Introduction

In this experiment, we will study how sugar density affects the Index of Refraction of water by testing the effect of the increased amount of sugar on the Index of Refraction of water (IOR).

We hypothesized that water IOR increases linearly by increasing the amount of sugar in water.

Aim

To determine how sugar density affects the Index of Refraction of water.

Theory

1. Fermat principle is also denoted as the principle of least time.

2. The index of refraction of glass ranges between 1.44 and 1.95.

2. The index of refraction or refractive index determines the speed by which the light travels from a given medium.

Requirements

1. Four glass microscope slides

2. Laser beam

3. Water

4. Sugar solution

5. Notebook

Procedure

Step 1: Make a triangular glass prism by attaching four glass microscopes.

Step 2: This triangular prism will do the work of holding water.

Step 3: Pass the laser beam through the prism by placing it perpendicular to the wall and parallel to one side of the triangular prism.

Step 4: Measure the amount of beam that is refracted from the prism.

Step 5: Measure the refraction distance through an empty triangular prism, 12 sugar solutions ( 20 % to 80% wt/vol), and through pure water.

Step 6: Use Fermat’s law and calculate the IOR through each of the solutions.

Step 7: Record your observation.

Observation

1. To calculate the result, we derived Fermat’s Law from Snell’s law.

2. The IOR for pure water was 1.33, and for 10% of sugar, the solution was 1.349.

3. The published pure water and sugar solution indexes were 1.33 and 1.347.

4. Therefore, our result has more than 99% accuracy.

5. We find that on increasing the amount of sugar, the IOR of water also increases linearly by 1%.

Result

1. Our hypothesis in which we assumed that the IOR of water increasing or increasing the amount of sugar is correct.

2. The method we used to measure the IOR of water was reproducible, simple, and accurate.

3. We observed that dissolving substances such as sugar in water increase the amount of refraction through the water.

4. The greater the amount of sugar dissolved in water, the more the bent of light, and the more will be the IOR.

Conclusion

In this experiment on how sugar density affects the Index of Refraction of water, we determined the increase in IOR of water by increasing the amount of sugar in water.

Viva Questions With Answer

Q.1 What was the aim of your experiment?

ANS. We aimed to determine how sugar density affects the Index of Refraction of water.

Q.2 How does the amount of sugar increase depend on water’s IOR (Index of Refraction)?

ANS. Increasing the amount of sugar in water increases the IOR of water.

Q.3 What do you understand about Fermat law?

ANS. Fermat principle states the path traveled by a ray between two points is the path that can be traveled in the minimum time. It means that the ray chooses the path that can be traveled in the least amount of time.

Saquib Siddiqui

Saquib Siddiqui is a Mechanical Engineer and a content creator. He has special interest in science experiments and teaches the same to school and college students. He is also a technical lead at RUDE LABS PVT. LTD.