2.

2 TO DETERMINE REFRACTIVE INDEX OF A GLASS SLAB USING A

TRAVELLING
MICROSCOPE
The bottom surfaceofa glassvesselcontaining
a refracting
liquid
appearsto be raised,
such thatapparentdepthis
lessthan therealdepth.
Refractive
indexofrefracting
liquid
isdefined
as theratioofrealdepthto the apparentdepth.
real
depth
Refractive
indexX, n =
apparentdepth
For accuratemeasurementsofdepths,a travelling
microscopeisused.

Aim
To determine indexofa glassslabusinga travelling
refractive microscope.

Materials
Required
• Givenglassslab
• A marker microscopeniorl
Travelling sleoe t ot
• Lycopodium powder

Theory dole aol orit euodE oqooald

ue to a point
reffaction appearstobe raised The apparentdepthoftheslabislessthan
when seen througha glassslab.
the realdepth. IfNP istherealdepthand NP isthe apparentdepththenrefractive
indexofthe material
ofglassslabcan
De representedmathematically
as follows:
NP

NP
D
 B

Apparent
Real
depth
depth

D
apparentdepth ofglassslab
Measuringrealand
Travelling
microscope

() (i) (ùn)

Realand apparent
thickness

Procedure
SetingUp the Apparatus
Determinethe leastcountof microscopescaleas (1microscaledivision(M.S.D)- 1 vernier scaledivision).
Placethe travellingmicroscopeon a horizontaltablenear a window to get sufficient
light. Check withhe
spirit
leveland make necessaryadjustmentswithlevellingscrews,so thatthe base ofthe microscopebecomes
horizontal.
oftheeye
Adjustthe position piece such thatthe crosswiresare clearly
visible.
Focusingthe Microscopeon Mark
Using a marker pen,put a mark on the sheetof paper.
Placethe sheet ofpaper on the horizontal
platformofmicroscope.Adjustthe microScope such thatthe
crosso
crosswirescoincideswiththe crOss mark on the paper.
• Focus the microscope on the mark. Remove the
parallax
between the cross-wireand the image ofthe mats.
Afterthat, usingthemain scalereading(MSR) and vernier scalereading (VSR)note the microscopereadig
as A see fig(i).
Focusing
the MicroscopeThrough theGlassSlab
Placetheglassslabover themark On thesheet
of paper.The mark would appearto
be raisedwhen seen throug
theglassslab.
MOve the microscope graduaiyaa gentlyupward so
thatthe mark isclearly
visible and coincides with
crossofcross wires.
• Using the MSR and VSR note the miicroscope readingas B
see fig (ii).
 aittle
Swinkle
l
he Microscopeon Particles
anuntotlyedium
theglass
slab.
otLycopodium
Powder
pwder on top ofthe glassslab,Ensurea thinlayerof powder isspread
he micOseope
upward to focus some of
and note the microscopereading as C
the particlesclearly

the class slaband repeatabove stepsto and C.

Ivert take observationsfor A,
inreading,(-Agivesthereal more B

Diterence depth,whereas C B giyvestheapparentdepth(seetable).

and Calculations
servations
oftravelling
microscope:
count
Scale Division
(MSD) = |l
cm,

/10cm.
Scale Division(VSD)
= 9 MSD
Vèmir 9
IVSD MSD
10

|VSD =
1
cm = 0.09cm

-1vSDodoe
10 10
travelling
microscope, L.C. = 1 MSD
of
count

10

= 0,1-0.09 cm

L.C,= 0.01 cm
Readingofmicroscope
Mark withoutslab(A)|
Mark withslab(B) (C)
Dust particles NP
depth Apparentdepth
Real
Reading Reading Reading (C-A)= NP (C- B) = NP NP,
No. MSR VSR MSRVSR MSR VSR
M+ (V x M+ (V x M+ (Vx
(M) () (M) (V (M) (V) =C
L.C.)
=A L.C.)= B L.C.)
n
1

2.

3.

4.

5.

Calculations
IndexofGlassSlab:
Refractive
Realthicknessof slab (C-A)
oni ot iu Apparentthicknessofslab (C-B)
Mean refractive
index.,

Result
indexofgivenglass slabby usingtravelling
Iherefractive microscope =n.pob a s baitoT

Precautions
• Least countofthescaleoftravelling carefully.
microscope shouldbe calculated
• There shouldbe proper levelling
ofmicroscope.
•Move the screws forfocusingthe microscopeinone direction
only;to avoidbacklasherror.oo