BRAINCAKEInvestigating Refractive Index
This practical measures the refractive index of glass using a rectangular glass block and a ray box.
Method:
1. Place the glass block on a sheet of white paper and draw round it.
2. Draw a normal at 90° to one long side, near the middle.
3. Use a ray box with a single narrow slit to aim a thin ray of light at the point where the normal meets the block, at a measured angle of incidence i.
4. Mark the incident ray and the ray leaving the far side with small crosses. Remove the block and join the crosses. Draw the refracted ray inside the block by joining the entry and exit points.
Sign in free to see the rest of this lesson, the R.E.C.I.P.E. recall steps and the quiz
BrainCake is free. Make an account in seconds and pick up where this page stops.
Key terms in this lesson
- refractive index
- A measure of how much a material slows down light, equal to the speed of light in a vacuum divided by its speed in the material.
More in Optics
- Refraction
- Snell's Law
- Dispersion
- Total Internal Reflection
- Investigating Total Internal Reflection
- Applications of Total Internal Reflection
- Concave Lenses
- Convex Lenses
All 21 lessons in Optics · All Edexcel AS-level Physics topics