Lab Report # 1.3: Geometrical Optics
Title: Geometrical Optics
Objectives:
- To discover how light spreads out from a point source.
- To examine quantitatively how the intensity of light varies with distance from a point source.
- To discover how light rays can be used to represent light as it spreads out from a point source
- To discover the origin of parallel rays of light
- To observe quantitatively the interaction of light with the surface of a transparent object
- To examine the reflection of light at a surface between two transparent materials quantitatively
- To understand the law of reflection
- To understand Snell's law of refraction
- To observe total internal reflection and discover under what circumstances it occurs
- To examine dispersion of light and formation of rainbow
Materials:
-Activity # 1
*Prism
*Solid Clear Cylinder
-Activity # 2
*Graphing Paper
*Flashlight
-Activity # 3
*Clear Plastic Ruler
*Transparent Ruler
*Laser
*Light Bulb Socket
*Miniature Light Bulb
*Face Powder
*Protractor
*Pencil
*Glass Rod
*Small Paper Disk
*Meter Stick
*Battery
Diagrams:
Objectives:
- To discover how light spreads out from a point source.
- To examine quantitatively how the intensity of light varies with distance from a point source.
- To discover how light rays can be used to represent light as it spreads out from a point source
- To discover the origin of parallel rays of light
- To observe quantitatively the interaction of light with the surface of a transparent object
- To examine the reflection of light at a surface between two transparent materials quantitatively
- To understand the law of reflection
- To understand Snell's law of refraction
- To observe total internal reflection and discover under what circumstances it occurs
- To examine dispersion of light and formation of rainbow
Materials:
-Activity # 1
*Prism
*Solid Clear Cylinder
-Activity # 2
*Graphing Paper
*Flashlight
-Activity # 3
*Clear Plastic Ruler
*Transparent Ruler
*Laser
*Light Bulb Socket
*Miniature Light Bulb
*Face Powder
*Protractor
*Pencil
*Glass Rod
*Small Paper Disk
*Meter Stick
*Battery
Diagrams:
Results:
-Activity # 1
The luminous flux of the light coming from the bulb scattered. The light from the laser, on the other hand, did not spread and remained in a straight line.
-Activity # 2
The light rays from the parallel light were reflected and refracted when it was incident between the two transparent materials.
-Activity # 3
The refracted light of the red laser when it was incident to a prism remained the same color. On the other hand, the white light incident to the prism gave off different colors of light.
Discussion:
-Activity # 1:
The light that came from the light bulb spread out because the light bulb emitted it without any pattern or specific direction while the laser did not spread because it is organized or follows a certain path. The light from the light bulb was composed of diverging spherical waves and the rays from the laser were parallel; it was composed of plane waves.
-Activity # 2
The light was both reflected and refracted because it hit the flat plane of a transparent medium. The light was reflected because it struck a flat plane, and the light was refracted because it entered a transparent medium. Snell’s Law of Refraction states that there is a relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction. The Law of Reflection otherwise states that the angle of incident ray is equal to the angle of the ray that was reflected.
-Activity # 3:
When the white light entered the prism, a rainbow appeared. This happened because white light is a combination many different wavelengths of light. It was refracted and was separated into seven individual beams of colored light (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet). However, the red light from the laser remained the same color because it is a primary color of light; ergo, it cannot be refracted into different colors.
Conclusion:
-Light has many properties. It has the ability to produce different colors because it is a form of "electromagnetic radiation" and the visible light that we see is a small subset of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light
- http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refln/Lesson-1/The-Law-of-Reflection
-Activity # 1
The luminous flux of the light coming from the bulb scattered. The light from the laser, on the other hand, did not spread and remained in a straight line.
-Activity # 2
The light rays from the parallel light were reflected and refracted when it was incident between the two transparent materials.
-Activity # 3
The refracted light of the red laser when it was incident to a prism remained the same color. On the other hand, the white light incident to the prism gave off different colors of light.
Discussion:
-Activity # 1:
The light that came from the light bulb spread out because the light bulb emitted it without any pattern or specific direction while the laser did not spread because it is organized or follows a certain path. The light from the light bulb was composed of diverging spherical waves and the rays from the laser were parallel; it was composed of plane waves.
-Activity # 2
The light was both reflected and refracted because it hit the flat plane of a transparent medium. The light was reflected because it struck a flat plane, and the light was refracted because it entered a transparent medium. Snell’s Law of Refraction states that there is a relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction. The Law of Reflection otherwise states that the angle of incident ray is equal to the angle of the ray that was reflected.
-Activity # 3:
When the white light entered the prism, a rainbow appeared. This happened because white light is a combination many different wavelengths of light. It was refracted and was separated into seven individual beams of colored light (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet). However, the red light from the laser remained the same color because it is a primary color of light; ergo, it cannot be refracted into different colors.
Conclusion:
-Light has many properties. It has the ability to produce different colors because it is a form of "electromagnetic radiation" and the visible light that we see is a small subset of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light
- http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refln/Lesson-1/The-Law-of-Reflection