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Will Different Colors of Jello
Affect the Refraction of Light?
By: Nick S. and Shaka T.
B2
Mrs. Hawks
December 1, 2009
Will the different colors of Jello affect the refraction of light?
When light passes from one medium to another, it will refract, or bend, by an amount
that depends on how different the optical densities of the media are. The optical density of each
medium is its index of refraction. Critical angle is a critical measurement for this experiment.
Critical angle is the angle at which light is trying to leave the jello. The color of the jello will
possibly effect the critical angle by how different colors of jello might have different densities
than other types of jello. Some types of jello might also not be able to show the color of the laser
pointer through the jello. Certain colors of jello will make it better to see and measure the
critical angle of refraction in the jello.
The different measurements that we may need for this experiment will be the speed of
light in vacuum, C=299,797,458 M/s, Snell’s Law, n1* Sin (t1) = n2* Sin (t2), Refraction, n=c/v.
some key words that will be helpful to us are trajectory, medium, and vacuum. Index of
refraction and critical angle are also some key words we will need.
A few questions we will need to answer include: Why does light travel without oxygen?
Because light doesn’t need a medium to pass through like sound waves. How do we measure the
refraction of light? By using snell’s law, N1*Sin (t1)=n2* sin (t2) is how we can measure the
refraction of light. Who invented lasers? In 1960, Theodore Maiman invented a ruby laser.
What is a laser made up of? Lasers a made up of three components, One is a Medium, Second is
a method of introducing energy to introduce to the medium, the third are small mirriors that
refract the medium. What are lasers used for? Lasers can be used for many things like aming
weapons to be more accurate, or to break down materials. Where does light occur? Light occurs
in almost all places except for black holes. What are the different types of lasers? A few types of
lasers are, Gas lasers, Chemical Lasers, and solid-state lasers. When do we use lasers? We use
lasers almost every day, by using CD’s or projectors, or to cut metal in machine shops.
The different colors of jello that we will be using will include, blue, yellow, red, green,
and orange. These different colors of jello will each have their own effect on the refraction of
light in jello. We will be using a regular laser pointer to show a beam of light to measure the
refraction of light in the jello. All of the jello must be the same size in order to not affect the
light more than what the color might affect it.
We will need to know how to make these different types of jello, and how much is
needed. We will be measuring the angle of refraction by shining the laser in a straight line and
when the laser comes out the other side we will measure how far it refracted. A material we will
need include, a ruler, 5 packages of jello, each a different color, laser pointer, and a material to
block the laser pointer at the other side of the jello, and a protractor. We will need a non-clear
container to help us measure the refraction of the light. A clear container will just refract the
light as soon as the laser is shone through the jello and/or container.
The definition of a medium is an intervening substance through which something else is
transmitted or carried on. The definition of trajectory is the path of a projectile or other moving
body through space. Vacuum is defined as a space empty of matter. Refraction is defined as the
turning or bending of any wave, such as a light or sound wave, when it passes from one medium
into another of different optical density. These different words are words that will be helpful in
find our answer in our experiment. Refraction is what will determine outcome: whether the light
will change more dramatically with the different colors than the other colors.
The index of refraction will possibly be varied with the different colors if the color of the
laser will show more or not in each color. When the light leaves the jello and enters the air the
light may travel differently through the air then the jello because air is not as dense and doesn’t
refract the light like jello does.
In order for the laser to be visible, it must hit a medium. In air lasers aren’t visible like in
jello because air isn’t as dense as the jello. The molecules in air are not as close as the molecules
in jello, so a visible light path cannot be seen. But in jello, a visible light path can be seen.
Refraction occurs there because the light cannot travel straight through jello. It might be
possible to measure the refraction of light after it leaves the jello by spraying a mist of water
outside the jello. After the light passes through the jello, we could measure the angle of
refraction without having to worry about the air molecules changing the refraction to what it
should be, outside of the jello. We could also measure the angle in the jello, to be more accurate
in our results.
In conclusion, we will use our experiment to measure light and try to determine whether
or not light will be affected by color in jello. If we find that our experiment show that light can
be affected by color, we may decide to see if color may effect light in other substances. We may
also try to see whether shapes will effect the refraction of light. Many different things could
effect the refraction of light in substances. Color and shape and whether or not the substance is a
solid, liquid, or gas will also affect how light travels through it. We will use our experiment to
show how light can refracted in a solid with the color changed.
Willis, Bill. "Using Jello to Show Refraction and Reflection." Worsley School. 2009.
Wunderland Website Design, Web. 25 Nov 2009.
<http://www.worsleyschool.net/science/files/jello/andrefraction.html>.
Bellis, Mary. "History of Lasers." About. 2009. The New York Times Company, Web. 25 Nov
2009. <http://inventors.about.com/od/lstartinventions/a/laser.htm>.
Heckert, Paul. "Refraction of Light." Suite 101. April 13 2008. Web. 25 Nov 2009.
<http://atomic-molecular-optical-physics.suite101.com/article.cfm/refraction_of_light>.
"What is a laser made up of." mansfieldct. Web. 30 Nov 2009.
<http://www.mansfieldct.org/schools/mms/webprojects/light/lasers/What%20is%20a%20laser%
20made%20up%20of.htm>.