ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The successful completion of any task would be

incomplete without mentioning the names of those persons who
helped to make it possible. I take this opportunity to express my
gratitude in few words and respect to all those who helped me in
the completion of this project.
It is my humble pleasure to acknowledge my deep senses of
gratitude to my Physics teacher, Mr. Riyaz for her valuable
support, constant help and guidance at each and every stage,
without which this project would not have come forth.
I also register my sense of gratitude to our principal, Dr. Syed
Shoukath Ali, for his immense encouragement that has made this
project successful.
I would also like to thank my friends and family for encouraging
me during the course of this project.
Last, but not the least, I would like to thank CBSE for giving us
the opportunity to undertake this project.

Project Overview

Aim
Requirements
Introduction
What Is A Prism ?
How Does A Prism Work ?
Procedure
Observations
Conclusions
Precautions And Sources Of Errors
Bibliography

OBSERVATIONS

S.no

a (angle of prism) i (angle of incidence) d (angle of deviation)

1
2
3
4
5

60
60
60
60
60

U=

S.no

a (angle of prism) i (angle of incidence) d (angle of deviation)

1
2
3
4
5
6

60
60
60
60
60
60

U=

S.no

a (angle of prism) i (angle of incidence) d (angle of deviation)

1
2
3
4
5

60
60
60
60
60

U=

CONCLUSION
Refractive indices at room temperature:

o Actual:
o Experimental:

o Actual:
o Experimental:

o Actual:
o Experimental:

PROCEDURE

FIX THE SHEET OF WHITE PAPER ON THE DRAWING BOARD WITH

DRAWING PINS.
PLACE THE PRISM FILLED WITH LIQUID ON THE PAPER AND TRACE ITS
BOUNDARY ABC.
MARK A POINT O ON ONE OF THE REFRACTING SURFACES AND
DRAW A NORMAL TO THE SURFACE AT THIS POINT.
DRAW A STRAIGHT LINE PQ CORRESPONDING TO INCIDENT RAY
DRAWN AT A SUITABLE ANGLE WITH THE NORMAL.
FIX TWO PINS P AND Q ABOUT 5CM APART ON THE INCIDENT RAY
LINE AN VIEW ITS IMAGE WITH ONE EYE CLOSED FROM THE SIDE AC
OF THE PRISM. FIX TWO PINS R AND S SUCH THAT THE TIPS OF
THESE PINS AND THE TIPS OF THE IMAGES OF THE INCIDENT RAY
PINS P Q LIE IN THE SAME STRAIGHT LINE.
ENCIRCLE THE PIN PRICKS ON THE PAPER. REMOVE THE PINS P Q
AND ALSO ENCIRCLE THEIR PIN PRICKS.
JOIN POINTS S AND R AND PRODUCE IT BACKWARDS TO MEET THE
INCIDENT RAY PQ PRODUCED. THUS, RS IS THE EMERGENT RAY
CORRESPONDING TO THE INCIDENT RAY PQ. DRAW ARROW HEADS
TO SHOW THE DIRECTION OF THE RAYS.
MEASURE THE ANGLE OF DEVIATION WITH A PROTRACTOR AND
MEASURE PRISM ANGLE.

PRECAUTIONS AND SOURCES OF ERROR

A SHARP PENCIL SHOULD BE USED.

.
PROPER ARROWS SHOULD BE DRAWN TO INDICATE THE
INCIDENT, THE REFRACTED AND THE EMERGENT RAY.
A SMOOTH CURVE PASSING THROUGH ALL THE POINT SHOULD
BE DRAWN.
THE ANGLE OF PRISM SHOULD BE USED FOR ALL
OBSERVATIONS.
PINS SHOULD HAVE SHARP TIPS AND BE FIXED VERTICALLY.
VISIBILITY OF PINS MAY BE LOW FOR COLOURED LIQUIDS,
THEY MAY BE ILLUMINATED BY A SOURCE OF WHITE LIGHT.

INTRODUCTION

In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with

flat, polished surfaces that refract light. The exact angles
between the surfaces depend on the application. The
traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism
with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in
colloquial use "prism" usually refers to this type. Some
types of optical prism are not in fact in the shape of
geometric prisms. Prisms can be made from any material
that is transparent to the wavelengths for which they are
designed. Typical materials include glass, plastic and
fluorite.
A prism can be used to break light up into its constituent
spectral colors (the colors of the rainbow). Prisms can
also be used to reflect light, or to split light into
components with different polarizations.

WHAT IS A PRISM ?
Before Isaac Newton, it was believed that white light was colorless, and
that the prism itself produced the color. Newton's experiments
demonstrated that all the colors already existed in the light in a
heterogeneous fashion, and that "corpuscles" (particles) of light were
fanned out because particles with different colors traveled with different
speeds through the prism. It was only later that Young and Fresnel
combined Newton's particle theory with Huygens' wave theory to show
that color is the visible manifestation of light's wavelength.
Newton arrived at his conclusion by passing the red color from one
prism through a second prism and found the color unchanged. From this,
he concluded that the colors must already be present in the incoming
light thus, the prism did not create colors, but merely separated colors
that are already there. He also used a lens and a second prism to
recompose the spectrum back into white light. This experiment has
become a classic example of the methodology introduced during the
scientific revolution. The results of this experiment dramatically
transformed the field of metaphysics, leading to John Locke's primary vs
secondary quality distinction.

Newton discussed prism dispersion in great detail in his book Opticks.

He also introduced the use of more than one prism to control dispersion.
Newton's description of his experiments on prism dispersion was
qualitative, and is quite readable. A quantitative were introduced in the
1980s.

HOW DOES A PRISM WORK ?

Light changes speed as it moves from one medium to another
(for example, from air into the glass of the prism). This speed
change causes the light to be refracted and to enter the new
medium at a different angle (Huygens principle). The degree of
bending of the light's path depends on the angle that the incident
beam of light makes with the surface, and on the ratio between
the refractive indices of the two media (Snell's law). The
refractive index of many materials (such as glass) varies with the
wavelength or color of the light used, a phenomenon known as
dispersion. This causes light of different colors to be refracted
differently and to leave the prism at different angles, creating an
effect similar to a rainbow. This can be used to separate a beam
of white light into its constituent spectrum of colors. Prisms will
generally disperse light over a much larger frequency bandwidth
than diffraction gratings, making them useful for broadspectrum spectroscopy. Furthermore, prisms do not suffer from
complications arising from overlapping spectral orders, which
all gratings have.

Prisms are sometimes used for the internal reflection at the

surfaces rather than for dispersion. If light inside the prism hits
one of the surfaces at a sufficiently steep angle, total internal
reflection occurs and all of the light is reflected. This makes a
prism a useful substitute for a mirror in some situations.

AIM
TO INVESTIGATE THE
DEPENDENCE OF THE ANGLE
OF DEVIATION, ON THE ANGLE
OF INCIDENCE , USING
HOLLOW PRISM FILLED WITH
DIFFERENT TRANSPARENT
FLUIDS.

REQUIREMENTS
DRAWING SHEET
DRAWING BOARD
PINS
PENCIL
HOLLOW GLASS PRISMS

PROTRACTOR
RULER

BIBLOGRAPHY
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.com
CLASS

12

PHYSICS LAB MANUAL