Sweet Angles

	Project title: Sweet Angles
Difficulty level:	Middle school
Main link:	None

Hypothesis:

Yes. I think it will change angles when I add sugar to the waters because a laser goes through different materials with different angles. Like water and air for example. It goes through air straight but it goes through water at an angle.

Materials:

1 laser
1 clear box (glass or plastic) 9x9x12
Water
Sugar
Markers
1Poster boards
1 helper
1 ruler
2X4 furring strip 35 cm long
2 Ply wood 24cm x 42cm
Protractor
Compass
Tape
4 corner frames 13cm by 9 cm
Staple gun with staples

The Procedure:

1. Staple the two of the four corner frames on the same end but opposite side of the ply wood
2. Staple the other two so the longer side touches the longer side of the other corner frame
3. Place the box in the side of the holder
4. Then get the compass and tape it to the side of the furring
strip so one prong of the compass come down at a 45 degree angle
5. Now you place the furring strip with the lower end of the hole facing the box in the center of the wood base but touching the side of the box.
6. Screw the strip into the plywood.
7. From here you tape the laser on
one of the prong of the compass
8. Then you fill the box with water.
9. Now you tape the poster board to
the side of the box long ways
10. Next you turn on the laser and measure the angle
11. Then you measure the angle for a consistency of 3% sugar with the rest water
12. Now you measure the angle for a consistency of 6% sugar with the rest water
13. After that you measure the angle for a consistency of 9% sugar with the rest water
14. Next you measure the angle for a consistency of 12% sugar with the rest water
15. Then you measure the angle for a consistency of 15% sugar with the rest water
16. Now you will repeat this a total of five times
17. After doing it the five times avg. the results for the answer to your problem.

Results:

Analysis
From the data that I collected I determined that, the more of an additive you add the greater the Index of Refraction will be. When there was 0% sugar the angle was 20.2 degrees (mode was 20), 3% sugar the angle was 23.7 degrees (mode was 23.5), 6% sugar the angle was 24.3 degrees (mode was 24), 9% sugar the angle was 24.9 degrees (mode was 25), 12% sugar the angle was 25.5 degrees (mode was 26), and when there was 15% sugar the angle was 26 degrees (mode was 26.5). What changes those numbers is density. The larger the angle the denser the liquid is. The density of a medium will change that angle in which the laser or light will travel. I also observed that for every 1% of sugar the Index of Refraction went up about .16 which was not very close to .135 that one other study got. I think I should have regulated the temperate instead of letting it sit overnight to get to room temperate because the room temperate may have changed. Besides that every thing in the project went well.

Conclusion
My hypothesis was correct; the additive (sugar) did change the Index of Refraction (the angle). When I added the additive (sugar) the laser’s angle, or
Index of Refraction was larger than when I just used regular water. Also, when I looked at my results I saw that the angle increased about .5 or .6 degree’s every time except the first time.

Implications for Further Research
If I was to do this project again, I would focus the project more finding out what percent of sugar will change the Index of Refraction a certain number. So I could then shine the laser through the water and find out what percent of the liquid is sugar. I would also regulate the temperate of the water more so it does not change. I would also use the same brand of sugar every time because the brand could make a different in the angle. I would also get the water from the same sink every time because one sink may filter the water better than the another sink.