Behavior of light - Coursework Example

1.What is the objective of this assignment? The objective of this assignment is to determine how light behaves in mediums of different densities. 2.Explain total internal reflection? Total internal reflection is the the reflection of the of all the amount of a light ray that is moving from a denser medium to a less dense medium. For it to occur the ray of light must be travelling from a denser medium to a less dense medium and the critical angle should be lesser than the incidence angle. 3.Start Applet 1.

Select incident ray in Larger n region and select nupper equal to 1.00. This is a case where a light ray goes from a higher index medium into a lower index medium. 4.(a)In this step, you will change the values of the angle of incidence θ1 and record the values of the angle of refraction θ2. In each of the three cases below, record data until the angle θ2 reaches 90 degrees (after 90 degrees there is no more refraction). a.Set nlower equal to 1.10. Set the angle of incidence θ1 to 10, 20, 30, 40, 46, 50, 56, 60, and 65 degrees.

Each time you set the value of θ1, record the value of the angle of refraction θ2. θ1 10 20 30 40 46 50 56 60 65 θ2 8 18 27 35 38 44 48 52 56 .b)Set nlower equal to 1.20. Set the angle of incidence θ1 to 10, 20, 30, 40, 46, 50, 56, 60, and 65 degrees. Each time you set the value of θ1, record the value of the angle of refraction θ2. θ1 10 20 30 40 46 50 56 60 65 θ2 10 18 25 33 37 41 44 48 50 c.Set nlower equal to 1.40. Set the angle of incidence θ1 to 10, 20, 30, 40, 46, 50, 56, 60, and 65 degrees.

Each time you set the value of θ1, record the value of the angle of refraction θ2. θ1 10 20 30 40 46 50 56 60 65 θ2 8 15 21 25 32 34 36 38 41 5.On the same spreadsheet, input the data from question 4 as follows: The values of θ1 in the first column. The values of θ2 for nlower = 1.10 in the second column. The values of θ2 for nlower = 1.20 in the third column. The values of θ2 for nlower = 1.40 in the fourth column. Plot the values of θ2 vs. θ1. You should have three curves on your plot.

graph θ1 θ2, nlower=1.10 θ, nlower=1.40 θ,nlower=1.40 10 8 10 8 20 18 18 15 30 27 25 21 40 35 33 25 46 38 37 32 50 44 41 34 56 48 44 36 60 52 48 38 65 56 50 41 6.What type of curves do you get? How does θ2 vary as θ1 increases? Can you determine the critical angle from the curves? The curves are straight lines. As θ2 increases proportionately, the value of θ1 also increases proportionately. Yes the corresponding value when θ1 is 90. 7.Write a conclusion. It can be observed that as the refractive index increases, i.

e the denser the medium light is moving to the lesser the refractive angle becomes. Thus the denser the medium, the more the refraction a ray of light will experience.