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Investigative Project (Final)

Carl Pinto completed a physics investigatory project to determine the refractive indices of various liquids using a hollow prism. He measured the angle of minimum deviation for benzaldehyde, water, and dilute sulfuric acid to calculate their refractive indices using Snell's law. The experimental values closely matched the actual refractive indices of the liquids.

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carl pinto
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101 views

Investigative Project (Final)

Carl Pinto completed a physics investigatory project to determine the refractive indices of various liquids using a hollow prism. He measured the angle of minimum deviation for benzaldehyde, water, and dilute sulfuric acid to calculate their refractive indices using Snell's law. The experimental values closely matched the actual refractive indices of the liquids.

Uploaded by

carl pinto
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

TOPIC: DETERMINATION OF REFRACTIVE


INDICES OF VARIOUS LIQUIDS USING A
HOLLOW PRISM
SUBMITTED TO: MS. SHRUTHI KISHOR
SUBMITTED BY: CARL PINTO

BATCH: 2023-234
CERTIFICATE
St Aloysius Gonzaga School

This is to certify that this “Physics Investigatory Project” on


the topic “Determination Of Refractive Indices Of Various
Liquids Using A Hollow Prism” has been successfully
completed by CARL PINTO of class XI under the guidance
of Ms Shruthi Kishor in particular fulfilment of the
curriculum of Central Board of Secondary education
(CBSE) leading to the award of annual examination of the
year 2022-23.

PRINCIPAL TEACHER IN-CHARGE


DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the Project work entitled


“Determination Of Refractive Indices Of Various Liquids
Using A Hollow Prism”, submitted to “St Aloysius Gonzaga
School”, is a record of original work done by me except of
the experiments, which are duly acknowledged, under the
guidance of my subject teacher “Ms Shruthi Kishor”.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I, CARL PINTO of standard XI, am glad to present my


Physics Investigatory Project on the topic Determination
Of Refractive Indices Of Various Liquids Using A Hollow
Prism .
I would like to express my thanks to Principal Fr. Melwyn
Anil Lobo SJ., for providing me with all the required
facilities.
I am also grateful to my parents, teachers and friends for
their assistance in completing this project in such short
period of time.
I would also like to thank my classmates for their helpful
instructions and suggestions.
INDEX

S. No Contents Page
number
1 ABSTRACT 1

2 AIM 1

3 APPARATUS REQUIRED 1

4 DIAGRAM 1

5 PRINCIPLE 2

6 FORMULA USED 2

7 PROCEDURE 2

8 OBSERVATION 3

9 RESULT 4

10 PRECAUTION 4

11 BIBILIOGRAPHY 4
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Abstract

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.

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

Diagram
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Principle
Let A, B, C be the glass of the prism. Suppose BC is the base and AB and AC are its two
refracting surfaces. From the above figure, we can say that PE is the incident. The ray
traveling through the rarer medium and than the refractive index of the prism is the
incident ray. As the ray EF strikes the surface of the and it is called as the refracted ray. FS
is the emergent ray which comes out.

Formula Used
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.
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Observation
 Benzaldehyde:
S.no a (angle of prism) i (angle of incidence) d (angle of 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 (angle of prism) i (angle of incidence) d (angle of 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 (angle of prism) i (angle of incidence) d (angle of 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
Result

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.icbse.com
 www.sciencebuddies.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 NCERT Physics book

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