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Penny Refraction Experiment Guide

This document describes a simple experiment to demonstrate refraction using a penny, beaker, and water. In the first part, a penny placed in water filled beaker can be seen through the beaker and water. Removing the water causes the penny below to disappear due to refraction at the air-water interface. Adding water on top of the penny makes it visible again by removing the air layer. The second part shows a broken image of an object placed in the beaker, again due to refraction. The document explains that refraction occurs when light passes between materials with different refractive indices, bending the light.

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Pushpa raj
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65 views1 page

Penny Refraction Experiment Guide

This document describes a simple experiment to demonstrate refraction using a penny, beaker, and water. In the first part, a penny placed in water filled beaker can be seen through the beaker and water. Removing the water causes the penny below to disappear due to refraction at the air-water interface. Adding water on top of the penny makes it visible again by removing the air layer. The second part shows a broken image of an object placed in the beaker, again due to refraction. The document explains that refraction occurs when light passes between materials with different refractive indices, bending the light.

Uploaded by

Pushpa raj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Materials:

• Beaker
• Penny
• Water
• Paint Brush, Pencil, or Straw

Procedure:
Part 1:
• Place a penny in the beaker and fill it 3/4 full with water.
• Observe that looking through the beaker, through the water, one can see the penny.

• Remove all water from the beaker


• Place a dry penny below the beaker.
• Fill the beaker again 3/4 full with water.
• Observe that looking through the beaker, through the water, through the bottom of the
beaker, the penny is no longer visible.

• Lift the beaker and place water on top of the penny.


• Replace the beaker on top of the penny.
• Observe that the penny is now visible again.

Part 2:
• Place a paint brush, pencil, or straw in the beaker.
• Observe its profile and it appears broken.

Discussion:
• When light passes through one transparent medium to another, it bends. How much it
bends depends on its "refractive index."
• Glass and water are similar in refractive index, so going from one to the other does not
bend the light very much. However, because there is a large difference between air and water
(or glass), there is a significant bending of light, so much so that it is very noticeable.
• See the attached drawing for reference.
• In the first example, light travels from air to glass to water. The refraction bend the beam
down and actually makes the penny easier to see.
• In the second example, there is a layer of air on top of the penny that is very significant.
Light travels from air to glass to water to glass to air. The refraction at the end (from glass to
air) causes the penny to disappear. You might think that going back from water to air would
simply correct the same amount of refraction as going from air to water, but it is not so - the
refraction is significantly more. The mathematical relationship is more complicated. (See the
Refraction of Light by Rick Reed link below for an interactive demonstration).
• In the third example, the layer of air top of the penny has been replaced with water and
the there is no longer the significant refraction to make the penny disappear.

The sixth grade student does NOT need to understand why in a deep scientific way. The
concepts are introduced, the phenomenon is experienced and the wonder of the natural world
has had its impact. As their intellect develops with age, they will be able to work with more
complicated concepts. Therefore, this experiment can be done in seventh or eighth grade with
more depth if desired.

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