Applied Science Refractive Index Experiment

Equipment 

• Rectangular Glass Block 
• Ray box with single slit 
• Power pack 
• A4 sheet of plain paper 
• Protractor  

Method

1) Place the rectangular glass block in the centre of the piece of paper and draw around it.  

2) Remove the block and draw a normal to one of the long sides on the outline of the block. 

3) Draw a line at an angles of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 degrees to this normal. 

4) Replace the glass block on the paper in its original position 

5) Position the ray box so that the ray of light pasess along the lines drawn in step, one at a time.

6) Use a pencil to mark the path of the emergent rays.

7) Remove the glass block and draw in the paths taken by the ray of light through the glass block. 

8) Use a protractor to measure the angles of incidence i, and refraction, r1. 

9) Calculate the refractive index, n, for glass using the equation: n/sinr1 = sin i1