Aim

to compare the
lateral shift through
glass slab using
colored sheets.

Index
s.no. Topic Page no.

1. Acknowledgement 1
2. Certificate 2
3. Introduction 3
4. Refraction 5
 5. Lateral shift 7
6. definitions 8
7. aim 9
8. Material required 10
9. Theory 11
10. Procedure 12
11. Observation table 14
12. Conclusion 15
13. Precaution 16
14. Sources of error 17
15. bibliography 18

Acknowledgeme
nt
It gives me a great pleasure to express my
gratitude towards my physics teacher m s.
navita for her guidance , support and
encouragement throughout the duration of the
project . without her motivation and help , the
completion of this project would not have
been possible . I would also like to express my
gratitude to the lab assistant Mr. Manish for
his help.

Certificate
This is to certify that mohit negi of
class xii a has completed the project titled to
compare the lateral shift through glass slab
using colored sheets under my guidance and
completed it to my satisfaction . to the best of
my knowledge , the present work is result of
my original investigation and study.
{Physics teacher}

Introduction
Refraction is the change in direction of
propagation of a wave due to a change in its
transmission medium.
The phenomenon is explained by the conservation
of energy and the conservation of momentum. Due
to the change of medium, the phase velocity of the
wave is changed but its frequency remains
constant. This is most commonly observed when a
wave passes from one medium to another at any
angle other than 0 from the normal. Refraction of
light is the most commonly observed phenomenon,
but any type of wave can refract when it interacts
with a medium, for example when sound waves
pass from one medium into another or when water
waves move into water of a different depth.
Refraction is described by Snell's law, which states
that, for a given pair of media and a wave with a
single frequency, the ratio of the sines of the angle
of incidence 1 and angle of refraction 2 is
equivalent to the ratio of phase velocities (v1 / v2)
in the two media, or equivalently.
In general, the incident wave is partially refracted
and partially reflected; the details of this behavior
are described by the Fresnel equations.
 Refraction
While refraction allows for phenomena such as
rainbows, it may also produce peculiar optical
phenomena, such as mirages and Fata Morgana.

The refractive index of materials can also be

nonlinear, as occurs with the Kerr effect when high
intensity light leads to a refractive index
proportional to the intensity of the incident light.
Recently, some metamaterials have been created
that have a negative refractive index. With
metamaterials, we can also obtain total refraction
phenomena when the wave impedances of the two
media are matched. There is then no reflected
wave.
Also, since refraction can make objects appear
closer than they are, it is responsible for allowing
water to magnify objects. First, as light is entering
a drop of water, it slows down. If the water's
surface is
not flat, then the light will be bent into a new path.
This round shape will bend the light outwards and
as it spreads out, the image you see gets larger.
 Lateral shift
When a ray of light is incident obliquely on a
parallel sided glass slab the emergent ray
shifts laterally . the perpendicular distance
between the direction of incident and emergent
ray is called lateral shift . angle made by
incident ray with normal is called angle of
incident and the angle made by refracted ray
with normal is called angel of refraction .

Definitions
Incident ray: a ray of light travelling towards
another medium.
Point of incident: The point where an incident
ray strikes another optical medium
Normal ray: A perpendicular drawn at the point
of incident.
Angle of incident: An angle which incident
make with normal.
Refracted ray: A ray of light deviates from
its path of entering another optical medium.
Angle of refraction : An angle which
refracted ray make with normal.
Material required
A drawing board

Rectangular glass slab

Office pins

Sheets of white paper

A protector
Sharply pointed pins

Geometry instrument

Colored sheets

Theory
 Change of medium causes partial refraction and
reflection. In a homogenous transparent
medium , light travels in a straight line but
when a ray of light travelling in one
transparent medium , a part of light reflects
back into the medium which is called
reflected light and rest of light travels in
another medium is called refracted light.

Procedure
Place the rectangular slab on a
white sheet of paper fixed on
drawing board.
Trace boundary abcd of glass slab.
Remove glass slab. Draw an incident ray
Io on ab .
Draw a normal at the point of incidence
(nn through o).
Fix two points p and q on Incident ray
IQ.
 Place glass again within its boundary.
Looking from other side of glass fix
two pins r and s such that your eye
and feet of all pins are in one
straight line.
Measure angle of incidence , angle of
refraction and angle of emergence .
Angle of incidence is greater than
angle of refraction and angle of
emergence is equal to angle of
incidence.
Extend one backward. The emergent ray
is parallel to incident ray.

Observation table
Angle of Color of Angle of Angle of Lateral
incidence sheet refraction emergence shift

Red 30 48 2.1CM

50 yellow

green
30

30
50

50
2.0CM

1.9CM
red 35 55 2.5CM

55 yellow
green
35
35
54
55
2.4CM
2.3MC
red 30 60 2.9CM

60 Yellow
green
30
30
60
60
2.8CM
2.7CM

Conclusion
The path of incident ray and the emergent
ray when light passes through a
rectangular glass slab is shown
Within the experimental error angle of
incidence is equal to angle of emergence ,
 this implies that the incident ray and
emergent ray are parallel to each other .
The difference gap between extended
incident ray and emergent ray is called
lateral shift .
The path of incident ray and the emergent
ray when light passes through a
rectangular glass slab is shown

Precautions
The pins should be fixed vertical.
The distance between two pins
should not be less than 10mm.
Arrow heads should be marked
to represent the incident and
emergent ray .
The same glass slab should be
used for all observations .

Sources of error
 Pin pricks may be thick.
Angles measured may be wrong.
Glass slab may be changed.
Pins may not be straight .

Bibliography
Class 12 practical file
Physics Ncert
www.google.co.in
http://www.slideshare.net/Zenblade/lat
eral-shift
www.icbse.com