Refraction (Investigating Refraction - Bending Light)

Aim: To investigate how light is affected by changing the substance it is traveling through.

Equipment: Ray box, power source, glass or perspex block, single-slit ray slide.

Method:

1. Collect the equipment from your teacher, and set them up to produce a single beam of light.
2. Place the glass block in the shaded area below.
3.PLace your box at the top of the page and shine the beam so it travels along 10 degrees line to the center of the protractor ( this is your angle of incidence)
4. Read the angle the light leaves the glass block at ( this is your angle of refraction)
5. Continue the investigation so you can complete the table opposite

Results:
10 degrees - 6.6 degrees
20 degrees - 13.2 degrees
30 degrees - 14.5 degrees
40 degrees - 25.4 degrees

Refraction Occurs because light changes speed and direction when it moves from one medium to another

Medium is the word used by scientist to describe a substance that light will travel through. A medium can be a solid or a gas.