Procedure

This page deals with the intrinsic and intricate procedure followed in order to create the refraction apparatus.


So the main thing this lab was trying to calculate was the speed of light in a gelatin mold. The procedure actually took me about three days to complete. The majority of which was spent trying to perfect the gelatin.


  1. Mold the gelatin. You will most likely have to use hot water to get a supersaturated solution of gelatin mixture. Be certain it is clear, unflavored gelatin. Cool the gelatin for one to two days or until it gets to the desired consistency.
  2. Build the apparatus. Your apparatus will need to include an accurate way to measure the angle the laser enters the gelatin and the angle at which the laser exits the gelatin. My design included anchoring the mount for the laser and the place where I put my gelatin together. I then used the angle that was displaced by the metal cable which anchored the two blocks of wood.
  3. Choose testing angles. For my experiment, the only angle I chose was 30 degrees from the incident.
  4. Apply Snell's Law. Now that you have an index of refraction, you can solve for velocity by n=c/v
  5. Review results. Make sure data makes sense. 

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