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Bending Light
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Start a report file in Word. Be sure to record the name of all group members and
the title of this lab (HO-27).
Research Task #1:How does Snell's Law work for a plastic
block?
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Equipment:
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Ray box, Ray box power supply, Inserts with slits, Protractor, Ruler, and
Plastic pieces, Newsprint
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In this activity you will study the refraction (bending) of light as it passes from
one medium (say, air) into another (say, plastic).
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Adjust the slits so that only one small ray of light is coming from the ray box.
Place the ray box on a clean piece of paper (without the plastic piece).
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Record the path of the light ray on the
paper. This path is the dashed line in
the figure below. This will facilitate
the measurement of angles and
distances. You may also use extra
paper if it becomes necessary.
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Take the rectangular plastic piece and
place it in the path of the light beam as
shown in the picture.
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When an electromagnetic wave (such as visible light) travels through a
vacuum, it travels at the speed c, known as the speed of light. Likewise, when an
electromagnetic wave (such as visible light) travels through a "transparent"
medium at speed v, it travels more slowly than through vacuum:v < c.
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