Download How Fast Does Light Travel in Water vs. Air?

LAB #10-2 – Light & Optics
Physics – McNutt
Name: _________________________________
Date: ___________ Period: __________
How Fast Does Light Travel in Water vs. Air?
Refraction Experiment
designed by Erin Bjornsson
How fast does light travel, and does it travel faster in water or air? The fastest thing in the whole
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universe is the speed of light in a vacuum (like outer space!), clocking in at a great 2.99 x 10 m/s. Light
travels in waves, and we call this traveling propagation. Propagation of waves has both a speed and a
direction, called the velocity. The velocity of light changes depends on the material it travels through.
Light waves can be changed in a few different ways. Reflection is when the waves bounce off a
surface and change direction, like when they hit a mirror or pool of water. Diffraction spreads out light
waves; an example of this is water vapor in the air diffracting light from the sun to create a rainbow. The
third type of light behavior is refraction. Refraction is where light waves pass through a material (what
scientists call a medium) and change direction. Have you ever stuck your arm beneath the surface of the
water in a fountain or swimming pool, and wondered why it looks like it has a sharp bend in it right at the
surface? This is because of refraction!
In this project, you will use a laser to measure refraction through different media. Laser is an
acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation,” which in simple terms means you
are firing beams of light in a straight line.
Problem
How does light refract differently when traveling through different media?
Materials
_ Sheets
of paper
_ Pencil
_ Colored
marker
_ Ruler
_ Protractor
_ Calculator
_ Rectangular
transparent material at least ¼” thick.
Some examples include:
_ Glass
_ Plexiglass
_ Plastic
_ Gelatin
_ Glass
dish filled with water
plastic dish filled with water
_ Laser pointer or laser pen
_ Clear
Procedure
1. Fold a clean sheet of paper in half.
2. Place one of the test materials on the folded sheet of paper so the centerline of the object is on the fold.
3. Trace the outline of the object onto the paper with the pencil.
4. Use a colored marker to make a small dot on the edge of the sheet. This is where you will aim the laser.
This dot should be on the same side as the fold, at least 1.5 inches from the fold. Why should the place
where the laser will be aimed be marked?
5. Lay the laser down on the table or countertop and adjust the beam so it enters the page at the colored
dot you made and hits the object at the centerline fold.
6. Turn the lights off if it makes it easier to see the laser beam.
7. Mark the laser beam path in and out of the object with a few dots using the pencil.
8. Use the protractor to measure the angle of incidence and angle of refraction. Record the data and be
sure to include any observations. The angle of incidence (θ1) is the angular distance from a reference (in
this case the centerline fold) at which the laser beam approaches and hits the object. In this case, the
medium is air. The angle of refraction (θ2) is the angular distance from a reference (in this case, the
centerline fold) that light travels through the new medium:
9. Using Snell’s law, calculate the speed of light in the air and in the test material. Snell’s law:
10. Repeat with different materials and compare the results.
Data & Observations
Please create data tables to accompany your observations for this lab report.
Results
Your results section should include a detailed discussion of Snell’s Law and how the light beam changed
direction and speed based on the observed angles of each material.
Conclusion
Provide a detailed conclusion of to match your results. You should submit a complete lab report, that
summarizes the introduction, and is tailored to your own data, observations, results and conclusions.