PHYSICS PROJECT

Determination of
Refractive indices
of various liquids
using hollow prism

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Every work is a pleasure and a sense of satisfaction. Here I would like to use this
opportunity to thank all who directly or indirectly helped me to accomplish
this project.

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my Principal, Vice Principal,

Academic Coordinator and to my teachers Mrs. Ditty and Mrs. Anupama who gave
me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project.

I would like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in completing
this project in a limited time frame.

Above all, I thank Almighty for helping me to complete this project successfully.

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 INDEX

SL.NO TOPIC PAGE

NUMBER

1 Introduction 2

2 Prism liquid measurement 6

3 Objective 8

4 Apparatus required 9

5 Angle of minimum deviation 10

6 Procedure 12

7 Observation 14

8 Results 18

9 Precautions 19

10 Bibliography 20

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 INTRODUCTION

The speed of light is maximum in vacuum or air. Light travels more slowly in any
other medium because it is constantly being absorbed when it travels through the
medium. The ratio of speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in another
substance is defined as the index of refraction.

speed of light in vacuum

Refractive Index, (n) =
speed of light in substance

Whenever light changes speed as it crosses a boundary from one medium to another,
its direction changes, i.e., it gets refracted. In the special case of light traveling
perpendicular to the boundary, there is no change in the direction upon entering
the new medium.

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The relationship between light speed in the two media (V1 and V2) the angle of
incidence (Ɵ1) and refraction (Ɵ2) and the refractive index of two media (n1 and n2)
is shown below:

𝑉1 sinƟ12 𝑛
= =
𝑉2 sinƟ2 𝑛 1

Thus, it is not necessary to measure the speed of light in a sample in order to

determine its refractive index, and knowing the index of refraction of the layer that
is in contact with the sample it is possible to determine the refractive index of the
sample quite accurately. Nearly all the refractometers utilize this principle, but many
differ in their optical design.

Samples with different refractive indices will produce different angles of refraction.
It is also possible to design a refractometer based on the refraction of light from the
boundary between the prism and the sample. These types of refractometers are often
used for continuous monitoring of industrial products and processes.

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 REFRACTOMETER:

In most liquids and solids, the speed of light, and hence the index of refraction varies
significantly with wavelength. Thus, for most accurate measurements it is necessary
to use monochromatic light. The most widely used wavelength of light for the
refractometer is the sodium D cone at 589nm. The speed of light in a substance is
slower than in a vacuum since the light is being absorbed and reemitted by the atoms
in the sample. Since the density of the liquid usually decreases with temperature, it is
not surprising that the speed of light in a liquid increases as the temperature
increases. Thus, the index of refraction normally decreases as the temperature
increases for a liquid.

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 PRISM LIQUID MEASUREMENT

Recently there has been an interest in measuring the refractive index of liquids. The
interest is driven by the semiconductor industry, where liquid immersion
lithography has become a popular way of printing smaller features on silicon wafers
and also by the biological community who are interested in knowing the refractive
index of various fluids for studies of biological processes at the liquid-solid interface.

While it is possible to pour liquid into a cup and measure the reflected light from the
surface as if the liquid were a solid piece of glass, but there are some important –
complications while measuring liquids, since only the surface of reflection is

measured.

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Very accurate index measurement of ‘bulk’ materials like glass and liquids has a
technique. Light is passed through a prism placed on a rotating stage. This stage is
rotated until the angles of the entrance and emitting beams are equal. This is the

minimum deviation condition. This technique is often used by glass manufacturers

to determine the refractive index of various glass prisms with accurate control of
temperature. Here, minimum deviation measurements can be accurate to better than
5 decimal place.

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 OBJECTIVE

1. To find the dependence of the angle of deviation on the angle of incidence, using a

hollow prism, filled one by one, with different transparent fluids.

2. To find the refractive index of transparent light.

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 APPARATUS REQUIRED

 Hollow prism
 Various liquids like water, glycerine, oil, benzene, etc.
 Drawing board
 White sheets of paper
 Drawing pins
 Pencil
 Half-meter Scale
 Thumb pins
 Graph papers
 Protractor

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 ANGLE OF MINIMUM DEVIATION

DEFINITION

 The minimum value of angle of deviation called angle of minimum deviatio

 deviation. It is represented by the symbol Dm.

EXPLANATION

For same angle of deviation, there are two values of angle of incidence. One
value equals to ‘i’ and other value equals to ‘e’. As the angle ‘i’ is increased from
a small value, ‘e’ decreases from a large value and angle of deviation decreases.
When angle of deviation is minimum (Dm), then ‘i’ and ‘e’ becomes equal.

The refracted ray QS goes parallel to base BC.

Since, i = e, we have r1 = r2 [ n = Sin I/sinr1=sin e/sinr2]
Hence, at minimum deviation, when r1 = r2= r

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 𝑨
We have, A = r1 + r2 =r+ r = 2r or r = 𝟐

Also, at minimum deviation,

D=𝑫𝒎 and i = e
From relation, A+D =i+e
𝑨+ 𝑫𝒎
We have, A+𝑫𝒎 = i+ i = 2i or i= 𝟐

From Snell's law,

𝑺𝒊𝒏 𝒊
n=𝑺𝒊𝒏 𝒓

𝑨+ 𝑫𝒎
𝑺𝒊𝒏
𝟐
n= 𝑨
𝑺𝒊𝒏
𝟐

This relation is useful for determination of refractive index (n) of

a prism material.

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 PROCEDURE
1) Fix a white sheet of paper on the drawing board with help of
drawing pins.
2) Draw a straight line XX' parallel to the length of the paper
nearly in the middle of the paper.
3) Mark points Q1, Q2, Q3... on the straight line XX' at suitable
distance about 5cm.
4) Draw normal N1Q1, N2Q2, N3Q3... On points Q1, Q2, Q3...
5) Draw straight lines R1Q1, R2Q2, R3Q3... making angles 35°,40°,..., 60°
respectively with the normal.
6) Mark one corner of the prism as A and take it as the edge of
the prism for all the observations
7) Put the prism with its refracting face AB in the line xx’ and
point Q1 on the middle of AB. Mark the boundary of the prism.
8) Fix two or more office pins P1 and P2 Vertically on the line
R1Q1. The distance between the pins should be 10mm or more.
9) Look the images of the points P1 and P2 through faces AC.
10) Close your left eye and bring your open right eye in the line
with two images.
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11) Fix two office pins P3 and P4 vertically and 10cm apart such
that the open right eye sees the pins P4 and P3 and images of
P2 and P1 in one straight lines.
12) Remove pins P3 and P4 and encircle their pricks on the paper.
13) Repeat the steps 7-13 with points Q2,Q3, ... For I =40°, ..., 60°
14)Remove the prism and draw the line joining the points so
obtained.
15)Mark the diagram as shown in the figure.
16) Repeat this with different liquids and different angles of
incidence.

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 OBSERVATIONS
Angle of Prism A: -60°

1. WATER

SL.NO. ANGLE OF INCIDENCE (°) ∠𝒊 ANGLE OF DEVIATION (°) ∠𝑫

1 35 26
2 40 23
3 45 24
4 50 26
5 55 27

𝑨+ 𝑫𝒎
𝑆𝑖𝑛
𝟐
Refractive Index, n= 𝑨
𝑆𝑖𝑛
𝟐
60°+23°
𝑠𝑖𝑛
2
= 60°
sin
2

sin 41.5
= sin 30.0
0.6626
= 0.5

= 1.3252

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Angle of Prism A: -60°

2. COCONUT OIL

SL.NO. ANGLE OF INCIDENCE (°) ∠i ANGLE OF DEVIATOIN (°) ∠D

1 35 34
2 40 32
3 45 31
4 50 36
5 55 38

𝑨+ 𝑫𝒎
𝑆𝑖𝑛
𝟐
Refractive Index, n= 𝑨
𝑆𝑖𝑛
𝟐
60°+31°
𝑠𝑖𝑛
2
= 60°
sin
2

sin 45.5
= sin 30.0
0.7133
= 0.5

= 1.426

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Angle of Prism A: -60°
3.GLYCERIN

SL.NO ANGLE OF INCIDENCE (°) ANGLE OF DEVIATION (°)

<i <D

1 35 39

2 40 37

3 45 36

4 50 37

5 55 38

𝐴+𝐷𝑚
𝑠𝑖𝑛 2
Refractive Index , n = 𝐴
𝑠𝑖𝑛
2

60°+36°
𝑠𝑖𝑛 2
= 60°
𝑠𝑖𝑛 2

𝑠𝑖𝑛48.0
=
𝑠𝑖𝑛30.0

0.7431
=
0.5
= 1.48
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 Angle of Prism: - 60°

SL.NO ANGLE OF INCIDENCE (°) <i ANGLE OF DEVIATION (°) <D

1 35 46

2 40 42

3 45 40

4 50 41

5 55 43

4. BENZENE
𝐴+𝐷𝑚
𝑠𝑖𝑛
2
Refractive index, n = 𝐴
𝑠𝑖𝑛
2

60°+36°
𝑠𝑖𝑛 2
= 60°
𝑠𝑖𝑛 2

𝑠𝑖𝑛50.0
=
𝑠𝑖𝑛30.0

0.7660
=
0.5
= 1.5320

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 RESULTS

1. The I-D Graph indicates that as the angle of incidence (i) increases, the angle of
Deviation (D) first decreases, attains a minimum value (𝐷𝑚 ) and then again starts
increasing for further increase in angle of incidence.

2. The angle of minimum deviation for

 Water, 𝐷𝑚 =23°
 Coconut Oil, 𝐷𝑚 =31°
 Glycerin, 𝐷𝑚 =36°
 Benzene, 𝐷𝑚 =40°

3. The refractive indices of

 Water, n=1.3252
 Coconut Oil, n=1.4260
 Glycerin, n=1.4800
 Benzene, n=1.5320

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 Angle of Incidence should lie between 35-60 degrees.

 Pins should be vertically fixed and should lie in same line.

 Distance between two points should not be less than 10mm.

 Same angle of prism should be used for all the observations.

 Arrow head should be marked to represent emergent and incident ray.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 https://www.wikipedia.org/
 https://www.arborsci.com/
 amrita.olabs.edu.in/
 engineering.case.edu
 www.braincart.com
 www.google.ae

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