Snell's Law
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University of Fort Hare
Snell's Law
Experiment with Snell's Law in this optics laboratory.
- Ultraconcurrent labs
- University & College
- High School
Laboratory information
Snell's law (the law of refraction) is a formula used to describe the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction, when referring to light or other waves passing through a boundary between two different isotropic media, such as water, glass, or air.
In this laboratory you can experiment with several lenses to find the refractive indices of different materials using this law.
In this version of the laboratory students will have to measure by themselves using the squares grid. The refraction angle is not given to them. An alternative version of the laboratory is available in which a verification stage is available with the resulting refraction angle. See "Snell's Law with verification" for that version.
What students do
Operate real equipment and reason from the measurements.
- Recommended level
- University & College, High School
- Typical access model
- Ultraconcurrent labs
- Works on
- Modern web browsers on school, university, and home computers.
- Teaching use
- Suitable for assignments, demonstrations, LMS-linked activities, and remote practical work.
Video
Available experiments
Use the real laboratory from the browser.
Teaching resources
Public laboratory contents
Snell's Law
Snell’s Law indicates how the direction of a light ray varies when it passes from one uniform material to another.
Read more
There are two different versions of this lab. The "no verification" version, where students will have to take their own measurements and the lab itself will not obtain the numerical results for them. In the other, the version "with verification", the students will be able to see the results. This particular activity is designed for the "no verification" version.
The objetives of this activity are:
- Introduce the student to remote experimentation
- Study Snell’s law by measuring incidence and refraction angles.
- Calculate the refraction index of a material in order to characterize materials by the refraction of light.
Snell's Law (answer)
Snell’s Law indicates how the direction of a light ray varies when it passes from one uniform material to another.
Read more
There are two different versions of this lab. The "no verification" version, where students will have to take their own measurements and the lab itself will not obtain the numerical results for them. In the other, the version "with verification", the students will be able to see the results. This particular activity is designed for the "no verification" version. (This is the version with a solution. The version without a solution is available as another activity.)
The objetives of this activity are:
- Introduce the student to remote experimentation
- Study Snell’s law by measuring incidence and refraction angles.
- Calculate the refraction index of a material in order to characterize materials by the refraction of light.