Ryan Thomas Key: Sure, Unsure, Really Unsure, Data Missing

5/25/08
A. P. Physics

Optics Lab Report

Experiment 1: Color Addition

Table 1.1 – Results of Color Addition

COLORS ADDED RESULTING COLOR
red + blue + green White
red + blue Fuchsia
red + green Yellow
green + blue Cyan

Table 1.2 – Results of Reflection Off Colored Paper

COLOR OF PAPER COLOR OF COLOR OF PAPER IN
IN WHITE LIGHT LIGHT RAY COLORED LIGHT
Red Fuchsia
Blue Green Green/Cyan
Blue Deep Blue
Red Red/Orange
Yellow Green Green/Yellow
Blue Blue/Green
Red Deep Red
Red Green Yellow/Green
Blue Fuchsia
Red Orange
Green Green Bright Green
Blue Blue/Cyan

Experiment 2: Prism

Procedural Questions:
3a) What colors are seen and in what order are they?
(In Order) Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red; Technically, all
the colors in the visible spectrum, beginning with Violet and ending with Red.

3b) Which color is refracted at the largest angle?

Violet

3c) According to Snell’s Law and the information given about the frequency dependence
of the index of refraction for Acrylic, which color is predicted to refract at the largest
angle?
Violet
4) Do the colored rays emerge from the rhombus parallel to each other? Why or why not?
No. The waves that we see as colored light each have different frequencies, and
therefore different indexes of refraction in the acrylic material; this causes all three waves
to refract at different angles from each other as they collide with the prism’s walls. They
therefore exit also at separate angles, and thus are not parallel, by definition.

Experiment 3: Reflection – Plane and Curved Mirrors

Table 3.1 - Plane Mirror Results

Angle of Incidence Angle of Reflection
45 45
30 30
15 15

Table 3.2 – Cylindrical Mirror Results

Concave Mirror Convex Mirror
Focal Length 2 9/16 inches 2 9/16 inches
Radius of Curvature 5 1/8 inches 5 1/8 inches
using Compass

Questions – Part I:
1) What is the relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection?
They are exactly the same.

2) Are the three colored rays reversed left-to-right by the plane mirror?
Yes, like so:
Questions – Part II:
1) What is the relationship between the focal length of a cylindrical mirror and its radius
of curvature? Do your results confirm your answer?
F = ½ R; Yes, as 2 9/16 inches = (1/2)(5 1/8 inches)

2) What is the radius of curvature of a plane mirror?

Infinite; incoming parallel rays of light will never focus, making the focal length
infinite, and since F = ½ R, the radius of curvature is therefore (2)(infinity), which is still
infinity, just as (2)(0) is still 0.

Experiment 4 – Snell’s Law

Table 4.1 – Data and Results

Angle of Incidence Angle of Refraction n rhombus
22.5° 17° 1.31
74° 45° 1.35
44° 27° 1.53
Average index of refraction 1.40
Percent deviation from accepted value 6 2/3 %

Question: What is the angle of the ray that leaves the rhombus relative to the ray that
enters the rhombus?
0°; the rays are parallel.

Experiment 5 –Total Internal Reflection

Procedural Data:
- Measured Critical Angle: 43°
- Theoretical Critical Angle: 41.81°
- Percent Difference Between Critical Angle: 7%

Questions:
1) How does the brightness of the internally reflected ray change when the incident angle
changes from less than θc to greater than θc?
The brightness increases as the angle passes the critical threshold.

2) Is the critical angle greater for red light or violet light? What does this tell you about
the index of refraction?
The critical angle is greater for red light. This means that red light must have a
greater index of refraction than violet light in acrylic, as θc and n are directly
proportional.
Experiment 6: Refraction – Convex and Concave Lenses

Table 6.1 - Results

Convex Lens Concave Lens
Focal Length 5 ¾ inches 5 ½ inches

Procedural Questions:
6) No; one is 5 ¼ inches and the other is 6 inches

7) All the rays seem to focus at the same point. The two lens system focuses the rays
closer to the source than they would have focused with only the single lens. This is to be
expected; each lens bends rays to a sharper and sharper angle, decreasing the distance
until they finally converge.

Experiment 8: Apparent Depth

Procedural Data – Part I:

- Apparent Depth: 13/16 inches
- Apparent Thickness: 1 3/8 inches
- Calculated Index of Refraction: n = t/d = 1.375/0.8125 = 1.7
- Percent Difference (Of accepted value,
between accepted and calculated values): 13%

Procedural Data – Part II:

- Distance “x”: ½ inches
- Calculated Index of Refraction: n = t/d = 1.375/.5 = 2.75
- Percent Difference (Of accepted value,
between accepted and calculated values): 83%

Experiment 9: Focal Length of a Thin Lens

Table 9.1
Object Distance Image Distance Image Size (Magnification) 1/do 1/di
1 12.6 cm 87.4 cm -7x 0.079 0.011
2 88.8 cm 11.2 cm -0.13x 0.011 0.089
3 16 cm 32 cm 0.065 0.031
4
5
32.9 cm
14.2 cm
15.1 cm
45.8 cm
NO DATA 0.030
0.070
0.066
0.022
6
7
47.1 cm
57.5 cm
12.9 cm
12.5 cm
TO 0.021
0.017
0.078
0.080
8
9
13.6 cm
13.3 cm
56.4 cm
67.7 cm
RECORD 0.074
0.075
0.018
0.015
10
11
68.2 cm
78.5 cm
11.8 cm
11.5 cm HERE 0.015
0.013
0.085
0.087
12 13 cm 77 cm 0.077 0.013
Procedural Data:
- Focal Length (Solved using limits): 10 cm
- X-intercept: 0.089
- Y-intercept: 0.101
- F Average: 10.57 cm
- Percent Difference: 5.7%

Questions:
1) Is the image formed by the lens erect or inverted?
The image is always inverted.

2) Is the image real or virtual? How do you know?

The image is real, as it can be, and is, projected onto a screen.

3) Explain why, for a given screen-object distance, there are two positions where the
image is in focus.
The image focuses whenever 1/di + 1/do equals a specific number (1/f); this can
happen twice for a given screen-object distance because there will be two points at which
the lens can be placed where such a ratio is achieved: once where di is greater and once
where do is greater. The concept here is like that of the fact that you can be one unit away
from zero on a number line twice: once in the positive direction, and once in the negative
direction.

4) Why is the magnification negative?

The magnification is negative because the image is always inverted, which is
denoted with negative magnification. The common misconception that makes such a
magnification confusing is that the negative sign denotes a negative size, not a negative
direction.

Experiment 10: Telescope

Table 10.1 - Results
Position of Objective Lens (200 mm)
Position of Eyepiece Lens (100 mm)
Position of Screen
Observed Magnification
do1
di1
do2
di2
Calculated Magnification
Percent Difference
Questions:
1) Is the image inverted or erect?
2) Is the image seen through the telescope real or virtual?