Refraction Gizmo

Document Content and Description Below

Student Exploration: Refraction Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes. Vocabulary​:​ angle of incidence, ang... le of refraction, frequency, index of refraction, medium, refraction, Snell’s law, total internal reflection, wave front, wavelength, wave speed Prior Knowledge Questions ​(Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) Two runners ran side by side, each holding one end of a horizontal pole. 1. What would most likely happen if one of the runners began jogging in knee-deep water? 2. How would this affect the direction of the runners? Explain. Gizmo Warm-up Light can travel through many materials, or ​media​. As with a runner on pavement or sand, the speed of light can change when it moves into a different medium. The ​Refraction ​Gizmo allows you to observe what happens to a beam of light as it travels from one medium to another. Turn off ​View wave fronts​. Set ​Index of refraction​ ​2​ to 3.0. 1. Click ​Play​ ( ). Observe the ray of light as it passes from Medium 1​ to ​Medium 2​. The bending of the light ray you see is called ​refraction​. 2. Click ​Reset​ ( ) and turn on ​View wave fronts​. A ​wave front​ is an imaginary line that connects the crests or troughs of a wave. The ​wavelength​ of a wave is the distance between wave fronts. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved If one of the runners began jogging in knee-deep water, the runner would slow down. This would affect the direction of the runners because the runner on the dry ground would outpace the runner in the water. A. What happens to the speed of the light wave? The speed of the light wave got significantly slower as it passed from Medium 1 to Medium 2 B. What happens to the direction of the light wave? The direction of the light waves changes. The wavelength decreases as the light enters the medium and the light wave changes direction.Click ​Play​. What happens to the wavelength of the wave as it passes into ​Medium 2​? Introduction: ​The normal is an imaginary line perpendicular to the boundary between two media. The ​angle of incidence is the angle between the light ray in medium 1 and the normal. The ​angle of refraction is the angle between the ray in medium 2 and the normal. Question: What affects how much light waves refract? 1. Measure​: Click ​Play​. To measure the angle of refraction, turn on ​Click to measure angles​. Drag the protractor’s vertex to the intersection of the ray and the normal. Align the protractor’s legs to the ray and the normal in ​Medium 2​. 2. Gather data​: For each angle of incidence listed in the table below, use the Gizmo to find the angle of refraction. Then, fill in the “Change of direction” column by subtracting the angle of refraction from the angle of incidence. 3. Analyze​: What patterns do you notice? 4. Explain​: Do you think refraction would occur if the angle of incidence is 0°? Explain. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved As the wavelengths of the wave pass into Medium 2, the wavelengths get tighter/shorter. Activity A: Angle of refraction Get the Gizmo ready​: ● Click ​Reset​. Turn off ​View wave fronts​. ● Make sure ​View normal​ is selected. ● Make sure ​Index of refraction​ ​1​ is 1.0 and ​Angle of incidence ​is 45°. ● Set ​Index of refraction 2​ to 2.0. What is the angle of refraction? 20.38 Angle of incidence Angle of refraction Change in direction 20° 9.7 10.3 40° 18.25 21.75 60° 25.32 34.68 80° 29.02 50.98 The angle of refraction is nearly half of what the angle of incidence is. No, I do not think refraction would occur if the angle of incidence was 0°. If the angle of incidence was 0°, then that would mean that the angle of refraction is also 0°. There would be no change in direction. [Show More]

Last updated: 1 year ago

Preview 1 out of 7 pages