Reports

Experiment 5
Reflection, Refraction and Polarization of Light



Objective:
The objective of this lab is to measure the index of refraction of a medium. In part A of the experiment, the index of refraction will be calculated by using Snell’s Law, where n1 is the index of refraction for medium 1 and is the angle incidence, n2 is the index of refraction for medium 2 and is the angle of refraction. Since the index of refraction for air is 1, the formula to calculate n2 is reduced to . In part B of the experiment, polarization is used to calculate the index of refraction. Brewster’s angle is determined by measuring the reflected light intensity at different angles. At Brewster’s angle the amount of polarized light reflected should be 0. The formula used to calculate the index of refraction is , where n is the index of refraction and is Brewster’s angle.

Raw Data Tables:
Part A:
Variables:
Symbol Variable Measurement Tool
Incident beam The angle ...