Experiment-372 S

REFRACTIVE INDEX OF LIQUIDS USING

ABBE’S REFRACTOMETER
Jeethendra Kumar P K and Ajeya PadmaJeeth
KamalJeeth Instrumentation & Service Unit, No-610, Tata Nagar, Bengaluru-560092. INDIA.
Email: labexperiments@kamaljeeth.com

Abstract
Refractive indices of some of the commonly used liquids are determined using Abbe’s refractometer
and compared with the corresponding standard values. It is observed that the current model of
Abbe’s refractometer is not suitable for studying variation of refractive index with wavelength. The
operation of the refractometer is described to familiarize the user with it.

Introduction

The speed of light in vacuum is a universal constant, but when light travels through any other medium its speed
slows down as it gets constantly absorbed and reemitted by the atoms in the material. The ratio of the speed of
light in vacuum to its speed in another medium/material is called as the refractive index of the medium/material
and is denoted by ‘n’ [1]. Refractive index of a transparent solid or liquid, which is a measure of its interaction
with electromagnetic radiation, can be determined by various methods [2].

Ernst Abbe was the first to design a refractometer in 1869. Carl Zeiss provided its commercial design in 1881
for laboratory use and were its sole manufacturer for the next four decades. One of the important changes
introduced around 1893 was the temperature jacket for the prisms. After the First World War other
manufacturers also started manufacturing the Abbe’s refractometer. Abbe’s refractometer is also being
manufactured in India. The present day refractometers are of digital type. Refractometers are used in chemical
analysis to determine the concentration of solutions and their refractive indices to identify the substances
present in them. Variation of refractive index with temperature makes it a useful parameter for phase transition
studies. Phase transition temperature at which the refractive index of a substance changes is an important
property which helps to identify various substances [3].

Abbe’s refractometer

An Abbé’s refractometer has two prisms which are made of glass with refractive index higher than 1.75. The
sample whose refractive index has to be measured is sandwiched between these two prisms. The top prism is
known as the measuring (refracting) prism and the bottom one is known as the illuminating prism. Light enters
the sample from the illuminating prism, gets refracted at the critical angle at the bottom surface of the
measuring prism. A telescope is used to detect the refracted light, as shown in Figure-1.

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 Figure-1: Light entering the illuminating prism producing dark and bright regions in the field of view
(Figure curtsey: http://www.refractometer.pl/refractometer-history)

Bright spot seen A Half shadow spot

in the field of view Mic in the field of view
ros
co pe
a xi s B
A
Measuring
1.75 B
Prism
80
1.50 A
20
Illuminating
1.75 Prism
B
B

A
Incident angle 80 Incident angle 20

Figure-2: Formation of bright and dark spots

As light enters the illuminating prism, which has rough bottom surface like ground-glass, each point on its
surface can be thought of as generating light rays traveling in different directions.

Figure-2 shows a liquid sample with refractive index, of say 1.5, sandwiched between the illuminating and
measuring prisms. Consider two rays A and B falling on the illuminating prism at the incident angle (i) 200 and
800 respectively, as shown in Figure-2. The ray A comes out of the measuring prism at an angle 20° (same as
that of the incident ray). The ray B incident on the illuminating prism at 800 angle comes out at 720 angle. Both
these rays intersect the axis of the telescope; the point of intersection appears as a bright spot in the field of

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view of the telescope. The rays coming out of the illuminating prism fall inside the region bounded by the rays
A and B and are collected by the measuring lens of the telescope.

While determining the refractive index of a material, the sandwich prisms are rotated about the axis of the
refractometer so that total internal reflection takes place at the interface of the liquid sample and the measuring
prism. The angle of incidence is varied till total internal reflection takes place at the sample-measuring prism
interface and the reflected ray passes back through the sample. Hence the telescope fails to collect the refracted
ray, or in other words there is shadow (or dark spot) in the field of view of the telescope, as shown in Figure-2.

By adjusting the angle of rotation of the prisms, the angle of incidence can be made equal to the critical angle of
liquid sample; hence rays graze past the sample without being collected by the telescope. The border between
the dark and light spots can be made sharper by the focusing adjustment provided in the telescope.

In Figure-2, the prisms are rotated to an angle of 600 and the ray with angle of incidence as 800 propagates in
the direction parallel to the telescope axis, forming a shadow which appears in the field of view. By rotating the
prisms further in the same direction, there is a position at which the ray undergoes total internal reflection at the
liquid- measuring prism interface, as shown in Figure-3. At this position the field of view has two equal half
portions of dark and bright spots. The angle of incidence at the interface of illuminating prism and the liquid
sample equals critical angle for a given liquid. Hence for different liquids, the prisms need to be rotated by
different angles.

Liquid-measuring prism interface

θc

Liquid-illuminating prism interface

Total internal reflection

Figure-3: For a certain value of the angle of rotation of the prisms, the incident ray at the liquid-
measuring prism interface at the critical angle undergoes total internal reflection

The refracting prism is made of a glass with high refractive index (1.75) and the refractometer is designed for
samples with refractive index smaller than that of the refracting prism. Hence refractive index in the range 1.3
to 1.7 can be measured using the refractometer. The angle of rotation of the prism is noted and is used to
calibrate a scale which displays the refractive index directly on the eye piece provided with the refractometer.
An ‘X’ shaped cross wire is fitted in the eye piece which serves as a reference for reading the refractive index
values.

Dependence of refractive index on wavelength

Refractive index of a material is a function of wavelength of light employed. If the source of light is not
monochromatic, light gets dispersed and the boundary between different colours is not sharp. Instead of a well
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defined sharp edge between white and black, it will appear blurred with a blue or red border. This means that in
most cases the measurements are difficult to make and also will not be accurate. Hence a monochromatic
light (sodium yellow, in this case) is used. It is observed that using blue LED light, the value 1.475 of refractive
index obtained for the castor oil) and the value 1.476 obtained for red LED light differ by just one division on
the scale provided in the refractometer. Therefore, the refractometer used is not suitable for studying variation
of refractive index with the wavelength of light used.

Theory
Refraction occurs when light passes from one medium to another medium with a different refractive index, and
is governed by the well known Snell’s law stated as

n= = …1

where
n is the refractive index of the second medium with respect to the first medium,
i is the angle of incidence,
r is the angle of refraction,
C1 is velocity of light in medium-1, and
C is velocity of light in vacuum

‘i’ Angle of incidence

Normal to the surface

Incident ray
Reflected ray

i
Medium-1

Medium-2
r

Refracted ray

Angle of refraction

Figure-4: The process of refraction

In the Snell’s law the first medium is the air which has refractive index as 1. For two different media other than
air, the Snell’s law can be rewritten as
= = = …2

where ‘i’ is the angle of incidence in medium- 1,

‘r’ is the angle of refraction in medium- 2,
C1 is velocity of light in medium-1,
C2 is velocity of light in medium-2,
n1 is the refractive index of medium-1, and
n2 is the refractive index of medium-2.
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This is the fundamental equation governing the refraction of light through transparent media.
In most liquids and solids the speed of light is less than that in air, and hence their refractive index is more than
1.

Apparatus used

Abbe’s refractometer, sodium vapour lamp set, castor oil, honey, water, milk, sunflower oil, sugar syrup (all in
small quantities, about 0.5ml each), and dettol cream. Figure-5 shows the complete experimental set-up.

Eye-piece
Reading eye-piece Zero set screw

Focusing knob
R I adjustment
Prism holder
Tube for
water circulation

Mirror

Figure-5: Experimental set-up of the Abbe’s refractometer

Experimental procedure
1. The Abbe’s refractometer is focused using sodium vapour lamp and viewed through the eye piece. A
clear yellow light spot along with the cross wires visible distinctly is observed, as shown in Figure-6.
The mirror may be adjusted to get the maximum brightness (of yellow color).

2. The prim holder is opened by turning the holder knob. The two halves of the prism are seen as shown in
Figure-7(b). The prisms are cleaned several times thoroughly using a cotton swab. A drop of the liquid
whose refractive index is to be measured (castor oil, in this case) is removed from the bottle using a
glass tube and put on the lower prism and is spread evenly using a finger tip. The prism is now closed
as shown in Figure- 7(a) and the sodium light is focused on it.

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 Figure-6: Circular field of view with the cross wires

3. The prism holder is rotated using the RI–adjustment knob, looking through the eye piece. A half–
circular dark spot will appear while the knob is turned slowly, as shown in Figure-8. The boundary
between the bright and dark spots is coincided with the cross wires. If this boundary is not sharp, the
focusing knob is adjusted (Figure-10) till it becomes clear, as shown in Figure- 8. The reading is noted
on the scale provided with the eye-piece. The scale is shown in Figure-9.

Figure-7 (a) Closed prism holder; (b) oil dropped on the illuminating prism by opening the prism holder

Figure-8: The bifurcation line between the dark and bright spots coincided with the cross wires

Refractive index of castor oil is found to be 1.474

4. The prism holder is now opened and the oil is cleaned with a cotton swab thoroughly and a drop of the
liquid (milk, in this case) is dropped and is spread evenly using a finger tip after which the prism holder
is closed. By placing it in front of the sodium light source, the refractive index is noted and the readings
are tabulated in Table-1.

5. The experiment is repeated for the liquids for which the refractive index is to be determined. The
readings obtained are tabulated in Table-1.

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 Figure-9: Refractive index values as read on the scale

Figure-10: Adjusting the focusing knob making the bifurcation line clear

Table-1
Liquid Refractive index
Expt. Standard
Castor oil 1.474 1.4470 -1.4810
Milk 1.424 1.3500-1.4500
Water 1.325 1.3330
Honey 1.472 1.4800-1.5000
Sunflower oil 1.458 1.4600
Sugar syrup (50%) 1.448 1.4200
Dettol cream 1.359 NA
Refractive index of some common liquids

Variation of refractive index with wavelength

6. To study the effect of wavelength of light on refractive index, we have used blue (420nm), yellow
(590nm) and red (630nm) LED lights obtained from a solid state lamp. For castor oil the value of the
refractive index obtained is tabulated in Table-2.
Table-2
Liquid Refractive index
420 nm (Blue) 630nm (Red) 590 nm (Yellow)
Castor oil 1.475 1.476 1.475
Refractive index of castor oil for blue, yellow and red lights
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It may be noted that the value of refractive indices obtained for different colours of light are the same,
indicating the inability of the model to differentiate wavelengths.

Reference

[1] http://www2.ups.edu/faculty/hanson/labtechniques/refractometry/theory.htm

[2] G H Meeteen, Refractive index measurement, Schluberger Cambridge Research, CRC press LLC, 1999

[3] http://www.refractometer.pl/refractometer-history