L10 Refraction of Light

Data Table 1 Initial Angle (°) θ 1 (°) θ 2 (°) sin θ 1 sin θ 2 n 2 Percent Error 10 10 8 0.1736 0.1392 1.2471 6.2311 20 20 15.5 0.3420 0.2672 1.2799 3.7639 30 30 22 0.5 0.3746 1.3348 0.3577 40 40 29 0.6428 0.4848 1.3259 0.3077 50 50 36 0.7660 0.5878 1.3032 2.0177 60 60 41.5 0.8660 0.6626 1.3070 1.7314 70 70 46.5 0.9397 0.7254 1.2954 2.5998 80 80 N/A 0.9848 N/A N/A N/A Known Index of Refraction 1.33 1. Graph the index of refraction by plotting sin θ 1 over sin θ 2 and determining the slope of the line. 2. Try repeating the experiment with the dish empty. What is different about the refraction of the light passing through the empty dish from the refraction of light passing through the dish filled with water? Without water, there is no refraction. 3. What would happen if the water in the dish were replaced with a denser liquid? What would be different about the refracted angle? A denser liquid would refract the light even more than water. The angle would be less. 4. In the juice and wine industry, a device called a refractometer is used to measure the sugar level in juice. How would the refraction of light be used to determine the sugar content of a solution? The amount of sugar in a solution affects its index of refraction. Thus you can determine the index then determine the sugar level.