BONA FIDE CERTIFICATE

It is hereby to certify that, the original and genuine

investigation work has been carried out to investigate about
the subject matter and the related data collection and
investigation has been completed solely, sincerely and
satisfactorily done by
Akshit Vijay of Class XII Science on topic:-

"Determination of Refractive indices of

various Liquids using a Prism"

Signature

Teacher

(Physics Department)

ACKNOWLWDGEMENT
 The successful completion of any task would be
incomplete without mentioning the names of those
persons who helped to make it possible. I take this
opportunity to express my gratitude in few words and
respect to all those who helped me in the completion of
this project.

It is my humble pleasure to acknowledge my deep

senses of gratitude to my Physics teacher, Mamta
Chaudry for her valuable support, constant help and
guidance at each and every stage without which this
project would not have come forth. I also register my
sense of gratitude to our principal, Mr. R. P. Sharma
For his immense encouragement that has made this
project successful. I would also like to thank my
friends and family for encouraging me during the
course of this project.

Last, but not the least, I would like to thank CBSE

for giving us the opportunity to undertake this project.

Project Overview
 Aim

 Apparatus Required

 Theory

 Procedure

 Observations

 Conclusions

 Precautions

 Bibliography

REFRECTIVE INDEX
In optics, the refractive index or index of refraction of
a material is a dimensionless number that describes
how light propagates through that medium. The phase
velocity is the speed at which the crests or the phase of
the wave moves, which may be different from
the group velocity, the speed at which the pulse of
light or the envelope of the wave moves.

The definition above is sometimes referred to as

the absolute refractive index or the absolute index of
refraction to distinguish it from definitions where the
speed of light in other reference media than vacuum is
used.

The refractive index determines how much the path of

light is bent, or refracted, when entering a material.
This is the first documented use of refractive indices
and is described by Snell's law of
refraction, n1 sinθ1 = n2 sinθ2, where θ1 and θ2 are
the angles of incidence and refraction, respectively, of
a ray crossing the interface between two media with
refractive indices n1 and n2. The refractive indices also
determine the amount of light that is reflected when
reaching the interface, as well as the critical angle
for total internal reflection and Brewster's angle.

While the refractive index affects wavelength, it

depends on photon frequency, color and energy so the
resulting difference in the bending angle causes white
light to split into its constituent colors. This is
called dispersion. It can be observed in prisms and
rainbows, and chromatic aberration in lenses. Light
propagation in absorbing materials can be described
using a complex-valued refractive index.

PRISM
In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with
flat, polished surfaces that refract light. At least two of
the flat surfaces must have an angle between them.
The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the
application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of
a triangular prism with a triangular base and
rectangular sides, and in colloquial use "prism" usually
refers to this type. Some types of optical prism are not
in fact in the shape of geometric prisms. Prisms can be
made from any material that is transparent to
the wavelengths for which they are designed.

A dispersive prism can be used to break light up into

its constituent spectral colors (the colors of
the rainbow). Furthermore, prisms can be used
to reflect light, or to split light into components with
different polarizations.

Light changes speed as it moves from one medium to

another (for example, from air into the glass of the
prism). This speed change causes the light to
be refracted and to enter the new medium at a
different angle (Huygens principle). The degree of
bending of the light's path depends on the angle that
the incident beam of light makes with the surface, and
on the ratio between the refractive indices of the two
media (Snell's law). The refractive index of many
materials (such as glass) varies with the wavelength or
color of the light used, a phenomenon known
as dispersion.

DISPERSION IN PRISM
Newton was the first to conduct this experiment on
passing light through a prism. 11c let sunlight pass
through the prism expecting to see white light on the
screen places at the other side but instead he saw the
spectrum of light after dispersion. He had a small
hunch regarding the significance here, but decided to
do something else here to confirm it. When light
travels from one medium to another; the speed of its
propagation changes, whit is why it 'bends' or is
'refracted'. Now hen light passes through a prism, s
refracted towards the base of the triangle.
The different colors in the spectrum of light have
different wavelengths. Therefore, the speed with which
they all bend, varies depending on this wavelength,
where violet bends the most, having the shortest
wavelength and red bends the least having the longest
wavelength. Because of this, dispersion white light into
its spectrum of colors takes place when refracted
through a prism.

AIM
To find out the refractive indices of different liquids
using a hollow prism

Apparatus Required
 Hollow glass prism

 Various liquids like water, carbon disulphide,

benzaldehyde etc.

 Bell pins

 Drawing board

THEORY
A prism is a transparent optical element with
flat, polished surfaces that refract light. Prisms can be
made from any material that is transparent including
glass, plastic and fluorite. A prism can be used to break
light up into its constituent spectral colors. Prisms can
also be used to reflect light, or to split light into
components with different polarizations.

The refractive index of the liquid is given by the

formula:

U=sini/sinr=sin((a+d)/2)/sin(a/2)

Where,
U=refractive index of the liquid.
a= the angle of minimum deviation
d=angle of prism
i=angle of incidence
r=angle of refraction

PROCEDURE
 Fix a white sheet of paper on the drawing board
with help of drawing pins.

 Keep the prism and mark the outline of it as ABC.

 Drop a normal PQ on the side AB.

 Draw the angle of incidence in accordance with

the normal PQ and place 2 pins so that they
appear to be in the straight line.

 Place the prism filled with given sample of liquid,

on the marked outline ABC.

 Now take the pins and place them on the side AC

so that all the 4 pins appear to be in same line.

 Remove the prism and draw the line joining the

points so obtained.

 Mark the diagram as shown in the figure.

 Repeat this with different liquids and different
angle of incidence.

OBSERVATION
 Benzaldehyde
S.no a º(angle of i º (angle of d º (angle of
prism) incidence) deviation)
1 60 30 45
2 60 35 42
3 60 37.5 40
4 60 39 42
5 60 40 45

U=sin((60+40)/2)/sin(30)= 1.504

 Water
S.no a º(angle of i º (angle of d º (angle of
prism) incidence) deviation)
1 60 30 25
 2 60 35 22
3 60 40 20
4 60 45 22
5 60 50 25
6 60 55 28

U=sin((60+22)/2)/sin(30)= 1.306

 Dil. Sulphuric Acid

S.no a º(angle of i º (angle of d º (angle of
prism) incidence) deviation)
1 60 20 33
2 60 30 30
3 60 35 25
4 60 40 29
5 60 45 30

U=sin((60+25)/2)/sin(30)= 1.351

CONCLUSION
Refractive indices at room temperature:
  Benzaldehyde
o Actual: 1.546
o Experimental: 1.504

 Water
o Actual: 1.33
o Experimental: 1.306

 Dil. Sulphuric acid

o Actual: 1.355
o Experimental: 1.351

PRECAUTIONS
 Angle of incidence should lie b/w 35-60 degree.
 Pins should be vertically fixed and should lie in
same line.

 Distance b/w two points should not be less than

10mm.

 Same angle of prism should be used for all

observation.

 Arrow head should be marked to represent

emergent and incident ray.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 www.google.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 Physics Lab Manual