Determining Speed of Light in Corn Syrup Solutions

Overview

Objectives/Goals This experiment studied the rate at which the speed of light decreased as the concentration of corn syrup in water increased. Methods/Materials Method 1: Rotating circular platform with degree units on sides, protractor, laser pointer, corn syrup, water, container, graduated cylinder. Measured change in angle of laser beam for each concentration. Method 2: Rotating circular platform with degree units on sides, laser pointer, corn syrup, water, container, graduated cylinder. Found critical angle. Method 3: Rotating circular platform, laser pointer, corn syrup, water, hollow prism, graduated cylinder, tape measure, tape/marker, wall. Found minimum deviation angle. Results The speed of light decreased by 4.35*10^6 m/s every 20% increase in the concentration of corn syrup. Conclusions/Discussion This experiment compared the methods used and found that the minimum deviation method was the most accurate. The results of this experiment showed a regular decrease in speed of light as the concentration of corn syrup increased.

Awards (1)

• Honorable Mention

Competition history

• CSEF 2017 Physics & Astronomy · Entry J1811

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Physics and Astronomy projects
• CSEF Physics and Astronomy projects
• Every CSEF 2017 project