AIM

To investigate the dependence of angle of deviation on

the angle of deviation using a hollow glass prism filled
one by one with different transparent liquids.

INTRODUCTION
A prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces
that refract light. The traditional geometrical shape of a prism is
triangular, with a rectangular base. Prisms can be made from any
material that is transparent. Typical materials include glass, plastic
and fluorite.
A prism can be used to break light up into its constituent spectral
colours (the colours of the rainbow). Prisms can also be used to reflect
light, or to split light into components with different polarizations.
PRISM AND NATURE OF LIGHT:

Before Isaac Newton, it was believed that white light was colourless,
and that the prism itself produced the colour. Newton's experiments
with prism demonstrated that all the colours already existed in the
light in a heterogeneous fashion, and that "corpuscles" (particles) of
light were fanned out because particles with different colours
travelled 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 colour is the visible manifestation of light's
wavelength.
Newton arrived at his conclusion by passing the red colour from one
prism through a second prism and found the colour unchanged. From
this, he concluded that the colours must already be present in the
incoming light thus; the prism did not create colours, but merely
separated colours 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 which took place in the
mid 14th century and ended towards the early 18th century.
Newton discussed prism dispersion in great detail in his book Opticks.
He also introduced the use of more than one prism to control
dispersion.

THEORY
REFRACTION OF LIGHT
Light rays travel in straight lines in a homogeneous
medium. But whenever a light ray passes from one
transparent medium to another, it deviates from its
original path at the interface of the two media. In the
second medium the ray either bends towards the
normal to the interface or away from the normal. The
bending of the light-ray from its path in passing from
one medium to the other medium is called refraction
of light. If the refracted ray bends towards the normal
relative to the incident ray, then the second medium is
said to be denser than the first medium. But if the
refracted ray bends away from the normal, then the
second medium is said to be rarer than the first
medium.
The refraction of light takes place according to the
following two laws known as the laws of refraction:
1. The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal to
the interface at the point of incidence all lie in the same
plane.
2. For any two media and for light of a given colour
(wavelength), the ratio of the sine of the angle of
incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is a
constant.

If the angle of incidence is i and the angle of refraction

is r, then
sin i
------- = constant.
Sin r
This law is called the Snells law and the constant is
called the refractive index of the second medium with
respect to the first medium.
If the first medium be represented by 1 and second by
2, then the refractive index is represented by 1n2. Thus
sin i
-------= 1n2
sin r
If the path of light be reversed, then by the principle of
reversibility of light we have
Sin r
------= 2n1
Sin i
Where 2n1 is the refractive index of medium 1 with
respect to medium 2. From the above two expressions,
we have
1n2 2n1 = 1 or 1n2 = 2n1
If there are three media 1, 2, 3, then
1n2 2n3 3n1 = 1
If medium 1 is air, medium 2 is water and medium 3 is
glass, then
anw wng gna = 1
REFRACTION THRUOGH A HOLLOW GLASS PRISM
Assuming, that the glass of the hollow prism will cause a very negligible deviation in
the path of the light, hence ignoring it.

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 colour of the light used. This
causes light of different colours to be refracted differently and to leave
the prism at different angles, creating an effect similar to a rainbow.
The phenomenon of splitting of light into its component colours is
known as dispersion. Dispersion takes place takes place because the
refractive index of medium for different wavelengths is different.

MINIMUM DEVIATION
For a given medium, the angle of deviation depends
upon the angle of incidence of the light-ray falling on
the medium through the hollow prism. If a light-ray is
allowed to fall on to the medium at different angles of
incidence (but not less than 30) then for each angle of
incidence the angle of deviation will be different. It is
seen from the curve that as the angle of incidence i
increases, the angle of deviation first decreases,
becomes minimum for a particular angle of incidence
and then increases again. Thus, for every medium,
there is one, and only one particular angle of incidence
that produce minimum deviation. The minimum angle
of deviation is represented by dm. In the position of
minimum deviation, the angle of incidence i and the
angle of emergence i are equal.
In Fig. 10.2, for the ray PQRS, the angle of incidence is i
and the angle of emergence is i.
Let the angle of deviation d be minimum, i.e., d = dm.
If the path of the ray is reversed (SRQP), then the angle
of incidence will be i and the angle of emergence will i
and d will still be minimum. Thus d is minimum for two
angles of incidence i and i. But d can be minimum only
for one angle of incidence. Therefore, it is clear that

i = i
Let n be the refractive index of the medium in the
hollow prism with respect to air. Applying Snells law for
the refraction of light at the points Q and R, we have
Therefore, if i = i, then r= r. Thus in the position of
minimum deviation AQR and ARQ are equal.