com
5 Serway, R., and J. Jewett, Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, 9 th ed., Chapter 35,
Brooks/Cole, Boston, MA, 2014
6. Austin, J., Reflection and Refraction, Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu
7. Nave, R., Mirror Ray Tracing. Retrieved from http://www.hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu