JIJAU SHAIKSHANIK VA SAMAJIK SANSTHA’S
MRS. BHAVNADEVI BHAGWAN SAMBARE
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, ZADPOLI
Investigatory Project in Physics
“Dependence of angle of deviation on angle of incidence”
Submitted By:
Miss. Arya Sudhakar Shirke
Class: XII(Science)
Roll No.: 06
Under the guidance of
Ms. Ankita mam
(PGT Physics)
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Miss. Arya Sudhakar Shirke of
class XII-Science at Mrs. Bhavnadevi Bhagwan
Sambare International School, Zadpoli(Affiliated to the
CBSE Board) has completed the Investigatory Project in
Physics titled “Dependence of angle of deviation on
angle of incidence” herself under the supervision and
guidance of Physics Teacher Mr. Ashutosh Khushwaha
during the year 2023-24.
___________ ____________
Internal Examiner External Examiner
_______________ _______________
Principal School Stamp
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I am deeply thankful to my Physics teacher Ms.
Ankita Hatakar for extending his valuable and scholarly
guidance throughout the preparation of this project. I am
also thankful to the teachers and staff members of the
department of Physics for extending their humanitarian and
scholastic assistance in finding out the solutions to some
queries during my work. Last but not least I am indebted to
my friends, classmates and parents for encouraging and
never letting me down in my confidence while completing
the project.
I would like to thank our principal Mr. Rushikesh Hooli
who has always been a source of inspiration.
INDEX
Sr. No. Content Page No.
1. Aim and Apparatus Required
2. Theory
3. Process
3. Observation
4. Conclusion
5. Precautions
6. Bibliography
Aim/ Objective:
The aim of this project is to investigate dependence of angle
of deviation on angle of incidence using a hollow prism filled
one by one with different transparent fluids.
Hypothesis:
The hypothesis of this project is –
• The angle of deviation increases with increase in angle of
incidence.
• The angle of deviation does not depend on the liquid used
in the hollow prism for deviation.
Apparatus Required:
• Hollow glass prism
• Liquids like-
• Carbon Disulphide Water Benzaldehyde
• Bell pins
• Stiff drawing board
Theory:
• A prism is a transparent optical object with flat, polished
surfaces that refract light. Prisms can be made from any
material that is transparent including glass and even plastic.
• A prism can be used to break light up into its constituent
spectral colors. Prisms can also be used to reflect light, or
to split light into components with different polarizations.
• The refractive index of the liquid is given by the formula:
U==
Where-
U=refractive index of the liquid.
a = angle of minimum deviation
d=angle of prism
i=angle of incidence
r=angle of refraction
Diagrams:
Process:
• Fix a white sheet of paper on the drawing board with the
help of pins.
• Keep the prism on the paper and draw its outline as ∆ABC
• Drop a normal PQ on the side AB.
• Draw the angle of incidence in accordance with the normal
PQ and place 2 pins so that they appear to be in the straight
line.
• Place the prism filled with the given sample of liquid on the
marked outline ABC.
• Now take the pins and place them on the AC side so that all
the 4 pins appear to be in the same line.
• Remove the prism and draw the line joining the points so,
obtained.
• Mark the diagram as shown in the figure below
• Repeat this with different liquids and different angles of
incidence.
Observations:
The following are the observation tables of each of the
liquids used to find out their respective refractive indices-
• Benzaldehyde:
Angle of Angle of Angle of
Sr. No.
Prism Incidence Deviation
1. 60 30 45
2. 60 35 42
3. 60 37.5 40
4. 60 39 42
5. 60 40 45
U==1.504
• Water
Angle of Angle of Angle of
Sr. No.
Prism Incidence Deviation
1. 60 30 25
2. 60 35 22
3. 60 40 20
4. 60 45 22
5. 60 50 25
6. 60 55 28
U=1.306
• Dilute Sulphuric Acid:
Angle of Angle of Angle of
Sr. No.
Prism Incidence Deviation
1. 60 20 33
2. 60 30 30
3. 60 35 25
4. 60 40 29
5. 60 45 30
U==1.351
Graphical Representations of
observations:
Calculation:
The refractive indices change when the liquid used in the
prism changes. From the above experiment we can also
conclude that the refractive index of a liquid depends on its
optical density.
Refractive indices of the used liquids obtained, when compared
with the actual values are as follows-
1. Benzaldehyde:
• Actual = 1.5456
• Obtained = 1.504
• Deviation/Error = 0.0416
2. Water:
• Actual = 1.33
• Obtained = 1.306
• Deviation/Error = 0.024
3. Dil. Sulphuric Acid
• Actual = 1.43
• Obtained = 1.351
• Deviation/Error = 0.079
Analysis and Interpretation:
From the observations above, we can analyze that the angle of
deviation depends on the liquid present in the prism as, the angle
of deviation is different for Benzaldehyde, water and dilute
sulphuric acid at 30o (45o, 25o and 30o respectively). We can also
see that the angle of deviation does depend on the angle of
incidence, as when the angle of incidence is changed the angle of
deviation also changes.
The theoretical values of all the angle of deviations for all liquids
may vary due to different concentration and different prisms
being used for the experiment. The observations may also be
affected by the physical conditions like humidity and temperature
of surroundings.
Conclusion:
Comparing the conclusions to our initial hypothesis, we can say
that our first hypothesis, i.e. “The angle of deviation increases
with increase in angle of incidence” is wrong as the angle of
deviation first decreases then increases with increase in angle of
incidence.
We can further conclude that our second hypothesis, i.e.” The
angle of deviation does not depend on the liquid used in the
hollow prism for deviation” is also wrong.
Precautions:
• The angle of incidence should be between 35 and 60 for
better observations and accurate readings.
• Pins should be vertically fixed and should not be bent or
damaged as reading can change.
• Same hollow prism should be used for all observations to
minimize error due to prism.
• Error or deviation in obtained refractive indices must not be
more than 0.1.
• The distance between the pins should be more than 10mm.
Applications:
• Refractive index has a large number of applications. It is
mostly applied to identify a particular substance, confirm its
purity or measure its concentration.
• Generally, it is used to measure the concentration of a solute
in an aqueous solution. For a solution of sugar, the refractive
index can be used to determine the sugar content.
• It can be used to determine the drug concentration in
pharmaceutical industry.
• It is used to calculate focus power of lenses and dispersing
power of prisms.
Bibliography:
• https://studylib.net/doc/25306864/dlscrib.com-hollow-
prism-physics-investigatory-project-cl
• http://www.refractometer.pl/refraction-datasheet-sulfuric-
acid
• https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jp0310145#:~:text=The%2
0refractive%20index%20of%20water%20is%20obtained%
20from%20the%20displacement,at%20633%20nm%3B%2
01.331%2058.
• https://www.scribd.com/document/442279835/PROJECT-
ON-REFRACTIVE-INDEX-OF-DIFFERENT-LIQUIDS
