Refraction+Action

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Title
Refraction Action

Problem Scenario
This experiment could be helpful because it can help gain more of an understanding of science and geometry. This experiment will also help to determine if more research should be done on the topic.

Broad Question
How is light refracted?

Specific Question
Does the volume of a triangular prism affect the width of the light when projected on a flat surface?

Hypothesis
The size of a triangular prism will affect the width of the color when projected over a flat surface, because the size of the stripes of color will grow thinner as the size of the prism decreases. Therefore, the color will not be as wide. A larger prism will also take in more light and will give off more color because of this.

Independent Variable:
The volume of a triangular prism.

Dependent Variable:
The width of the color when projected on a flat surface.

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

 * The amount of light
 * The heat of the light
 * The position of the prism
 * The distance of which the width of the color is measured

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
Refraction: The change of direction of a ray off light, sound, heat, or the like, in passing (at an angle) from one medium into another in which its wave velocity is different. Prism: A transparent solid body, often having triangular basis, used for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting rays of light. Dispersion: As the wavelength of light changes, the index of refraction will also change; A different pane of glass will refract light differently. Deviation: The bending of waves of light away from a straight line. Optics: A branch of physical science dealing with the properties and development of visible and invisible light; also dealing with vision. Pentahedron: A solid figure with five faces.

General Plan
This experiment will test the width of light on a flat surface when light is refracted off of a prism. Each prism will be tested individually and held before a flashlight in a dark room. The light will refract off of the prism and the width of light at fifty centimeters away from the prism will be measured.

Potential Problems And Solutions
There are a number of problems that may come up during the execution of this experiment. Because glass prisms will be handled there is the chance that these prisms will break in one way or another. The solution to this problem would be to either have extras in case this happens, or always keep the prisms over a soft (but flat) surface to avoid a breakage all together. Another problem that may arise would occur when collecting the data itself. Because the color that is refracted off of a prism will always continue to travel over a flat surface, it will become hard to measure it. The reason for this being, even thought the color continues to travel, it will reach a point where you cannot tell there is color. This all depends on the magnitude of light that is being refracted through the prism, so the solution to this problem would be to make sure the light is always shining at the same brightness. Even another problem that may come up would also lie in the collection of data. This problem would come up when thinking about daylight. Though a flashlight may be used to execute the experiment, the daylight that surrounds the prism would also effect the distance the color travels over a flat surface. The solution to this problem would be to do the entire experiment all at once or in the same room with the same lighting and heat. All of these things could happen and would pose a problem if they are not taken care of in the correct manner. At the same time, none of these problems will be likely to come up, now that they have been identified.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns
Caution will be required during some parts of this experiment. Because glass will be handled during the majority of the procedure, there is a chance that the glass prisms could break and/or shatter which could be a problem if caution is not used. One other safety concern that would need to be considered before the execution of this experiment would concern light, and the flashlight that will be used to get the refraction of color off of the prism. If, at any point in time, the batteries of the flashlight run out, or the light bulb needs to be handled, caution will have to be used so as to assure no one is burnt in the process. A final concern that may arise during the production of this experiment would come up if the lights in a room happen to be off and someone needs to navigate around. This could be a concern for both the safety of a person and the execution of the experiment because a prism could be broken, and someone could trip or run into something if there is no visibility in the room.

What is your experimental unit?
The width of the color when projected on a flat surface will be measured during this experiment.

Number Of Trials:
There will be four different sized prisms that are used to measure the width of the color when projected on a flat surface.

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:
Each subject will be tested three times before all of the final data is compiled.

Number of Observations:
Over the course of the entire experiment, there will be nine observations in all. Each size prism will be tested three times, and there are three different sized prisms (extra small, small, large, extra large).

When data will be collected
Looking for an actual date or dates here. This is requiring you to commit to your project.

Where will data be collected?:
The data will be collected at a dark room at my house.

Resources and Budget Table

 * Item || Number needed || Where I will get this || Cost ||
 * x-small prism || 1 || http://www.indigo.com/science-supplies/glass-prisms.html || $3.50 ||
 * Small prism || 1 || http://www.indigo.com/science-supplies/glass-prisms.html || $4.35 ||
 * Large prism || 1 || http://www.indigo.com/science-supplies/glass-prisms.html || $4.75 ||
 * x-large prism || 1 || http://www.indigo.com/science-supplies/glass-prisms.html || $6.75 ||
 * Ruler || 1 || home || / ||
 * Flashlight || 1 || home || / ||
 * Open Floor Space || 1 || school || / ||

Detailed Procedure

 * 1) Collect all needed resources (one small prism, one medium prism, one large prism, a ruler and a flashlight).
 * 2) Find a dark room
 * 3) Set up the flashlight and the prism so that the flashlight is halfway up the prism and four centimeters away from the prism.
 * 4) Mark the location fifty centimeters away from the prism and turn on the flashlight.
 * 5) Measure the width of the light refracted off of the prism at fifty centimeters.
 * 6) Record the data
 * 7) Repeat steps five and six three times for each prism.

Photo List
I will take photos of my experiment before, during and after the execution. I will take pictures of the prisms as well as the light and the location where the prism is set up.

Data Table

 * |||||| Width of Refracted Light (cm) ||
 * |||||| Trial Number ||
 * Size of Prism || 1 || 2 || 3 ||
 * x-large ||  ||   ||   ||
 * large ||  ||   ||   ||
 * small ||  ||   ||   ||
 * x-small ||  ||   ||   ||

All Raw Data

 * |||||||| Width of Refracted Light (cm) ||
 * |||||||| Trial Number ||
 * Size of Prism || 1 || 2 || 3 || Average ||
 * x-large || 3.5 || 3.5 || 3.5 || 3.5 ||
 * large || 3.5 || 3.5 || 3.5 || 3.5 ||
 * small || 3.5 || 3.5 || 3.5 || 3.5 ||
 * x-small || 3.5 || 3.5 || 3.5 || 3.5 ||

Photos




Results
This experiment produced data that was all the same in every area. The width of light at fifty centimeters away from and extra large prism, a large prism, a small prism and an extra small prism was three and a half centimeters. Each prism was tested a total of three times to make a total of twelve trials in all, and three and a half centimeters was the width of the light each time.

Conclusion
The data that was collected during the execution of this experiment does not support the hypothesis. The hypothesis reflected the point that the size of the prism would affect the width of the light, but the data clearly shows that the size of the prism does not matter. The data collected shows that the width of refracted light off of a prism remains the same when measured fifty centimeters away from the prism itself and the hypothesis claimed otherwise.

Discussion
The data that was collected during this experiment showed that the width of light refracted off of a prism is not affected by the volume of a prism. All of the data is the same, coming in at three and a half centimeters wide. This data easily answered the question that was being asked during the duration of this experiment and again, it proved that the width of light refracted off of a prism is not affected by the volume of the prism. The execution of this experiment proved to be slightly difficult as the experiment had to be changed very slightly. Instead of measuring the length of the light refracted off of a prism, the width was measured. This change occurred because the light continued to travel in a dark space and only stopped when it reached the ceiling. The data that was collected, was taken in a dark room, as planned and each prism was tested three times. The same number was taken from each trial, and therefore the data can be taken to be correct.The data collected would not be able to solve any immediate questions in science or geometry, but a more advanced understanding can be taken from the data because it proves a point. The volume of a prism does not affect the width of the light refracted off of it. This data could be used to help others, especially scientist who are asking questions about prisms and geometry. This data could help determine whether or not more research should be done on this particular scientific question. This experiment could have been changed to get different data or more advanced data if a different variety of prisms were used. Only triangular prisms with the same base were used in this experiment, but if right triangles were used as well, the data could have been different. It would have also become more advanced if rectangular prisms or some other geometric three dimensional shape was used.

Benefit to Community and/or Science
Research surrounding prisms can be very educational for scientists as well as the community. Every hypothesis that is tested is important and can produce informational data that is needed in order to understand prisms and geometry as a whole. This particular experiment (measuring the width of the light refracted off of a prism at fifty centimeters) is unique because, even though it is an experiment that may have been done before, the fact that the data was recorded at fifty centimeters away from the prism could produce different data. All of this information that is gathered through experiments, including this one, is important because it will help people gain a better understanding for prisms and geometry.

Background Research
A prism is a three-dimensional object that is typically used to deviate a beam of light and can also be used to redirect light using reflection within the prism itself. Some people are under the impression that the main use of a prism it to disperse white light into parts because that is what Isaac Newton used prisms for, but there are actually many other ways prisms can be helpful.

When looking at a prism, it seems simple, but because the variation in the refractivity of different materials (such as glass or crystal prisms), different colors of light come to produce various changes in the color of the light itself when it is refracted off of a prism. Not only can prisms be used for many different things, but for every use, there is a specific type of prism that is designed. For example, prisms are used to redirect light using internal reflection and typically, prisms that are used for this purpose are triangular and a made with bases of isosceles right triangles. There are also prisms that are used to deviate light by refraction, rather than reflection. These prisms are often only polished on two adjacent faces and the remaining side is usually rough and/or painted black to absorb any “unwanted reflection.” Prisms also have many characteristics. As a whole, including triangular and rectangular prisms, all of these three-dimensional objects have two bases, are named for the polygon that forms its base, and have edges that form a parallel line segment. The prism used mainly in this experiment is a triangular prism, and each of these triangular prisms have two triangular bases, three rectangular sides, and fall into the category of pentahedron. Overall optics, and prisms cover a very large topic and only a small part of that subject is being displayed within this experiment. Only triangular prisms will be used and refraction (not reflection) will be the key to the experiment. All prisms are different, but they are all three-dimensional, solid, geometric shapes.

Abstract
Does the volume of a triangular prism affect the width of the color when projected on a flat surface? This experiment tests whether or not the volume of a triangular prism affects the width of the light refracted off of the prism. The experiment tested four prisms of different sizes, each being tested three times to make a total of twelve trials. Each prism had a different height but the same base. The data that was collected proved that the volume of the prism does not affect the width of the light, because all of the data was the same, coming in at three and a half centimeters. This experiment is a help to understand geometry as well as science. It can be helpful because it may help determine whether or not more research could be or should be done on this topic.