NAME PERIOD DATE

SNELL’S LAW
STRUCTURED

Driving Question | Objective

What is the index of refraction of a transparent material provided by your instructor? Using
the principles of refraction and Snell's law, experimentally determine the index of refraction
of a transparent medium.

Materials and Equipment

 PASCO Basic Optics Ray Table1  PASCO Basic Optics Light Source2
 Transparent material with unknown index
of refraction
1
www.pasco.com/ap27 2
www.pasco.com/ap26

PASCO Basic Optics PASCO Basic Optics

Ray Table Light Source

Background
Light crossing a boundary between two transparent
materials changes direction if the speed of light within
those materials is different. This direction change is
known as refraction.
Light traveling from a material in which it has high
speed (like air) to a material in which it has slower
speed (like glass) experiences refraction toward the
normal line perpendicular to the boundary, and light
traveling from a material in which it has slower speed
to a material in which it has greater speed experiences
refraction away from the normal line.
The amount of refraction experienced by light as it passes between two transparent
materials is dependent on the angle at which the light is incident upon the boundary
between the materials and the index of refraction of each material. The formula relating
these quantities is known as
Snell's law:

(1)
where n1 and n2 are the indices of refraction of the first and second material, θ1 is the
incident angle the incoming light ray makes relative to the normal line, and θ2 is the angle
the refracted light ray makes relative to the normal line.
In this experiment you will employ Snell's law to determine the index of refraction of a D-
shaped piece of transparent material. For the purpose of this experiment, assume that the
index of refraction of air is effectively equal to 1.00.

RELEVANT EQUATIONS

(1)

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Procedure
SET UP

1. Plug in the light source to turn it on, and then turn the wheel on the front of the light
source so that a single light ray is emitted. Place the light source flat on the lab table.

2. Place the ray table in front of the light source so it is not more than 10 cm from the light
source, and then adjust the position of the ray table so that the single light ray crosses
the exact center of the ray table (along the “normal” line).

3. Set the D-shaped lens in the marked outline on the ray table, with the frosted side of the
lens down, against the ray table.

4. Rotate the ray table so the light ray enters the lens at the center of its flat surface with
an incident angle of 10°. Use the degree scale on the ray table to determine the incident
angle.
NOTE: The light ray refracts as it crosses the boundary from air to the lens material, but
it does not refract as it crosses the boundary from lens to air. This is because the circular
shape of the lens causes the incident angle of the light ray at the lens–air boundary to be
zero.

COLLECT DATA

5. Use the degree scale on the ray table to measure the incident and refraction angles.
Record both angles in the Trial 1 row of Table 1 in the Data Analysis section below.

6. Rotate the ray table to increase the incident angle by 15° so the light ray enters the lens
at the center of its flat surface with an incident angle of 25°.

7. Measure and record the new incident and refraction angles in the Trial 2 row of Table 1.

8. Repeat the data collection steps three additional times, increasing the incident angle by
15° each time. Record the incident and corresponding refraction angles for each trial into
Table 1.

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Data Analysis
Table 1: Incident and refraction angles of a light ray crossing from air into an unknown transparent
medium
Incident Angle θ1 Refraction Angle θ2
Trial sin θ1 sin θ2
(°) (°)
1
2
3
4
5

1. Calculate the sine of the incident angle θ1 and refraction angle θ2 for each trial. Record
your results into Table 1.

2. Plot a graph of sin θ1 versus sin θ2 in the blank Graph 1 axes below. Be sure to label both
axes with the correct scale and units (if any).
Graph 1: Sine of incident angle versus sine of refraction angle for a light ray crossing from air into an
unknown transparent medium

3. Draw a line of best fit through your data in Graph 1. Determine and record the equation
of the line here:

Best fit line equa-

tion:

4. Use the slope from the best fit line to determine an experimental value for the index of
refraction n2 of the D-shaped transparent material:

where n1 = 1.00 (index of refraction for air)

Index of Refraction
n 2:

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Analysis Questions
1. What is your experimental value for the index of refraction of your transparent material?
How did you determine this value from your data?

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2. Below is a list of refractive indices for common materials. Use this table and your
experimental value for the index of refraction to determine a potential candidate for your
transparent material. Calculate the percent error between your experimental value and
the index of refraction value of your candidate.

Material Index of Refraction

Quartz 1.41
Acrylic glass 1.49
Polycarbonate 1.58
Dense crown glass 1.67
Diamond 2.42

3. Find another lab group that tested the same transparent material. Calculate the percent
difference between your experimental value and their experimental value of the index of
refraction.

4. What are factors that might have caused error in your measured value of index of
refraction?

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Synthesis Questions
1. A solid piece of clear transparent material has an index of refraction of 1.61. If you place
it into a clear transparent solution and it seems to disappear, approximately what is the
index of refraction of the solution? How do you know?

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2. Some lenses are shaped with one flat side and one
spherically-shaped side. This shape is designed to focus
parallel light rays onto a single point. In a few
sentences, explain how the spherical shape of the lens'
surfaces causes parallel light rays to focus on a single
point. (Assume the light is travelling through air into a
lens with an index of refraction greater than that of air.)

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3. A ray of light travels from glass to air with an incident angle of 37° from the normal.
What is the refraction angle? Assume nglass = 1.50 and nair = 1.00.

4. A laser beam is incident at an angle of 38.7° on a

0.0253 m thick piece of glass with a fully reflective
coating on its bottom surface. Part of the laser beam is
reflected off the top surface of the glass at point A, and
part is transmitted through the glass to point B where it
is reflected and sent out of the glass at point C. If both
surfaces of the glass are flat and parallel, what is the
perpendicular distance d between the two outgoing
beams? Assume nglass = 1.50 and nair = 1.00.

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