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General Physics

how to find refractive index of a liquuid in a container?

Profile image of Jatin chauhan
11 Years agoGrade
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1 Answer

Profile image of Kumar Priyansh
11 Years ago
A simple method of measuring the refractive indices of transparent liquids is described, in which a watch‐glass serves to give the liquid the form of a plano‐convex lens. The image of the maker's trademark on an incandescent lamp is focussed by means of the liquid lens on a movable screen. The screen is supported on an optical bench mounted vertically. By using the image equation, 1/a+1/b=(n−1)(1/R), the refractive index,n, may be determined. A Wallace type G color filter is employed to give results comparable with the values of n determined with Na light. Results are given for distilled water, toluene, benzene and carbon tetrachloride. The greatest source of error lies in the vibration of liquids of low viscosity, which introduces difficulties in focussing.