Ms. Seaward
Jeneé S. White
May 16, 2015 How Light Refracts Throughout Water
My experimental question for my project is: Would light bend at a refractive angle after it propagates through water? The resolution to my experimental question is that light does bend at a refractive angle after it propagates through water. My hypothesis for my project is: I hypothesize that light will bend because of real world examples and experiments. One instance is light refracts off street lamps after rain storms. Also, light refracts off of vehicles’ headlights, making difficult for light to propagate through after precipitation period. In summary, I hypothesize when light propagates throughout water, it bends at a certain …show more content…
angle. My educated guess is correct. It is correct because during the experiment, the lasers with different wavelengths propagated through the water at different angles. The independent variable that is used in my experiment is the lasers with different wavelengths, for which they have changed to see how it affects the dependent variable or variables. The dependent variables that is used in my experiment is the paper, white copy paper (3), clear glass cups (3), and 250 ml of deionized water. The dependent variable is the things that don’t change-experiment materials. The materials that are used in my experiment was paper, white copy paper (3), clear glass cups (3), and 250 ml of deionized water.
The procedure was split into 9 different steps.
The first step is to get three sheets of white copy paper. The second step is to fold each individual sheet of white copy paper in half and place on a table. The third step is to retrieve three rulers. The fourth step is to place one ruler on each of the folded sheets of white copy paper. The fifth step is to fill each cup with 250 ml of deionized water. The sixth step is to grab three protractors. The seventh step is to place each glass cup on top of the white paper, ruler, and protractor. Make sure that they line up with the edge of the clear glass cups. The eight step is to shine the three different lasers through each clear glass cup and determine the refractive angles with the three different lasers. The ninth and last step is to record (on a piece of paper) the three different angles of refraction with its corresponding laser wavelengths on a data …show more content…
table.
The bar graph deals with the trials, the wave length (in nanometers), and the refractive angle of the laser beam.
The bar graph states that there are three trials. In the first trial, it explains how the wavelength is 445 nm and the refractive angle is 15°. In the second trial, it describes how the wavelength is 532 nm and the refractive angle is 10°. In the third trial, it clarifies how the wavelength is 635 nm and the refractive angle is 5°.
In the pictures that you see all of the lasers it I have used was red. In the first picture, you see how the laser that is propagating through the water is angling at 15°. In the second picture, you see that the second laser is propagating through the water angling at 10°. In my third and last picture that I have shows how my third laser is propagating through the water angling at 5 °
During this entire science project, I have learned about the refractive angle of the laser beam when it propagates through water. I have learned that for the lasers that have a larger wavelength, the smaller degree of the refractive angle. I have also learned that this experiment takes time and to not rush on my experiment. What I could have done differently was to not rush through the experiment. Other than that one thing, I don’t think I could have changed anything else. I am certain that my data for my experiment is accurate. I love the way I have designed my project. I am certain that there is a possibility of myself getting an A on this
portion of this entire project.