Refraction and How It Works

In this project we're going to be looking at what Refraction is and how it works, through experiments and the scientific method.

First we will try an experiment, then using the information learned from the experiment we will learn what refraction is and how it works.

For the experiment the supplies are the following:

A clear glass

Some clear water

Different objects that can be placed in the water with part of it sticking out and part of it submerged (ex: pencil, straw, pen) The object should also be able to not break/get damaged when submerged in water.

A piece of paper with 2 arrows drawn on it like so:

First pour water into the glass cup. Then you put an object in, look at it and see what you notice and if you want, record it. Then change the angle of the object and see what happens. Try this with all your objects one at a time.

Now hold the piece of paper with the arrows behind the glass of water. Hold one arrow behind the glass, then hold the other one. Now look at the paper through the glass, so you should see the cup, and behind it, the paper.

Notice what you see.

What did you notice and why do you think it happened?

When you put the objects in water they probably looked broken as they passed the water, like the picture above

when you viewed the arrows, through the glass, they probably looked reversed, like they were pointing in the opposite direction.

The reason for both of these phenomenons is called refraction.

Refraction is when waves of any sort change direction as they pass from one medium to another.

Medium basically means from one thing to another, like if you held a flash light in front of a clear glass of water and turned it on, the light will pass through the air, and when it travels through the water, it is changing mediums.

Also, everything travels in waves, from sound to light to gamma rays, it all travels in waves, different wavelengths determine characteristics such as visibility, strength, and audibility. The image shows the electro-magnetic spectrum, a chart which shows all kinds of waves and their wavelengths

The reason why they change direction is because they slow down. When the light wave passes from one medium to another, it slows down and that change in speed results in a change of direction. Thats why when the light reflects off the object and hits our eye, it looks "broken".