Light Reflection and Refraction Pre-Lab with PhET

Light Reflection and Refraction Pre-Lab using PhET
I) Introduction:
When a light ray strikes a smooth interface separating two transparent materials (like air, glass, or water), the wave is partly reflected and partly refracted (or transmitted) into the second material. For an example of this, imagine you are outside looking at a restaurant window. You can probably see both the inside of the restaurant (from the refracted light) and some of the street behind you (from the reflected light). Similarly, a person in the restaurant can see some of the street scene, as well as a reflection of the other people in the restaurant.
The goal of this pre-lab is to understand how light is reflected and refracted, and what the general relationships are between the two. You will be using Bending Light simulation found at http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/bending-light
II) Initial Observations:
First, let’s get acquainted with the PhET sim that we will be using. The red button on the laser turns the light on.
What do you notice about the angles of the reflected and refracted light? Briefly, give a qualitative description of the following features:
What happens to the reflected and refracted rays as you change the angle of the incident light beam? The ray will start to reflect back, and the angle would change
What does changing the index of refraction do to the refracted and reflected light? The relected light would change and the refraction would change how the light is reflected and how the angle is changed
III) Quantitative Analysis:
Now let’s try to find a mathematical expression for what we are seeing. First, notice that there is a protractor and intensity meter that can be found in the lower right of the sim.
For convenience (and by convention), try measuring angles as starting from the vertical axis and going down to the laser beam. (The same goes for the refracted beam – but now you will want to measure from the z-axis up to the beam.)
1) Find a relationship relating the angle of the incident light and reflected light. (Remember to use the convention of angles just described!) The degree of the angel when it is 90 degrees goes in a strait line

2) Find a relationship relating the angle of the incident beam to the angle of the refracted beam: The refracted beam is different than the reflection by if you are reflecting the beam the opposite direction the refracted beam would be half of the reflection