PHYSICS EXPERIMENT REPORT (V)

Basic Physics

“TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION”

Arranged by :

Nama : Jeclin Inebel Dolontelide

NIM : 19101105011

Departement : Pharmacy

Group : III (three)

Lecturer / Lecture’s Assistant

PHYSICS LABORATORY

FACULTY OF MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCE

SAM RATULANGI UNIVERSITY

MANADO

2019
A. Aim
In this experiment, you will determine the critical angle at which total internal reflection occurs in the
acrylic trapezoid and confirm your result using Snell’s Law.
B. Equipment Required
- Light source
- Trapezoid from Ray Optics Kit

Other Equipment

- Protractor
- White Paper
C. Introduction
if the angle of incidence is increased beyond the critical angle, the light rays will be totally reflected
back into the incident medium. This effect is called total internal reflection. But note that total internal
reflection cannot occur if light is traveling from a less dense medium to a denser one.

Diamonds achieve their brilliance partially from total internal reflection. Because diamonds have a high
index of refraction (about 2.3), the critical angle for the total internal reflection is only about 25 degrees.
Incident light therefore strikes many of the internal surfaces before it strikes one less than 25 degrees and
emerges. After many such reflections, the colors in the light are separated, and seen individually.

In the late 20th century, a new, practical application of total reflection was found in the use of fiber
optics. If light enters a solid glass or plastic tube obliquely, the light can be totally reflected at the boundary
of the tube and, after a number of successive total reflections, emerge from the other end. Glass fibers can be
drawn to a very small diameter, coated with a material of lower refractive index, and then assembled into
flexible bundles or fused into plates of fibers used to transmit images, telephone calls, video signals, and
computer data. The reflective properties of fiber optic strands make fiber optic cables more efficient than
cables that transmit signals electrically. The flexible bundles, which can be used to provide illumination as
well as to transmit images, are valuable in medical examination, as they can be inserted into various
openings.(Giancoli, D.C.2000)

Reflection

When a ray of light strikes a smooth surface such as a mirror, the reflected ray leaves for mirror in a
definite direction which determined by two rules: (1) the incident ray reflected ray, and the normal to the
surface all lie in the same plane; (2) the angle incidence equals the angle of reflected. These angles are
measured from the normal and are denoted by i and r. To prove that i = r, we use Huygens principle.
 If a surface is not perfectly smooth, diffuse reflection takes place, with many reflected bundles of rays
coming from small flat spots. Much of what we see is made visible by such a process; the specular reflection
from a smooth surface such as we have just described is often a nuisance. If the surface is so rough that there
are no flat spots which are much larger than a wavelength, the light is scattered diffusely. We can think of
scattering as the absorption and re-emission of light by particles of a medium. The light of the sky reaches us
after being scattered by air molecules, water droplets, or dust particles. (Harcourt,1957)

Total reflection

When light passes from a medium of larger refractive index into one of smaller refractive index-for
example, from water to air- the refracted ray bends away from the normal. As the angle of incidence
increases, the angle of refraction also increases. When the angle of incidence reaches a certain value, called
the critical angle θc, the angle of refraction is 90°. Then the refracted ray points along the surface. (John
Cutnell, Kenneth Johnson, 2013)

It is always possible for an oblique ray to bend toward the normal as it enters a denser medium. If the
ray travels exactly along the normal, it continues to do so in the second medium. However, a ray in a dense
medium does not always emerge into a less dense medium. Suppose that n1 = 2 and n2 = 1. Then according to
Snell’s Law 2 sin θ1 = sin θ2. This is fine for values of sin sin θ1 up to and including 0.5. But no angle exists
for which sin θ is greater than 1; the sine of 90° is 1, and sin 91° is the same as sin 89°, which is less than 1.
We than ask what happens when θ1, n1, and n2. Have values which would make sin θ2 as calculated from
Snell’s Law greater than one, we find experimentally that no refraction takes place; the ray is completely
reflected back into the first medium. This is called total reflection, and it occurs if angle θ 1 in the denser
medium is greater than a certain antical angle. We also find that total reflection takes place at any angle; as
the angle in the denser medium is gradually increased, the reflected ray becomes stronger and the refracted
ray becomes weaker. In the limit, at the critical angle, the refracted ray just grazes the surface, last its
intensity s acro. Beyond the critical angle, the is no refracted ray and the reflected ray’s intensity exactly
equals that of the incident ray. This is one,of the few examples in physics of a process that is truly 100 %
effeciens at the; absolutely no energy is absorted at the surface. The critical angle can be easily compound
using Snell’s Law for glam surrounded in air, the angle works out to be almost 42°, in calculated in the
following example. . (Harcourt,1957)

For light crossing the boundary between two ttransparent material’s, Snell’s Law states n1 sin θ1 = n2
sin θ2 where θ1 is the angel of incidence, θ2 is the angel of refraction, and n1 and n2 are the respective
indices of refraction of the materials.

In this experiment, you will study a ray as it passes out of the trapezoid, from acrylic (n = 1.5) to air
(nair = 1).
 If the incident angle (θ1) is greater than the critical angle (θc), there is no refracted ray and total
internal reflection occurs. If θ1 = θc, the angle of the refracted ray (θ2) is 90°.

In this case, Snell’s Law states:

n sin θc = 1 sin 90°

Solving for the sine of critical angle gives:

Sin θc = 1/n . (Modul Praktikum Fisika Dasar, 2019)

An expression for the critical angle θc, can be obtained from Snell’s Law by setting θ1 = θ2 and θ2 = 90°

𝑛2 sin 90°
Sin θc = 𝑛1

𝑛2
Sin θc = 𝑛1 (n1 > n2)

Total reflection is used in many optical instruments, including binoculars. In order to erect the image,
as well as to obtain a longer path length between the objective lens and the eye lens, two 45° prisma are used.
Silvered mirrors might be used, but the prisma serve the same purpose, and give 100% reflection, whereas a
conventional mirror might become tarnished. Note that the angle in the glass 45°, which is a few degrees than
the critical angle for a glass-air interface. Total reflection takes place, and it is not necessary to silver the
reflecting surface at all. . (Harcourt, 1957)

If light passes from one material to another where the refractive index is smaller (say, from water to
air), the light is deflected away from normal. At a certain incident angle, the bias angle will be 90°, and in
this case the beam bias will coincide with the surface.

The angle at which this occurs is called the critical angle, θc. From snell's law, θc is stated with:

𝑛2 𝑛2
sin θc = 𝑛1 = sin 90° = 𝑛1

For all incident angles smaller than θc there will be refractive rays, although some light will also be
reflected at the border. However, for the angle of incidence greater than θc, Snell's law will tell us that sin θ2
is greater than 1.00. But the sine of an angle can never be more than 1.00. In this case there is no refractive
ray at all, and all the light is reflected. This effect is called perfect internal reflection. But note that perfect
reflection only occurs if light strikes the boundary where the medium outside the border has a smaller
refractive index.
Many optical devices, such as binoculars, use perfect internal reflection in a prism to reflect light. The
advantage is that almost 100% of the light is reflected, while even the best mirror reflects less than 100%.
Thus, the shadow is brighter. for glass with n = 1.50, θc = 41.8°. That is, a 45° prism will reflect all the light
internally, if set as described for binoculars. (Douglas Giancoli, 2014)

Now that we have sufficient mathematical methods and tools to solve the problems of reflecting and
transmitting waves with any angle coming, we can move on to special cases of perfect reflection and perfect
transmission. Here we will study specific combinations of medium types, angle of incidence and
polarization, which can produce both phenomena. To begin, we must first know the conditions for perfect
reflection. We want perfect power reflection, so ITI² = ITI* = 1, where T can be Tp or Ts. The fact that this
condition opens up opportunities for complex values for T will give us some flexibility. For the medium to
come. that is, the medium from which the waves come, we can note that n1p and n1s must always be of real
and positive value. But on the other hand, for the second medium which is across the border plane, n2p and
n2s will involve factors cos Ɵ, and 1 / cos Ɵ2, where

𝑛1
cos Ɵ2 = [1 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 Ɵ2] = [1 − {𝑛2} sin²Ɵ1]1/2

Snellius's law is used to derive this equation. We can observe that cos e2, and hence also n, and n2 will
be of imaginary value if sin 0,> nln, Let us take the example of parallel polarization, or p-polarization. Under
the condition n which is imaginary value, equation becomes

𝑗|𝑛2𝑝|−𝑛1𝑝 𝑛1𝑝−𝑗|𝑛2𝑝| 𝑍
𝑇𝑝 = = = 𝑍∗
𝑗|𝑛2𝑝|+𝑛1𝑝 𝑛1𝑝+𝑗|𝑛2𝑝|

where Z = n1p – j|n2p| . So, we can see that Tp Tp* = 1. which means that reflection of perfect power
occurs if n2p, is an imaginary value. The same result, that is perfect reflection, will also be obtained if n2p is
zero, which is obtained when sinƟ1 = n2/n1. Thus, we have obtained the requirements for perfect reflection,
which is

𝑛2
sin Ɵ1 > 𝑛1 (William Hayt, John Buck, 2006)
A. Analysis
Sudut dimana cahaya yang dibiaskan hilang merupakan pengertian dari sudut kritis. Sudut kritis juga
disebut dengan sudut datang yang memiliki sudut sebesar 90°. Pada pengukuran sudut, cahaya yang
dipantulkan harus tepat berada pada tengah-tengah sudut kartesius atau berada pada titik 0. Pada pengukuran
sudut, yang diukur adalah cahaya yang dipantulkan dari lensa. Jika cahaya yang dipantulkan mencapai 90°
maka akan terjadi pemantulan sempurna, yaitu dengan memiliki ciri-ciri yang dimana cahaya yang dibiaskan
menghilang. Hal tersebut terjadi pada percobaan yang kelima. Mata manusia dapat melihat 380-720 selain
dari itu manusia tidak dapat melihat.
Pada percobaan ini hal yang dapat diketahui yaitu mengenai pemantulan sempurna yang dimana terjadi
karena adanya cahaya. Cahaya merupakan sesuatu yang dapat mengaktifkan mata. Dengan adanya cahaya
pengukuran sudut dapat dilakukan dengan baik, karena cahaya memiliki sifat yang dapat dipantulkan dan
dapat dibiaskan. Jika sudut sinar datang diperbesar, maka sudut bias akan makin besar pula. Jika sudut sinar
datang diperbesar lagi, maka sinar datang tidak lagi dibiaskan, akan tetapi dipantulkan. Peristiwa ini yang
disebut dengan pemantulan total atau pemantulan sempurna.
Dalam percobaan yang dilakukan ada beberapa alat dan bahan yang digunakan seperti kertas putih
yang dimana pada kertas tersebut sudah di buat koordinat kartesius untuk mempermudah dalam menentukan
hasil dari sudut bias, hal ini dilakukan juga untuk mempermudah dalam menentukan titik tengah atau titik
nol yang harus dibiaskan. Ada juga alat yang digunakan yaitu sumber cahaya yang dimana pada
penggunannya digunakan sebagai media yang dipantulkan untuk dapat menentukan sudut bias yang dapat
terlihat dengan sempurna. Dalam pemakaian cahaya atau penggunaan cahaya hal yang dilakukan adalah
harus mendekatkan cahaya tersebut ke trapezoid agar dapat meminimalisir kesalahan data dalam pengukuran
sudut bias. Serta ada juga trapezoid yang digunakan untuk dijadikan sebagai medium, yang dimana cahaya
datang dapat dilihan didalam trapezoid tersebut.
Pada praktikum ini dapat diketahui bahwa semakin padat medium yang digunakan maka semakin akan
semakin jelas sudut bias yang dihasilkan, hal ini dibuktikan dengan pemantulan sempurna yang telah di
lakukan dalam percobaan kelima, medium yang digunakan pada percobaan ini adalah medium yang dapat
tembus cahaya seperti pada percobaan ini tidak digunakan medium besi karena partikel yang menyusun besi
tidak sama dengan partikel yang menyusun kaca, cahaya yang dibiaskan merambat melalui udara.
Dalam perambatan cahaya melalui udara dapa diketahui bahwa cahaya merupakan salah satu dari
gelombang elektromagnetik. Pada percobaan ini juga diukur kecepatan cahaya melalui ruang hampa (udara)
atau yang biasa disebut dengan indeks bias. Pada perbandingan sudut kritis yang dihasilkan didapatkan hasil
yang tidak jauh berbeda, hal ini dikarenakan oleh pemantulan yang mengenai titik tengah dari koordinat
kartesius memiliki sifat yang dimana sudut yang dipantulkan adalah sama yaitu mendekati 90° atau bahkan
hasil yang didapatkan yaitu 90°. Berbeda dengan hasil sudut bias yang disilkan hasilnya akan berbeda jika
data yang digunakan berbeda. Pada persentasi yang dicari didapatkan hasil sebesar 5,10%.
B. Procedure
1. Place the light source in ray-box mode on a sheet of white paper. Turn the wheel to select a single ray.
2. Position the trapezoid with the ray entering the trapezoid at least 2 cm from the tip.
3. Rotate the trapezoid until the emerging ray just barely disappears. Just as it disappears, the ray
separates into colors. The trapezoid is correctly positioned if the red has just disappeared.
4. Mark the surfaces of the trapezoid. Mark exactly the point on the surface where the ray is internally
reflected. Also mark the entrance point of the incident ray and the exit point if the reflected ray.
5. Remove the trapezoid and draw the rays that are incident upon and reflected from the inside surface of
the trapezoid. Measure the angle between these rays using a protactor. (Extend these rays to make the
protactor easier to use). Note that this angle is twice the critical angle because the angle of incidence
equals the angel of reflection. Record the critical angle here: θc = 42° (experiment)
6. Calculate the critical angle using Snell’s Law and the given index of refraction for acylic (n = 1.5).
Record the theoretical value here: θc = 41.81° (theoretical)
7. Calculate the percent difference between the measured and theoretical values: % = 0.45 %
A. Conclusion
Praktikan dapat mengetahui cara menentukan sudut kritis dengan menggunakan hukum Snell yang dimana
pada penentuan sudut kritis yang ada pada percobaan ini bahwa semakin padat medium yang digunakan
maka semakin akan semakin jelas sudut bias atau sudut kritis yang akan dihasilkan.
H. Refference

Cutnell, John dan Kenneth Johnson. 2013. Introduction to Physics. America: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Giancoli, D.C. , Physics for Scientists and Engineers 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey 2000

Giancoli, Douglas. 2014. Fisika: Prinsip dan Aplikasi. Jakarta: Erlangga

Harcourt. 1957. Preliminary Edition. America: Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.

Hayt, William dan John Buck. 2006. Elektromagnetika, Edisi Tujuh. Jakarta: Erlangga

Modul Praktikum Fisika Dasar, 2019