PH10151: APPLIED PHYSICS

Laboratory Manual: Sept. 2023

APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY
MANUAL
PH10151-APPLIED Physics Laboratory
FOR USE BY

B.Tech. (All Branches) Students

(From 2023-24 onwards)

OF

SHRI G. S. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE,

INDORE (M.P.)

PREPARED BY

Dr. J. T. Andrews & Dr. V. Kaushik

DEPARTMENT OF
APPLIED PHYSICS & OPTOELECTRONICS
JULY - 2023
 Preface

This Laboratory Manual provides the theory of the experiments, the circuit diagram, methodology,
observation table etc. for the experiments to be performed in the first and second semester of B.Tech.
Programme of Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology & Science, Indore.
This manual gives necessary details to perform the experiments. The experiments included are meant
to offer basic understanding of Physics. Most of the experiments are designed to go hand to hand
with the theoretical courses on Physics being taught during the first and second semesters.
Some additional experiments away from the theory courses are added to enhance the scope of
learning beyond the subjects covered in the theory. The necessary theory for this type of experiments
is described in the manual in self-explanatory manner. However, all efforts are made to clarify any
doubt by the teachers engaging these laboratory classes.
We thankfully acknowledge the support, contributions and suggestions received from present and
past Faculty members and Research Scholars of Department of Applied Physics. Special thanks to
Ms. N. Oswal, Dr. G. G. Soni, Dr. P. Ojha, L. Jain, A. Malviya and D. Pal, for content evaluation
of this manual.

Dr. J . T. Andrews Dr. V. Kaushik

Professor & Head, Physics Lab-in-charge,
Department of Applied Physics & Optoelectronics,
Shri G S Institute of Technology & Science, Indore.

JULY 2023

ii
 iii

Following symbols are used in the margin for enhanced understanding.

The symbol and meaning are:
Some interesting information may be useful to you.

Extra care needed, since these experiments work at high voltage (≈ 20V - 20kV).

Read the corresponding instruction(s) carefully.

These experiments are performed with lasers. Save your eye from direct viewing.

A Nobel Prize winning theory or experiment is associated with the experiment.

You may need to use desktop computers for these experiments. Do not work with
unnecessary work with it. USE IT ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH
IT IS DEDICATED.

These are some additional questions may be asked during viva-voce as well as
in end exam. CAUTION: But these are some sample questions only. Read and
perform more for more questions and understanding.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 Contents

General Instructions 1

1 To understand and confirm Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle using single slit diffrac-
tion. 8

2 To measure the charge to mass ratio of electron using Thomson method and to find
the sign charge of electron. 12

3 To study the thermal emittance of various bodies at elevated temperature and to

verify Kirchhoff’s law of thermodynamics using Leslie’s cube. 16

4 To study the Variation of magnetic field along the axis of a circular coil carrying
current and to calculate the radius of the coil. 20

5 To study the Dispersion by a triangular prism and to verify the laws of refraction
using Raytrace. 22

6 To determine the wavelength of sodium light by Newton’s rings method. 25

7 To determine the wavelength of prominent spectral lines of mercury light by a plane

transmission grating using normal incidence. 30

8 To measure the numerical aperture of given optical fiber 36

9 To measure Planck’s constant using light emitting diodes (LED) and to obtain VI
characteristics of junction diodes. 39

10 PhET: Interactive Simulations 43

A Color Tables 45

B Some useful data and information 46

C Brief History of Indian Nobel Laureates 48

section

1
 General Instructions
1. Objectives of Physics Labo-
Conduct Academic discussions is allowed while
ratory
loud talking and disruptive behavior are prohib-
ited.
The laboratory component of your physics course
has many objectives. Some important ones are:
Partners Generally, you will work with one or
two partners. Rotate the experimental tasks so
Experience with scientific apparatus: This that each partner becomes familiar with all as-
ranges from being able to read instrument scales, pects of the experiments, e.g., do not have one
to know safety hazards, to effectively use specific partner take all the data while the other does all
pieces of equipment, to use computer for few vir- the recording or analysis.
tual experiments.

Data Sheets Each partner must have his or

Data analysis: How do you assess whether her own data sheets. The data sheets may come
theory and experiment are in agreement? You from the writeup, a ray diagram printout, or you
will become familiar with the formal procedures may have to write up your own data sheets. All
associated with data analysis such as propaga- necessary data should be on these data sheets.
tion of errors and linear regression analysis. If All data (single item and tabulated) should be
required, you may use a spreadsheet on the lab’s clearly labeled with a description of the number
personal computers for data analysis. and its units, and when appropriate, its uncer-
tainty. If you use the ray diagram printout, put
Communication skills: To learn how to pre- date at the top and put data labels and units
sent your results in a report. Guidelines are given at the top of each column - you can do this by
below. hand.
The data sheets should be initialed by the
Physical concepts: The lab should reinforce instructor at the end of the period. This
the physics from your lecture courses. is not a guarantee that the performance in
the lab was adequate, though the instructor
should check that the data appears reason-
2. Ground Rules able. Graphs made in the lab during the
experiment make it much easier to detect
errors or omissions. Guard the data sheet –
Attendance You must attend each laboratory
it is the only proof that you performed the
period and do the assigned experiment. In gen-
experiment.
eral, you will not be permitted to do your exper-
iments in another day / class.

Repeating All or Part of the Experiment

Preparation Before each laboratory class you If the instructor finds a report unacceptable, you
are expected to read the experimental write-up may not get a chance for repeating the experi-
and any related sections of the text so that you ment, hence perform the experiment carefully.
are familiar with the theory and the experimental
procedure. As it is often impossible to have the
laboratory come after the relevant material has Checking Out If you finish early, begin prepar-
been discussed in lecture, you will often have to ing the laboratory report. In some cases, you may
read ahead in your textbook. If the write-up has be able to finish it in class. Clean up your area,
prelab questions, those must be understood be- leaving it as you found it, unless specified other-
fore coming to the laboratory for performing the wise. Groups coming after you should expect to
experiments. find all the equipment in working order. If some-
thing broke during your experiment, report it to
the instructor so a replacement can be made.

1
Contents 2 Contents

Laboratory Exam Two viva-voce examina- Usage of rough notebook and pencil for tak-
tions will be held. First viva-voce will be held ing data is strictly prohibited in Physics labo-
after you complete the third experiment. While ratory. If a data taken is found to be wrong,
the second viva-voce will be on your sixth ex- just make a cross mark on the data and pro-
periment. However, it will be announced in the ceed further. If a set of data is found wrong,
Notice-Board of Physics Laboratory. The total make a new table and record data again.
marks of 50 is divided as follows: Viva 1 - 5,
Viva 2 - 5, Attendance - 5, Practical Copy - 5,
End Exam - 30. Calculations , including Error analysis: When-
ever possible calculations should be done in the
lab. Include in your calculations the units as-
3. Laboratory Guidelines sociated with any variable and, where appropri-
ate, cancel units or change them to derived units
You should take care that the data you obtain (e.g., change kg·m/s2 to N). Describe and show
is the best possible. Make graphs of the data all work.
while you are in the lab and compare them with
other groups’. Show them to the instructor. Do Graphs, when appropriate, should include a
all the calculations in the lab, including the error title, and axis labels with units. These should
analysis. Before you leave the lab, you should also be done in the lab, if possible. If straight
know whether the theory and experiment are in line fitting is performed on the data, by hand
agreement. remember to record the slope and intercept and
their uncertainties. The graph sheets must be
pasted firmly on the note book. Just putting the
4. The Report graph sheets in between the pages is not allowed.

Your lab write-ups are to be turned in at the

Conclusions: This should include a brief dis-
beginning of the following lab session. It should
cussion of the main findings. For example: "We
contain the following information:
found that there is a linear relationship between
the measured variable . . . and . . . This can be
The right hand side pages (ruled pages) seen from the graph and is predicted by the the-
of the notebook may contain the following: ory." Also state whether your results agree with
expectations to within the uncertainties of the
• Name of the experiment measurements: For example: "The slope of the
graph of . . . versus . . . as determined by (linear
• The date on which the experiment is performed regression, hand fitting) was . . . ±. . . (units).
and the serial number of the experiment This value, together with Eqn. . . . , and the
• Aim(s) of the experiment measured quantities . . . =. . . ±. . . (units), and
. . . =. . . ±. . . (units), allowed for a determina-
• Apparatus required tion of . . . =. . . ±. . . (units). This is within . . .
standard deviations of the accepted value of . . .
• Brief theory of the experiment (units)." Discuss the main sources of error. "The
• Procedures for performing the experiment main sources of uncertainty in the determination
of . . . are . . . ."
• Results

The left hand side pages (unruled pages)

may contain diagram, tables, other observations
and calculations.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Contents 3 Contents

Students are advised to strictly follow the safety regulations necessary for performing the
experiments.

5. List of Experiments & Laboratory Layout

Please, note that you have to perform the experiment in the following order only. Students
may not be allowed to perform the experiment if he/she is not adhering to this order.

Common to All: Error analysis in Physics Laboratory. Common to all students. To be performed
on the first day of the laboratory course.

1. To understand and confirm Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle using single slit diffraction.

2. To measure the charge to mass ratio of electron using Thomson method and to find the sign
of electron charge.

3. To study the thermal emittance of various bodies at elevated temperature and to verify Kirch-
hoff’s law of thermodynamics using Leslie’s cube.

4. To study the Variation of magnetic field along the axis of a circular coil carrying current and
to calculate the radius of the coil.

5. To study the Dispersion by a triangular prism and to verify the laws of refraction using Raytrace

6. To determine the wavelength of sodium light by Newton’s rings method.

7. To determine the wavelength of prominent spectral lines of mercury light by a plane transmis-
sion grating using normal incidence.

8. To measure the numerical aperture of given optical fiber.

9. To measure Planck’s constant using light emitting diodes (LED) of various colors and to
understand work function

10. To study working of laser using PhET Module.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Contents 4 Contents

Entrance
to UG Physics Lab

P1 White Board P2
Teacher 1

2
La
b
Te
c hn

93
ici
an
PHYSICS / EI CORRIDOR

12 4 4

19 5

15

11 14 16 9
Dark Room

13 18

20 10 9 7
8 17

Figure 1: Layout of location of different experiments in Physics Laboratory. Check the list of
experiments given in the above list to find locations.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 Error Analysis in Physics Laboratory

0.2 Estimating the Uncertainty

in a Single Measurement
All students will be doing this experiment simul-
taneous on the first day of your Physics Labora- 0.2.1 Normal analog scale
tory class. In case, if you join late or miss this ex-
periment due to unforeseen reasons, you should 0.3 Normal analog scale
perform this experiment during extra hours.
(e.g. meter stick) Estimate the final digit by in-
terpolating between the smallest scale divisions,
0.1 Uncertainty
and make the uncertainty ±1 or ±2 in that last
digit (use your judgment in deciding).
In introductory lab work, such as in Physics labs,
you usually know in advance what the result is
supposed to be. You can compare your actual 0.3.1 Analog scale with vernier
result with the anticipated result, and calculate
an actual error value. In real-world laboratory (e.g. vernier caliper or micrometer) Use the vernier
work, on the other hand, you usually don’t know scale to get the last digit, and make the uncer-
in advance what the result is supposed to be. tainty ±0.5 of that last digit.
If you did, you probably wouldn’t be doing the
experiment in the first place! When you state
0.3.2 Digital scale
your final result, it’s important to state also, how
much you think you can trust that result, in the (e.g. digital multimeter) If the reading is steady,
form of a numerical uncertainty (or error in make the uncertainty ±0.5 of the last digit; oth-
measurement). For example, you might state erwise take several instantaneous readings, aver-
the volume of an object as age them, and find the standard deviation of the
mean as described below.
V = 43.25 ± 0.13cm3 (1)

When we state the uncertainty in this form, with- 0.4 Estimating the Uncertainty
out further elaboration, it generally means that in an Averaged Measure-
we think that the true value has about 68% chance
of being within that range. A more precise state- ment
ment would include the confidence level of the
uncertainty range, which might be 68% or 95% If you can make several measurements x1 , x2 , . . .
or even 99%. x N , calculate the mean, x̄, and use that as “the”
measurement. Then calculate the standard devi-
Usually, in an experiment we measure some num-
ation of the mean:
ber of quantities directly, and combine them math- √
ematically to get a final result. Therefore, esti- (x1 − x̄)2 + (x2 − x̄)2 + . . . + (xN − x̄)2
mating the final uncertainty usually involves two σm =
steps. First, we must estimate the uncertain- N
(2)
ties in the individual quantities that we measure and use this as the uncertainty, ∆x. If your cal-
directly. Second, we must combine those uncer- culator has a standard deviation function, divide
tainties to get the overall uncertainty, in a way its result by √N to get the standard deviation of
that corresponds to the way that we combine in- the mean.
dividual measurements to get the final result.

5
Expt. 0 (First day). Error Analysis 6 0.5. Error in results

0.5 Combining Uncertainties cannot do this if the same variable appears more
than once in the equation or calculation, or if you
in Calculated Results
have situations not covered by the rules given
above, such as trig functions. In such cases you
In the following equations, ∆x means the abso- must use the general procedure given below.
lute uncertainty in x, which is the number you get
from one of the methods above; it has units just The following table gives an idea about the rela-
like the measurement itself has. ∆x % means the tion between error and actual equation:
percent (or fractional) uncertainty in x, which
is the uncertainty expressed as a percentage or Table 1: Some examples
fraction of the measurement; it has no units.
S. Relation bet- Relation between
No. ween Z & (A, B) ∆Z & (∆A, ∆B)
0.5.1 Addition and Subtraction
1 Z=A+B (∆Z)2 = (∆A)2 + (∆B)2
If z = x + y or z = x– y, 2 Z=A-B (∆Z)2 = (∆A)2 + (∆B)2
( ∆Z )2 ( ∆A )2 ( ∆B )2
√ 2 Z = AB = A + B
∆z = ∆x2 + ∆y 2 (3) ( ∆Z
Z
)2 ( ∆A )2 ( ∆B )2
3 Z = A/B Z = A + B
∆Z ∆A
If you’re adding and subtracting more variables, 4 Z = An Z =n A
simply add more terms 5 Z = ln A ∆Z = ∆AA
∆Z
inside the square root. 6 Z = eA Z = ∆A

0.5.2 Multiplication and Division

If z= xy or z = x/y, 0.6 General Procedure

√( ) ( )
∆z ∆x 2 ∆y 2 If z = f (x,y), first calculate the differences caused
= + (4) by the uncertainty in each variable separately:
z x y
(∆z)x = f ((x + ∆x), y) − f (x, y)
or (same thing in different notation). (7)
(∆z)y = f (x, (y + ∆y)) − f (x, y)
√
∆z% = (∆x%)2 + (∆y%)2 (5) Then combine the differences to get the total
uncertainty:
If you’re multiplying and dividing more variables, √
simply add more terms inside the square root. (∆z) = (∆z)2x + (∆z)2y (8)

If there are more variables, extend these equa-

0.5.3 Powers, Including Roots
tions appropriately by adding more terms. If a
variable occurs more than once in the formula
If z = xn , ( )
∆z ∆x for f (x,y), change all occurrences simultaneously
=n (6) when calculating the difference for that variable.
z x
To illustrate the procedure for calculation the er-
ror in an experiment, we will work out the av-
0.5.4 More Complicated Calculations
erage (mean) value xand the standard deviation
of the mean, σ̄ and the standard deviation of an
Sometimes you can combine the three rules given
individual data point, σ, using the position mea-
above, doing the calculation one step at a time,
surements in the accompanying Table (2).
combining uncertainties as you go along, and
switching back and forth between absolute and From the Table (2) we can make the following
percent uncertainties as necessary. However, you calculations:

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Contents 7 0.7. Suggested Experiments:

In some cases the fractional error σ x̄, or relative

Table 2: Position Measurements.
error, is of more interest than the absolute value
xi (m) xi − x̄i (m) (xi − x̄i )2 (m2 )
of σ. It is possible that the size of σ is large while
15.68 0.15 0.0225
the fractional error is small. Note that increas-
15.42 0.11 0.0121 ing the number of individual measurements on
15.03 0.50 0.2500 the uncertainty of the average reduces the statis-
15.66 0.13 0.0169 tical uncertainty (random errors); this improves
15.17 0.36 0.1296 the “precision”. On the other hand, more mea-
15.89 0.36 0.1296 surements do not diminish systematic error in the
15.35 0.18 0.0324 mean because these are always in the same direc-
15.81 0.28 0.0784 tion; the “accuracy” of the experiment is limited
by systematic errors.
15.62 0.09 0.0081
15.39 0.14 0.0196
15.21 0.32 0.1024 0.7 Suggested Experiments:
15.78 0.25 0.0625
15.46 0.07 0.0049 1. Measure the diameter of a wire using a screw
15.12 0.41 0.1681 gauge at 10 different places on the wire. Cal-
15.93 0.40 0.1600 culate the standard deviation in your measure-
15.23 0.30 0.0900 ments.
15.62 0.09 0.0081
2. Measure the thickness of a tabletop at using a
15.88 0.35 0.1225
scale in cm. Calculate the error in your mea-
15.95 0.42 0.1764 suremen ts.
15.37 0.16 0.0256
15.51 0.02 0.0004 3. Measure the period of oscillations of a pen-
dulum using your wrist watch and record your
data ten times. Estimate the standard devia-
tion and error in your measurements.
∑
N
N = 21; xi = 326.08m,
i=1
4. Ask your partner to drop a solid object at a
∑
N same height for 10 times. Measure the time
(xi − x̄i )2 = 1.61998m2 . and then evaluate of flight with your wrist watch. The same can
i=1
the following quantities: be repeated by your other partners also. Com-
∑N pare the standard deviation of each of your
i=1 xi 326.08 measurements.
x̄ = = = 15.53m (9)
N 21
√∑ √
N
− x̄)2
i=1 (xi 1.6201
σ̄ = = = 0.062m
N (N − 1) 20 · 21
√∑ (10)
N √
i=1 (xi − x̄)2 1.6201
σ= = = 0.063m
N −1 20
(11)
The error or spread in individual measurements
is σ = 0.28 m. But for the mean x̄± σ̄= 15.53 ±
0.06 m. This says the average is 15.53 m which
has an error of 0.06m. Or putting it another way,
there is about a 68% probability that the true
value of x falls in the range 15.47 m to 15.59 m.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 1 Verification of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

1.1 Aim Huygens formulated also what is now known as

the second law of motion of Isaac Newton in a
To determination of the intensity distribution of quadratic form. Newton reformulated and gen-
the Fraunhofer diffraction patterns due to vari- eralized that law.
ous single slits using laser and to calculate the
uncertainty of momentum from the diffraction
patterns of single slits of differing widths and to
confirm Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

1.2 Equipment required

He-Ne or semiconductor laser, single slits differ-

ing widths, photo detector, translation stage, etc.

1.3 Brief biography of Huygens

Christian Huygens, one of the more significant

physicists during the last three centuries, along
with Isaac Newton, was born in April 1629 at The Figure 1.1: A portrait of Huygens.
Hague, the second son of Constantien Huygens,
(1596 - 1687), a friend of mathematician and He also worked on the construction of accurate
philosopher René Descartes. clocks, suitable for naval navigation. In 1658 he
Christiaan studied law and mathematics at the published a book on this topic called Horologium.
University of Leiden and the College of Orange In fact his invention on Christmas 1656, the pen-
in Breda before turning to science. Huygens dulum clock (patented 1657), was a breakthrough
achieved note for his arguments that light con- in timekeeping. The oldest known Huygens style
sisted of waves, which became instrumental in pendulum clock is dated 1657 and can be seen
the understanding of wave-particle duality. He at the Museum Boerhaave in Leiden, which also
generally receives credit for his role in the devel- shows an important astronomical clock owned
opment of modern calculus and his original ob- and used by Huygens.
servations on sound perception (see Repetition Huygens also developed a balance spring clock
Pitch). more or less contemporaneously with, though sep-
In 1655, Huygens proposed that Saturn was sur- arately from, Robert Hooke, and controversy over
rounded by a solid ring, "a thin, flat ring, nowhere whose invention was the earlier persisted for cen-
touching, and inclined to the ecliptic." Using a 50 turies. In February 2006, a long-lost copy of
power refracting telescope that he designed him- Hooke’s handwritten notes from several decades’
self, Huygens also discovered the first of Saturn’s Royal Society meetings was discovered in a cup-
moons, Titan. In the same year he observed and board in Hampshire, and the balance-spring con-
sketched the Orion Nebula. His drawing, the first troversy appears by evidence contained in those
such known of the Orion nebula, was published notes to be settled in favor of Hooke’s claim.
in Systema Saturnium in 1659. Using his modern
telescope he succeeded in subdividing the nebula
into different stars. (The brighter interior of the
Orion Nebula bears the name of the Huygens
Region in his honor.) He also discovered sev-
eral interstellar nebulae and some double stars.

8
Expt. 1Ḣeisenberg Uncertainty 9 1.4. Theory

1.4 Theory

1.4.1 Principle

The distribution of intensity in the Fraunhofer

diffraction pattern of a slit is measured. The
results are evaluated both from the wave pat-
tern viewpoint, by comparison with Kirchhoff’s
diffraction formula, and from the quantum me-
chanics standpoint to confirm Heisenberg’s un-
certainty principle
Diffraction is a wave phenomenon that is depen-
dent on wavelength. Light waves bend as they
pass by the edge of a narrow aperture or slit.
This effect is approximated by:
λ
θ= (1.1)
D

where θ the diffraction angle, λ wavelength of

radiant energy, and D the aperture diameter. A
diffraction grating uses the interference of waves
caused by diffraction to separate light angularly
by wavelength. Narrow slits then select the por-
tion of the spectrum to be measured. The nar-
Figure 1.2: Experimental setup and diffraction
rower the slit, the narrower the bandwidth that
pattern from a single slit.
can be measured. However, diffraction in the slit
itself limits the resolution that can ultimately be
achieved. The angle for the intensity maxima are
When a parallel, monochromatic and coherent α0 = 0
light beam of wave-length λ passes through a λ
single slit of width d, a diffraction pattern with a α1 = sin−1 1.430
d
principal maximum and several secondary max- λ
−1
ima appears on the screen (Fig. 1.2). The inten- α2 = sin 2.459
d
sity, as a function of the angle of deviation α, in (1.3)
accordance with Kirchhoff’s diffraction formula,
is ( )
sin βn 2 The relative heights of the secondary maxima
I(αn ) = I(0) (1.2) are:
βn
where I(α1 ) = 0.0472 I(0)
πd
βn = sin αn I(α2 ) = 0.0165 I(0)
λ
The intensity minima are at (1.4)
( )
−1 nλ
αn = sin 1.4.2 Heisenberg Uncertainty - Quan-
d
tum mechanics treatment
where n = 1, 2, 3 ...
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that
two canonically conjugate quantities such as po-

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 1Ḣeisenberg Uncertainty 10 1.5. Procedure:

Broglie relationship:
h
= p = mc (1.9)
λ
Thus,
h
∆py = sin α1 (1.10)
λ
Figure 1.3: Geometry of diffraction at a single
slit a) path covered b) velocity component of According to equation 1.2, the angle α1 of the
a photon. first minimum is thus
( ( ))
−1 nλ λ
sin α1 = sin sin = . (1.11)
sition and momentum cannot be determined ac- d d
curately at the same time. Let us consider, for
example, a totality of photons whose residence If we substitute (1.11) in (1.10) and (1.6) we
probability is described by the function fy and obtain the uncertainty relationship
whose momentum by the function fp . The un-
certainty of location y and of momentum p are ∆y = ∆py = h (1.12)
defined by the standard deviations as follows
If the slit width ∆y is smaller, the first minimum
∆y∆p ≥ h/4π = ℏ/2 (1.5) of the diffraction pattern occurs at larger angles
α1 .
where h = 6.6262 × 10−34 Js and h = 1.054 × In our experiment the angle α is obtained from
1
10−34 Js, Planck’s constant (“constant of action”), the position of the first minimum (Fig. 1.3a):
the equals sign applying to variables with a Gaus-
sian distribution. a
tan α1 = (1.13)
b
For a photon train passing through a slit of width
d, the expression is If we substitute (1.13) in (1.10) we obtain

h ( a)
∆y = d (1.6) ∆py = sin tan−1 (1.14)
λ b
Whereas the photons in front of the slit move
only in the direction perpendicular to the plane Substituting (1.6) and (1.14) in (1.12) and after
of the slit (x-direction), after passing through dividing by h gives
the slit they have also a component in the y- d ( a)
direction. sin tan−1 = 1. (1.15)
λ b
The probability density for the velocity compo- If the above parameters are substituted (with
nent vy is given by the intensity distribution in λ =670nm) one can verify Heisenberg’s uncer-
the diffraction pattern. We use the first mini- tainty principle using single slit diffraction. How-
mum to define the uncertainty of velocity (Figs. ever, the results of the measurements confirm
1.2 and 1.3). (1.15) within the limits of error.
∆vy = c sin α1 (1.7)

where α1 = angle of the first minimum. The 1.5 Procedure:

uncertainty of momentum is therefore
1. Switch ON the laser. Align the laser parallel
∆py = mc sin α1 (1.8) to the ground and optical bench.
where m is the mass of the photon and c is the 2. Mount the graph paper as a screen at the
velocity of light. The momentum and wave- another end of the optical bench.
length of a particle are linked through the de

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 1Ḣeisenberg Uncertainty 11 1.6. Probable Questions

end of optical bench.

7. With the help of pen/pencil trace the diffrac-
tion pattern over the graph paper.
8. Use the traced pattern to calculate the width
of central maxima (2a) of obtained diffraction
pattern.
9. Calculate the value of a as shown in figure 3.
Figure 1.4: Pictorial view experimental setup
for single slit diffraction. 10. Repeat the whole experiment for single slit
#2.
Single Silt 11. Complete
Diffraction Pattern ( the calculations
) to verify the value
of λd sin tan−1 ab <1.
(In-depth View)

1.5.1 Data recording:

2a
Separation b/w detector and slit (b) = ... mm
Wavelength of laser light (λ) = .... nm
Single Silt
Table 1.1: Verification of uncertainty relation
Diffraction Pattern d
( −1 a )
tan (�����a / b� S. d a b λ sin tan
(Cross-sectional View) b
b

No. (µm) (mm) (mm)

�
1 120 ... ... ...
2 240 ... ... ...
Silt
d

Laser Beam
1.5.2 Results
Laser Diode
1. Single slit diffraction using a laser is stud-
Figure 1.5: Schematic of experimental setup ied. Heisenberg uncertainty principle is un-
depicting both cross-sectional and in-depth derstood and verified.
vied of single slit diffraction pattern.
1.6 Probable Questions
3. Make sure that the laser falls on the center of
the graph paper and its shows a spot of laser 1. What is Huygens principle?
beam on the graph paper.
2. What do you understand by interference by
4. Insert the single slit #1 and put a plain paper light?
behind it. Adjust the position of the slit, so
that the laser is passing through the center 3. What are Fraunhofer and Fresnel class of diffrac-
of the slit. Observe the diffraction pattern on tion?
the paper. 4. How coherence is important for interference /
5. Note the width of the slit (d) and separation diffraction?
between detector and slit (b). 5. What is laser? Do you know laser safety?
6. Remove plain paper and let the diffraction 6. What are the precautions required while using
pattern fall over the graph, kept at the other laser?

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 2 e/m by Thomson Method

2.1 Aim

To measure the charge to mass ratio of elec-

tron using Thomson method and to find the sign
charge of electron.

2.2 Apparatus requires

Cathode ray tube, High and low tension power

supplies, bar magnets, scale, etc.

2.3 Discovery of electron

Figure 2.1: Sir Joseph John Thomson (1856 -
Roentgen set out to study cathode rays but was 1940). Portrait by Arthur Hacker.
rewarded, on or about Christmas 1895, with the
discovery of X-rays. Becquerel searched for a sus- The present experiment is an exact copy of what
pected but nonexistent link between Roentgen’s J J Thomson performed while discovering a neg-
rays and phosphorescence. Instead, he found atively charged particle, later known as electron.
something totally unexpected: radioactivity. Sir
John Joseph Thomson at Caven- dish Labora-
tory at Cambridge University discovered electron 2.4 Theory
in 1898. The word ’electron’ first used by G.
J. Stoney in 1891 had been used to denote the Electrons are accelerated in an electric field and
unit of charge found in experiments that passed enter a magnetic field at right angles to the direc-
electric current through chemicals. tion of motion. The specific charge of the elec-
Thomson was investigating ’Cathode Rays’ which tron is determined from the accelerating voltage,
had been a puzzle for a long time. Through his the magnetic field strength and the radius of the
experiments Thomson put forward a then contro- electron orbit.
versial theory in which the ’Cathode Rays’ were
made up of streams of particles much smaller
than atoms, Thomson called these particles ’cor-
puscles’. Thomson mistakenly believed that these
’corpuscles’ made up the entire atom. This idea
was controversial as most people at this time
thought that the atom was the smallest particle
in matter and was divisible.
Thomson’s theory was not explicitly supported by
his experiments. It took more experimental work
by Thomson and others to conclusively prove the Figure 2.2: Schematic of an electron-gun used
theory. The atom is now known to contain other in the experiment. A sample electron gun
particles as well. Yet Thomson’s bold suggestion without housing and phosphor screen is shown
that ’Cathode Rays’ were material constituents at the lower corner. More details may be found
of atoms turned out to be correct. The rays in Appendix-A.
are made up of electrons: very small, negatively
charged particles. This experiment is carried out in a special vac-
uum tube, which contains a small amount of

12
Expt. 2. e/m by Thomson method 13 2.4. Theory

mercury vapor. Electrons emitted by a heated The electric and magnetic forces cancel one an-
cathode are accelerated by the voltage applied other if the following condition is met
between the cathode and anode. Some of the
electrons come out in a narrow beam through a v = E/B. (2.2)
circular hole in the center of the cylinder. This
emission is then focused into a narrow beam by
the grid of the tube. When electrons of suffi-
ciently high kinetic energy leaving the cathode
collide with a screen coated with phosphor ma-
terials, the induced phosphorescence leads to a
blue/green glow. This makes the possibility of
seeing the invisible electrons indirectly.
If an electron of mass m and charge e is accel-
erated by a potential difference V it attains the
kinetic energy:
1
eV = mv 2 (2.1)
2
where v is the velocity of the electron.
A charged particle moving in a magnetic field Figure 2.3: Demonstration of Flemings Right
experiences a force to the side (perpendicular to Hand Rule. The lower figure shows the deflec-
the particle’s motion) and perpendicular to the tion of electron in a uniform electric field.
magnetic field. If the particle’s initial velocity is
perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field, it will Suppose that an electron is moving to the right,
move in a circle. The magnetic force, equal to as shown in Figure 2.3. It passes through a re-
e⃗v × B, is the only force on the electron. gion of length L in which there is an electric
E field pointing up. If the electron is deflected
The direction of the force on the electron is given downward by a distance d as it passes through
by the right-hand rule. Walker gives this rule as the field, the ratio of e/m, can be calculated as
follows: "To find the direction of the magnetic follows (the following procedure is exactly same
force on a positive charge, start by pointing the as that followed by Sir J J Thomson).
fingers of your right hand in the direction of the
velocity, v. Now, curl your fingers toward the di- Since electrons are pushed down by an electric
rection of B. Your thumb points in the direction field pointing up, the charge of the electron is
of F . If the charge is negative, the force points negative. The magnitude of the downward elec-
opposite to the direction or your thumb." tric force is eE. The electrons accelerate down
with the vertical acceleration eE/m during their
Thomson subjected the cathode rays in his tube traversal of the horizontal distance L. (They also
to electric and magnetic fields at the same time. fall with the acceleration of gravity g. In practice,
Suppose the cathode rays are moving in the x- however, g is negligible compared to eE/m, the
direction. The parallel plates inside the tube, acceleration due to the electric field.) The ver-
when electrified, produce a known electric field tical displacement d of a uniformly accelerated
E in the upward z-direction. The effect of this body is 21 at2 , where a is the acceleration and t is
electric field is to drive the negatively charged the time interval over which it is accelerated. In
cathode rays downward. An magnet placed out- Thomson’s experiment, t = L/v and a = eE/m.
side the tube produces a known magnetic field B Thus:
in the y-direction. The effect of this field is to e 2dV
= 2 (2.3)
drive the electrons upward. Suppose that both m B Lw(L + 2D)
fields extend over the same length l (= L + D) where we substituted E = V /Lw, w is the width
along the trajectory of the cathode rays with D of the plate.
as the distance from the plates to the screen.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 2. e/m by Thomson method 14 2.5. Procedure

2.5 Procedure supply. Adjust the focus and intensity to best

value, so that the spot is smaller and visible
The measurement has two parts first to measure clearly at the center of the tube. If the initial
the deflection then to measure the DC magnetic deflection (d0 ) at zero voltage is finite (̸= 0,
field. record it otherwise is record it as 0.
2. Now apply finite voltage to electron gun (say
2.5.1 To measure magnetic field 20V).
3. Record the value of deflection (d1 ). Place the
1. Use the tangent galvanometer (TG) / com- magnet on the ends of wooden arms. Move
pass box to align the wooden stand parallel the magnets simultaneously towards the cen-
to the North-South Direction to nullify the ter to nullify the deflection to d1 → d0 . Record
earths magnetic field (Why?). the position of magnets. (The correspond-
ing magnetic field can be calculated from the
2. Note the value of deflections (zero?) θ0 in
graph drawn from the previous measurements).
your note book.

3. Mount bar magnets to two extreme points on

BH tan0 (Gauss)
the scale but at equal distance from center.
Move the bar magnets towards the center si-
multaneously so that equal distance between
them is maintained.

4. When the TG starts showing deflections record

the values of θ1 and θ2 and corresponding
distance X1 and X2 in your note book. Is
X1 = X2 ? X (cm)

5. After calculating the value of magnetic field

B = BH tan θ, plot a curve between distance Figure 2.5: Showing calibration curve obtained
X (X-axis) and magnetic field B (Y-axis). from Table ??.
This can also be carried out after completing
the next part of experiment. 4. Remove the magnet, reverse the voltage and
repeat the previous step to find d2 .
5. Remove the magnet. Apply voltage say 30V.
and repeat the previous two steps.
6. Repeat the experiment for different values of
voltage.
7. Use the calibration curve ploted from the data
of Table ??, to find out the mean θ and hence
the magnetic field corresponding to the mean
X observed in this table.
Figure 2.4: Experimental setup used in the
laboratory to measure e/m of electron.
2.6 Observation

2.5.2 To measure deflection Value of Earth’s Magnetic field (BH ) =

1. Now replace the TG with the electron tube. Deflection (θ0 ) in the absence of magnet =
Remove the magnets. Switch on the power

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 2. e/m by Thomson method 15 2.7. Results

Table 2.1: To measure magnetic field

D1 D2 Mean D θ1 θ2 Mean θ BH ×
(cm) (cm) (cm) tan θ
25 25 25
24 22 22
– –
– –
6 –
7 –

Table 2.2: To measure forward bias deflection (d1 ) and revers bias deflection (d2 )
2.7 Results

(Gauss)
Deflection in the absence of applied voltage ( d0 ) =......(mm)

B
Charge to mass ratio of electron = ....C/kg

Magnetic field
Mean D
Actual Value = ............ C/kg.

(cm)
Error in measurement = ...........%.

(mm) (mm) (mm) (cm) (cm)

D2
2.8 Questions
D1
1. What element controls the number of elec-
trons striking the screen?
Mean

2. What element is controlled to focus the beam?

Deflection

3. Why are the electrostatic fields between the

d2

electron gun elements called lenses?

4. What is the function of the second anode?

d1

5. What effect do longer deflection plates have

on the electron beam?
Applied
No. Voltage
(V)

6. If a compass needle’s north points north, what

10
15
20
5

does that say when it is at the north pole?

7. What do you think will happen if you place

S.

1
2
–
–

a magnet flat onto the front of the monitor

screen?

8. What do you think the field around the toroidal

magnet would be? (Hint: the poles are on the
two flat faces).

9. In what direction should the apparatus be aligned

to minimize the effects of the Earth’s mag-
netic field? Explain.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 3 Thermal Radiation and Black-body Radiation

3.1 Aim • the BB would absorb all the radiation that

falls on it
• To measure the thermal emittance from • the BB would not reflect or transmit any
four different surfaces and plot the radiated radiation
power at constant temperatures to validate
Kirchhoff law of thermal radiation and An object that is good at absorbing radiation
• to verify the inverse square law of thermal is also a good emitter, so a perfect black body
radiation. would be the best possible emitter of radiation.
Every hot body emits thermal radiation. The
emittance does not only depend on the tempera-
3.2 Equipment required ture, but also on the surface texture of the object.
Kirchhoff’s law of thermal radiation implies that
Leslie’s cube, thermopile, thermometer, radia- the more radiation a body can absorb, the more
tion meter, scale, heat source and multimeter. it can emit.
The emitted intensity is described by the body
emissivity E. The absorptivity A is the ratio be-
tween absorbed and incident radiation intensity.
From Kirchhoff law, the emissivity is defined as

E(T ) = AσT 4 .

Here, σ = 5.67 × 10−8 Js−1 m−2 K−4 is Stefan-

Boltzmann constant. If the body has the same
Figure 3.1: Te-Digital Thermometer, Tp- temperature T0 as its surroundings, the intensity
temperature probe (thermistor), L-Leslie’s of the heat radiated by the body into the sur-
cube, Ps-Power supply, Tr-Thermal radiation roundings is equal to that of the heat it absorbs
detector, R-Multimeter to measure Radiation from them
values. E(T0 ) = AσT04 .
bbr1 Accordingly, the energy radiated by a per unit of
surface and time measured would be

∆E(T ) = Aσ(T 4 − T04 ).

3.3 Theory
Using a Moll-type thermopile detector, the ther-
Every object at a temperature above absolute mal energy radiated can be detected by measur-
zero emits radiation. However, the emissivity ing the voltage drop (Vth ) across the thermopile
varies with material and the nature of surface. detector terminals. Accordingly, the thermal en-
Hotter the object stronger the thermal emission. ergy radiated by the black-body at finite temper-
Also, objects at different temperatures emit dif- ature would be
ferent part of electromagnetic spectrum. Mea-
Vth ∝ T 4 − T04
surement of such radiation finds lots of appli-
cations, such as future weather trends, location A plot between the thermoelectric voltage and
of underground heat sources, underground wa- (T 4 − T04 ) shall prove the Kirchhoff law.
ter flows, measurement of patient temperatures,
night vision, etc.
3.3.1 Inverse Square law
A perfect black body (BB) is a theoretical object.
It would have these properties: The inverse square law is a statement about the
density of radiation (or intensity of radiation) in

16
Expt. 3. Thermal and BB radiations 17 3.4. Procedure

units of W/cm2 from a point source. It can be emit more thermal radiation than light ones. An
generalised as example for application of this effect is a heat
k sink which is often coated with a black layer to
R= 2
d emit more thermal radiation.
. Here, R is the radiated intensity, k is a propor-
tional constant and d is the distance from the
source. Taking log on both sides 3.4 Procedure
log10 (R) = log10 (k) − 2 log10 (d)
• PART - I: To verify Kirchhoff law
. A graph between log(d) and log(R) shall be – Measure the room temperature (T0
stright line with a slope value of -2. in Kelvin) and radiation from all four
surfaces and enter the values to the
table -1.
– Apply maximum voltage to heating
element and observe the temperature.
When the temperature crosses 100◦ C,
reduce the voltage and bring a stable
temperature around 100-105 ◦ C.
– Once the temperature is stabilised mea-
sure radiation from all four sides (1.
black, 2. polished, 3. white and 4.
matt finish) of the Leslie cube. The
measured thermoelectric voltage on
different surface shall be entered in
the table - 1.
– Now repeat the measurement after
reducing the temperature by 10 ◦ C.
Figure 3.2: Four positions of the detector (See
Before measurements do ensure that
Fig. ??., Tr) Experimental setup for generat-
the temperature is constant.
ing standing wave pattern.
– Calculate the Temperature in Kelvin
(by adding 273 to the Celsius value
Also, any form of energy radiated would decrease
measured). Also calculate (T 4 − T04 )
with distance of measurement.
and enter.
– Plot the radiation intensity in terms
3.3.2 Description of the apparatus of thermoelectric voltage measured from
all surfaces as a function of the abso-
Leslie’s cube is a device used in the measure- lute temperature (T 4 −T04 ) (in Kelvin4 )
ment or demonstration of the variations in ther- in the same graph sheet.
mal radiation emitted from different surfaces at
the same temperature. – Linear fit all the curves and obtain
your conclusions.
The goal of this experiment is to investigate the
temperature dependency of the radiative emis-
sion of a black body. Thermal radiation can be
measured at all surfaces as long as their tem-
perature differs from that of the surrounding.
Therefore it applies that the hotter an object is,
the more radiation it emits. Also the surface
colour influences the behaviour: dark surfaces

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 Expt. 3. Thermal and BB radiations 18 3.5. Interesting Notes

Table 3.1: Table for collecting data for Part -

II
Temp. Leslie Cube T =.......◦ C=.......K
S. distance Radiation log10 (d) log10 (R)
No. (d)(....) (R)(.....)
1 — — — —
2 — — — —
– — — — —
– — — — —
8 — — — —

• PART - II: To verify inverse square law

2. Do you know inverse square law in optics, gravi-
– Rise the temperature of the Leslie cube tational field, mechanics, electrodynamics, electro-
to a finite temperature (around 100◦ C. statistics, etc.
– Put the thermopile detector nearest
3. What is emittance, radiation energy, covection?
possible location from the black sur-
face and record the values of distance 4. Is black-body needs to be black in color?
(d) and thermoelectric voltage (R) to
table 2. 5. What is the frequency and wavelength of radi-
– move the detector by 1cm and record ation emitted by a body room temperature, at
the value. 373K, 1000K, 5000K?

– repeat the above step for upto 15cm. 6. Is your body emits radiation?
– Find the values of log10 (d) and log10 (R)
7. How defense persons utilize black-body radia-
– Plot values of log10 (d) and log10 (R) tion?
in a graph sheet with appropriate scale.
8. Can you see objects in dark?
– Linear fit the values and find the value
of slope and report. 9. What is a thermopile? How the temperature of
body measured during recent Covid times?

3.5 Interesting Notes

1. If Kirchhoff law says that the emittance from all

bodies at same temperature is constant, why the
polished and gray surface emit differently?

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 Table 3.2: Table for collecting data for Part - I

SGSITS, Indore
Room Temperature T0 =......◦ C=........K and T04 =..............K4
S. T T T4 T 4 − T04 Thermoelectric voltage(........)
No. ◦
( C) (K) (K ) 4 4
(K ) 1.Black 2.Polished 3.White 4.Gray
1 — — — — — — — —
2 — — — — — — — —
– — — — — — — — —
Expt. 3. Thermal and BB radiations

– — — — — — — — —
8 — — — — — — — —
19

Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

3.5. Interesting Notes
 4 Steward & Gee’s Tangent Galvanometer

4.1 Aim field along the axis of the circular loop (z = 0

at the center of the circular loop and is positive
To study the Variation of magnetic field along above the loop and negative below the loop) is
the axis of a circular coil carrying current and to given by
calculate the radius of the coil. µ0 I r2
B(z) = √ (4.1)
2 32 r2 + z 2
4.2 History This equation assumes SI units, so the current
is in amperes, distances are in meters, and the
4.3 Equipment required magnetic field is in Tesla (T). The constant µ0 =
4π × 10−7 N/A2 . Notice that along the axis of
the circular loop, the magnetic field is parallel
Stewart & Gee’s apparatus, DC power supply,
to the axis. Its relationship to the current in
commutator, keys, connecting wires, etc.
the circular loop is given by a right hand rule.
Curl the figures of your right hand around the
circular loop so they point in the direction of the
current; your thumb then gives the direction of
the magnetic field along the axis of the circular
loop. If instead of a single circular loop there are
N turns of a coil in the form of a circular loop,
then the magnetic field is simply N times the
magnetic field due to a single circular loop.
If the tangent-galvanometer is set such that the
plane of the coil is along the magnetic meridian
i.e. B is perpendicular to BH (BH is the horizon-
tal component of the Earths magnetic field), the
needle rests along the resultant. From tangent
law, one can write,

B(z) = BH tan θ. (4.2)

or
B(z) ∝ tan θ. (4.3)
That means, bu measuring the deflection in the
tangent galvanometer, one can calculate the value
Figure 4.1: Photography at the top shows
of magnetic filed indirectly.
the Stewart-Gee’s apparatus used in SGSITS.
The bottom figure is connection diagram From equation 4.1, the maximum value of B =
for performing the experiment. The inset Bmax = µ0 I/2r occurs when z = 0. Hence the
shows the circuitry. L-lechlanche cell, Rh- value of B(z) is found to be
Rheostat, K-key, A-Ammeter, C-commutator,
Bmax
S-G-apparatus, N-coil selector. B(r) = √
2 2
= 0.35 × Bmax .
sinceB(r) ∝ tan θ
4.4 Theory
B(r) ∝ 0.35 × tan θmax (4.4)
For a current I going around a circular loop of
wire of radius r, the strength of the magnetic

20
 Expt. 5. Tangent Galvanometer 21 4.5. Procedure

• Move the box slowly towards center with the step

of 2cm, and record the values of θ1 , θ2 , θ3 and
θ4 .

• Repeat the previous procedure till the other end

of the sliding bench.

• Plot the data as graph between distance (z) in

X-axis and tan θ in Y-axis for all three data sets.

• Draw a straight line parallel to 0.35 tan θmax ,

draw two vertical lines where the two lines are
crossing (see Figure 4.2).

• Find the diameter by calculating the difference

between the two intersection of vertical lines on
x-axis and then report the radius of the coil.
Figure 4.2: Graph between z and tan θ. Note
a horizontal line at tan.
No of coils used:.........

4.5 Procedure Value of current:........

• Use the given compass box (tangent Galvanome- S. distance Deflection (deg) tan θ
ter - TG) to find the east and west directions. No. z(cm) θ1 θ2 θ3 θ4 mean θ
(The needles of the given compass always show 1 -20
east-west direction, why? Why not the North- 2 -18
South as taught in book?) Now the plane of the – –
circular coil is said to be parallel to the magnetic 9 –
meridian. – –
• Place the compass box exactly at the center of 19 18
the wooden sliding bench. (Why the instrument 20 20
is made of wood? Is it non-magnetic?).
Maximum value of tan θ =....... .
• Connect all electrical wires as per the diagram
given in Figure 4.2. First select the circular coil
between 0 and 5. 4.6 Results
• Adjust the rheostat to generate a deflection of
about ± 70◦ . Also note that the current is not 1. Magnetic field along the axis of a circular
exceeding ...A. (Why?). Monitor this value is a coil is studied.
constant throughout the experiment. If the value
2. The radius of the circular coil is found to
varies adjust the rheostat to keep it constant.
be ............. cm.
• Now move the TG to on end (say 20cm) of the
sliding bench. Record the corresponding value of
(z) as 0 cm in the table. Observe the value of
magnetic needle and record it as (θ1 and θ2 ).

• Reverse the current using commutator and record

the values of θ3 and θ4 .

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 5 Raytracing of optical components

5.1 Aim 2. As the window opens, first press S on the key-

board and then G. You will see small dots ap-
To study the Dispersion by a triangular prism and pearing in the window. These are called grid
to verify the laws of refraction using Raytrace. points and the whole window is called grid.
This helps us in finding distance and pasting
objects.
5.1.1 Apparatus Required
3. Now click on the following menu items in the
Ray trace software and PC following order Edit → Library → Paste from.
A new window opens. Click on the Change
Library.
5.2 Part 1: To study the dis- 4. A new window opens. You will see Conics,
persion Lenses, Prisms etc.

5. Click on Prisms and then click on OK.

5.2.1 Introduction
6. Now you will see a list of types of prisms under
RAYTRACE is a software, that simulates differ- the button Change Library. Choose Triangle
ent components of an optical system, namely 60-60-60 from there.
prisms, lenses, glass plates and different kind of
sources. It enables one to manipulate the envi- 7. Click on Paste. A small window opens Ray-
ronmental variables, like refractive index, wave- trace: Paste element. Click the close button
length of light etc. and see the effects on light on it.
rays. This software is in perfect coordination
8. Now click on the center of the screen.
with the ideas of ray optics and hence is useful
in devising optical systems for various operations. 9. You will see a prism on the screen. (Notice
It has nothing to do with wave optics, however that the three vertices of the triangular cross
and this poses a limitation on the user in terms of section of the prism lie on three of the grid
use. It is in no way able to simulate wave optical points. This is the reason we press S and G
phenomena. buttons of the keyboard in the step 1. If we
do not do this the prism will not be having
its three vertices on three grid points.)
5.2.2 Experiment
10. Now click on the following menu items in the
Objectives following order Create → Source → Point.

The experiment aims at; understanding refrac- 11. A new window opens. Make the number of
tion from prism and find the angle of minimum rays 3, which you will see 10, by default.
deviation for a particular colour and hence finding
the refractive index for that colour and compar- 12. Click on the boxes Drag on create and Drag
ing it with the standard value for the material of symmetrically. Click OK. can create rays.
the prism. 13. Click with this plus sign on the left of the
prism, some distance apart from its base. You
5.2.3 Procedure will see that with your click the create writ-
ten in the box with the plus sign changes to
The following steps are to be followed to attain aperture and a 1 appears in a box adjacent
the objectives. to the plus sign.

14. Drag this plus sign to the left side of the tri-
1. Click on the desktop icon of RAYTRACE. angle preferably to the mid-point of the side.

22
 Expt. 5. Virtual experiments 23 5.2. Prism

As you drag the plus sign you will see that

an arrow appears. Make the tip of this arrow
touch the mid-point of the side of the triangu-
lar prism. By doing this you are choosing the
position where the central ray should inci-
dent. If you choose this to be the mid-point
of the side, you may have a symmetric dia-
gram, that will be easier to handle. in other
case you may find it to be clumsy enough
for measurement purpose.

15. As you touch the tip of the arrow to the left Figure 5.1: Prism at angle of minimum devi-
side, click you mouse again. you will see the ation. Note that the ray inside the prism is
number change from 1 to 2. Keeping mouse parallel to the base.
at the same position click again. So that all
the rays fall on the same point
Press F6, This extrapolates the incident ray.
16. Click once again and you see that the plus this we will use to measure the angle of devi-
sign disappears and the three rays have been ation.
created. Note that you see only a single ray.
21. Select the incident ray press F5 then F6, this
17. Click on the point from where the rays have will extrapolate the incident ray and the draw
initiated. You will see that the rays are se- normal to the incident plane.
lected. This is confirmed by small red rect-
22. Select the ray of the colour (on the other side
angles appearing at the end points.
of the prism), for which you have to measure
18. Now select the incident ray, then click on the the angle of minimum deviation and press F7.
Modify button of the menu and select Ray. This will extrapolate the out coming ray in
A window appears. the backward direction. Now you are able to
see the angle of incidence and the angle of
19. Click on the buttons in the following sequence deviation. Refer to figure 5.1
red → next → green → next → blue → OK.
You will see that there are three rays coming 23. Strictly follow this procedure to measure angle
out. The lower most ray has become blue, of incidence: Click on the menu button Cre-
the upper most has become red and the ray in ate and select protractor, (Now mouse shows
between is green. This means we have gener- center), click the mouse at the bisecting point
ated the ray of three colours and that is why in of incident ray to the perpendicular. Press
the previous step we have said that the three E click on the starting point of incident ray,
rays have been created. It is worthwhile to then go to the end of the tangent line and
note that initially the rays wer of one colour click. You will see a small line showing the
Red, so even after passing through prism we angle. Now you can move the incident ray to
were able to see a single ray. Now since we change angle of incidence.
have made the three rays of three different
24. Click on the vertex of the angle you want to
colours, we see the common phenomenon of
measure. Now click on one arm and then on
dispersion of light.
the other. You see an angle value appears.
20. Now you see the incident ray becomes blue, This is the angle subtended.
because of the sequence we have chosen the
25. Select the incident ray and change the angle
colours. It’s nothing to worry about. Chose
of indicant so that the ray passing through
this ray, as you did it last time. Press F5; this
the prism becomes parallel to its base. Note
draws a normal at the point of incidence. We
the angle of incidence (θi ) and angle of devia-
will use this to measure the angle of incidence.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 Expt. 5. Virtual experiments 24 5.3. Observations

5.4 Results

1. Raytracing of a prism and a rectangular block

is done with a PC.

2. Laws of reflection and refraction are verified.

Figure 5.2: Finished raytracing of a prism.

tion (δm ) for a each (RED, GREEN or BLUE)

color.

26. Use protractor to measure angle of minimum

deviation. Refer to ??. Repeat the procedure
for green and red. Record your data in the
note book.

27. Save your file with your rollnumber as file

name. This my be useful for taking print out.

28. The refractive index of the material may be

calculated from the formula;

( A+δ )
sin 2
m
µ= A
(5.1)
sin 2

5.3 Observations

Angle of the prism = A = 60◦

Raytracing with a rectangular block.

sin( A+δm )
Color θi δm µ = sin A2
2
Red
Green
Blue
Raytracing with a rectangular block.
sin θi
Refractive θi θr µ = sin θr
index
1.5
1.0
2.0

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 6 Interference by Newton’s rings Method

6.1 Objective

To determine the wavelength of sodium light by

Newton’s rings method.

6.2 Short Biography of

Sir Issac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (4 January 1643 - 31

March 1727) was an English physicist, math-
ematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, al-
chemist, and theologian and one of the most
influential men in human history. His Philoso-
phie Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published
in 1687, is considered to be among the most in-
Figure 6.1: A portrait of Isaac Newton (aged
fluential books in the history of science, laying
46) by Godfrey Kneller in 1689. The inset is
the groundwork for most of classical mechanics.
the signature of Newton.
In this work, Newton described universal gravi-
tation and the three laws of motion which domi-
nated the scientific view of the physical universe of scientists in Britain’s Royal Society asking who
for the next three centuries. Newton showed that had the greater effect on the history of science,
the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial Newton or Albert Einstein. Newton was deemed
bodies are governed by the same set of natural the more influential. Newton was also highly reli-
laws by demonstrating the consistency between gious (though unorthodox), producing more work
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion and his the- on Biblical hermeneutics than the natural science
ory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts he is remembered for today.
about heliocentrism and advancing the scientific
revolution.
In mechanics, Newton enunciated the principles
6.3 Apparatus required
of conservation of both momentum and angular
momentum. In optics, he built the first practi- An optical arrangement for Newton’s rings with
cal reflecting telescope and developed a theory of a plano-convex lens of large radius of curvature
colour based on the observation that a prism de- (nearly 100 cm) and an optically plane glass plate,
composes white light into the many colors which A short focus convex lens, sodium light source.
form the visible spectrum. He also formulated an Traveling microscope, magnifying lens, reading
empirical law of cooling and studied the speed of lamp and a spherometer.
sound.
In mathematics, Newton shares the credit with 6.4 Description of apparatus
Gottfried Leibniz for the development of the dif-
ferential and integral calculus. He also demon-
The experimental apparatus for obtaining the New-
strated the generalized binomial theorem, devel-
ton’s rings is shown in the Figure 6.2. A plano-
oped the so-called "Newton’s method" for ap-
convex lens L of large radius of curvature is placed
proximating the zeros of a function, and con-
with its convex surface in contact with a plane
tributed to the study of power series.
glass plate P. At a suitable height over this com-
Newton’s stature among scientists remains at the bination, is mounted a plane glass plate G in-
very top rank, as demonstrated by a 2005 survey clined at an angle of 45 degrees with the vertical.

25
Expt. 6. Newtons’s Rings 26 6.5. Working Principle

This arrangement is contained in a wooden box. Where t is the thickness of the air film at B and
θ is the angle of film at that point. Since the
Light from a broad monochromatic sodium source
radius of curvature of the plano-convex lens is
rendered parallel with the help of convex lens L1
very large, the angle θ is extremely small and
is allowed to fall over the plate G, which partially
can be neglected. The term λ/2 corresponds to
reflects the light in the downward direction. The
a phase change of π radians introduced in the
reflected light falls normally on the air film en-
ray DE due to reflection at the denser medium
closed between the plano-convex lens L, and the
(glass). For air the refractive index (µ) is unity
glass plate P. The light reflected from the upper
and for normal incidence, angle of refraction is
and the lower surfaces of the air film produce in-
zero. So the path difference x becomes:
terference fringes. At the center the lens is in
contact with the glass plate and the thickness of
the air film is zero. The center will be dark as a x = 2t + λ/2 (6.2)
phase change of π radians is introduced due to
reflection at the lower surface of the air film as At the point of contact the thickness of the film
the refractive index of glass plate P (µ=1.5) is is zero, i.e., t = 0, So x = λ/2. And this is
higher than that of the air film (µ = 1). So this the condition for the minimum intensity. Hence
is a case of reflection by the denser medium. As the center of the Newton’s rings is dark. Further,
we proceed outwards from the center the thick- the two interfering rays BC and DE interfere con-
ness of the air film gradually increases being the structively when the path difference between the
same all along the circle with center at the point two is given by
of contact. Hence the fringes produced are con-
centric, and are localized in the air film (Fig- x = 2t + (λ/2) = 2nλ/2 (6.3)
ure 6.4) The fringes may be viewed by means of
a low power microscope (traveling microscope) or
M as shown in the figure. 6.3. 2t = (2n − 1)λ/2 [Maxima] (6.4)
and they interfere destructively when the path
difference
6.5 Working Principle

When a plano-convex lens of large radius of cur- x = 2t + λ/2 (6.5)

vature is placed with its convex surface in contact = (2n + 1)λ/2 (6.6)
with a plane glass plate P a thin wedge shaped
or 2t = 2nλ/2 [Minima] (6.7)
film of air is enclosed between the two. The
thickness of the film at the point of contact is
From these equations it is clear that a maxima or
zero and gradually increases as we proceed away
minima of particular order n will occur for a given
from the point of contact towards the periphery
value of t. Since the thickness of the air film is
of the lens. The air film thus possesses a ra-
constant for all points lying on a circle concentric
dial symmetry about the point of contact. The
with the point of contact, the interference fringes
curves of equal thickness of the film will, there-
are concentric circles. These are also known as
fore, be concentric circles with point of contact
fringes of equal thickness.
as the center (Fig. 6.4).
In Figure 6.3 the rays BC and DE are the two
interfering rays corresponding to an incident ray 6.6 Experimental Methods
AB. As Newton’s rings are observed in reflected
light, the effective path difference x between the
6.6.1 Calculation of the diameters rings:
two interfering rays is given by:

x = 2µt cos(t + θ) + λ/2 (6.1) Let rn be the radius of Newton’s ring correspond-
ing to a point B, where the thickness of the film

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 6. Newtons’s Rings 27 6.7. Methodology

6.6.2 Calculation of λ:

From equation (6.12), if Dn+p is the diameter of

(n+p)th bright ring, we have
2
Dn+p = 2[2(n + p) − 1]λR (6.13)

Subtracting equation (6.12) , from equation (6.13),

we get :
2
Dn+p − Dn2 = 4pλR (6.14)
2
Dn+p − Dn2
λ= (6.15)
4pR

By measuring the diameters of the various bright

rings and the radius of curvature of the plano
convex lens, we can calculate λ from the equa-
tion (6.15).

Figure 6.2: Schematic of experimental setup of

Newton’s Rings. The lower image is the actual
setup used in the experiment.
Figure 6.3: Schematic of method used to cal-
culate the diameter of lens and hence the wave-
is t, Let R be the radius of curvature of the sur- length of light used.
face of the lens in contact with the glass plate
p, then from the triangle CMB (Figure 6.3), we
have: 6.6.3 Formula used
R2 = rn2 + (R − t)2 or rn2 = 2Rt − t2 (6.8)
The wavelength λ of the sodium light employed
Since t is small as compared to R, we can neglect for Newton’s rings experiment is given by:
t2 .and therefore 2
Dn+p − Dn2
Rn2 = 2Rt, or 2t = rn2 /R (6.9) λ=
4pR
If the point B lies over the nth dark ring then Where Dn+p and Dn are the diameter of (n+p)th
substituting the value of 2t from equation (6.7) and nth bright rings respectively, p being an inte-
we have, ger number. R is the radius of curvature of the
[rn2 /R = 2nλ/2], or rn2 = nλR (6.10) convex surface of the plano-convex lens.

If Dn is the diameter of the nth ring then,

6.7 Methodology
Dn2 = 4nRλ (6.11)

Similarly, if the point B lies over a nth order 1. Adjust the position of the traveling microscope
bright ring we have so that it lies vertically above the center of lens
L. Focus the microscope, so that alternate dark
Dn2 = 2(2n − 1)λR (6.12) and bright rings are clearly visible.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 6. Newtons’s Rings 28 6.8. Observations

2. Adjust the position of the traveling microscope 6.8.2 Observation table

till the point of inter-section of the cross wires
(attached in the microscope eyepiece) coin- .Table 6.1: Determination of Dn+p
2 − Dn2 and p
cides with the center of the ring system and
one of the cross-wires is perpendicular to the Order Microscope Diameter Diameter2
horizontal scale of microscope. of Reading of the (in mm2 )
The (in mm) ring
3. Slide the microscope to the left till the cross-
Rings
wire lies tangentially at the center of the 20th Left Right (a∼ b) (a∼ b)2
dark ring (See Figure ) Note the reading on hand hand
the vernier scale of the microscope. Slide the side side
microscope backward with the help of the slow (a) (b)
motion screw and note the readings when the
cross-wire lies tangentially at the center of the, 20
16th , 12th , 8th , and 4th dark rings respectively
[Observations of first few rings from the center 16
are generally not taken because it is difficult
to adjust the cross-wire in the middle of these 12
rings owing to their large width.]
8
4. Keep on sliding the microscope to the right and
note the reading when the cross-wire again lies 4
tangentially at the center of the 4th , 8th , 12th ,
16th , and 20th dark rings respectively.

6.9 Calculations

1. Find the diameter of the each ring from the

difference of the observations taken on the left
and right side of its center.
2 2

2 0

1 8

Figure 6.4: Typical Newton’s Rings as ob-

)

1 6
2

L in e a r fit c u r v e
S q u a r e o f D ia m e te r (m m

served in Physics Laboratory of SGSITS, In- 1 4

dore. Courtesy Ms. K. Dudhe (PG student 1 2

2 2
2007-2009). 1 0 D n
- D n + p

6.8 Observations 4 p
2

2 4 6 8 1 0 1 2 1 4 1 6 1 8 2 0
6.8.1 Determination of Least Count N u m b e r o f R in g s

Determination of the Least Count (LC) of the

Horizontal Scale of traveling Microscope Figure 6.5: Variation square of the diameter of
rings as a function of number of rings.
1. Value of 1 div. of main scale (a) = . . . cm.
2. Number of div. on Vernier scale (b) = . . . cm. 2. Plot a graph between the number of the ring
on X-axis and the square of the corresponding
3. LC of the microscope scale (a/b) = . . . cm.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 6. Newtons’s Rings 29 6.10. Results

ring diameter on Y-axis. It should be a straight • The amount of light from the sodium light
line as shown in figure 6.5 source should be adjusted for maximum visi-
bility. Too much light increases the general il-
3. Take two points on this line and find its slop
lumination and decreases the contrast between
by taking the corresponding values of D2n+p -
bright and dark rings.
D2n and p.
4. Finally calculate the value of wavelength of the
sodium light source using the formula given by 6.12 Sample oral questions:
the equation 6.11.
• What do you understand by the interference of
light?
6.10 Results
• What are essential conditions for obtaining in-
terference of light?
Calculated value of the wavelength of sodium
light is • What do you understand by coherent sources?

• Using the observations directly = . . . Å • Is it possible to observe interference pattern by

• Using the graphical calculations = . . . Å having two independent sources such as two
candles?
• Standard average value of the wavelength of
the sodium light = 5893 Å • Why should be two sources be monochromatic?

• Percentage error = . . . . . . % • Why are the Newton’s rings circular?

• Why is central ring dark?

6.11 Sources of errors and pre- • Where are these rings formed?
cautions: • Sometimes these rings are elliptical or distorted,
why?
• The optical arrangement as shown in Figure
• What is the difference between the rings ob-
6.2 should be very clean (use spirit for clean-
served by reflected light and those observed by
ing these optical elements) and so made that
transmitted light?
the beam of light falls normally on the plano-
convex lens L and glass plate P combination. • What will happen if the glass plate is silvered
on the front surface?

• The plano-convex lens used for the production • What will happen when a little water is intro-
of Newton’s rings should have large value of duced in between the plano-convex lens and
radius of curvature. This will keep the angle of the plate?
wedge shape air film very small and therefore
• How does the diameter of rings change on the
the rings will have a larger diameter and con-
introduction of liquid?
sequently the accuracy in the measurement of
the diameter of the rings will be increased. • Can you find out the refractive index of a liquid
by this experiment?
• To avoid any backlash error, the micrometer
screw of the traveling microscope should be • Is it possible to have interference with a lens
moved very slowly and be moved in one direc- of small focal length?
tion while taking observations.
• What will happen if the lens is cylindrical?
• While measuring diameters, the microscope
• Why do the rings gets closer and finer as we
cross-wire should be adjusted in the middle
move away from the center.
of the ring.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 7 Wavelength of spectral lines by grating

7.1 Aim

To determine the wavelength of prominent spec-

tral lines of mercury light by a plane transmission
grating using normal incidence.

7.2 Apparatus required

A spectrometer, mercury lamp, transmission grat-

ing. reading lamp and reading lens.

7.3 Description of Apparatus

7.3.1 Spectrometer

This is an arrangement for producing pure spec-

trum. The essential parts of a spectrometer in-
clude collimator, prism table, and a telescope
(See Figure 7.1).

7.3.2 Collimator

The collimator provides a narrow parallel beam

of light. It consists of a horizontal, cylindrical, Figure 7.1: Photo of optical spectrometer
metallic tube fitted with an achromatic conver- mounted with a prism and ray diagrams of the
gent lens at one end and a short coaxial tube at same. The bottom figure shows the three mea-
the other end. The short coaxial tube, which his surements using a grating. T0 is direct reading
provided with a vertical slit of adjustable width while T and T’ are the left and right measure-
at the outer end, can be moved inside the main ments for a particular order m.
tube with the help of a rack and pinion arrange-
ment. The slit is illuminated by the source of
It can be rotated independently of the collima-
light, whose spectrum is to be examined and the
tor and telescope about the vertical axis passing
distance between the slit and the convergent lens
through instrument’s center of a circular scale
is so adjusted that the slit lies in the first focal
graduated in half degrees carried by the telescope
plane of the lens. Under this condition, the rays
(See Figure 2) the rotation of the prism table can
of light emerging from the collimator are paral-
be read with the help of two diametrically oppo-
lel. Usually in a spectrometer, the collimator is
site verniers attached to it and sliding over the
rigidly fixed with its axis horizontal, but in same
circular scale. The prism table can be clamped
instruments, it can be rotated about the vertical
to the main body of the instrument in any de-
axis passing through the center of instrument.
sired position with the help of a clamping screw
and then a fine rotation can be given to it with
7.3.3 Prism Table the help of a tangent screw provided at the base.
The prism table can be raised or lowered and may
It is a circular table supported horizontally on a be clamped at any desired height with the help
vertical rod at the center of the spectrometer. of a clamping screw provided for it. It is also

30
Expt. 7. Grating Diffraction 31 7.4. Measure angle

provided with the three leveling screws P, Q, R 30000 per inch and the ruled surface varies from
(See Figure 2) so that the refracting faces of the 2’’ to 6’’ . The gratings available in our SGSITS,
prism can be adjusted parallel to the axis of the Physics laboratory are having 15000 ruled lines
instrument Concentric circles and straight lines per inch and the ruled surface is of around 2’’
parallel to the line joining any two of the level-
ing screws are drawn on the surface of the prism
table, which help in placing the prism in proper 7.3.6 Grating Element
position during the experiment.
The distance between the centers of any two con-
secutive ruled lines or transparent spaces acting
7.3.4 Telescope as a slit is called grating element. Let e be the
width of the transparent space and d be the width
It is simple astronomical telescope and consists of ruled space, then the grating element = (e+d)
of a horizontal, cylindrical metallic tube fitted
with an achromatic convergent lens (called the
objective) at one end and a short coaxial tube 7.4 Measurement of angles with
called eyepiece tube at the end. The eyepiece
the help of spectrometer
tube (provided with the cross-wires and Ramsden
eyepiece) can be moved inside the main tube with
the help of rack and pinion arrangement. Pulling The spectrometer scales are angle measuring util-
or pushing the eyepiece in eyepiece tube by hand ities for the positions of the telescope which can
can also change the distance between the cross- be rotated about the central axis of the instru-
wires and the eyepiece. Thus the telescope can ment. The main circular scale is attached with
be adjusted to receive parallel rays and to form a the telescope so that when the telescope is ro-
clear image upon the cross-wires, which in their tated, the main circular scale also rotates with
turn are distinctly visible through the eyepiece. it. The angle, through which the telescope is ro-
The telescope can be rotated about the central tated, can be measured by reading the positions
axis of the instrument. It is also provided with of the verniers attached to the prism table and
a clamping and a tangent screw at the base by sliding over the main scale. In a spectrometer
which a slow rotation can be given to it. The there are two sets of main circular scales (fitted
main circular scale is attached with the telescope with the telescope) and vernier scale (attached
so that when the telescope is rotated, the main with the prism table). Both sets are diagonally
circular scale also rotates with it. The angle, (left hand and right hand sides) fixed in the in-
through which the telescope is rotated, can be strument and measures angle for a particular tele-
measured by reading the positions of the Verniers scope position with a difference of 180 degrees.
attached to the prism table and sliding over the These scales can be used in a similar manner as a
main scale. simple Vernier Caliper or traveling microscope is
used. The vernier Caliper or traveling microscope
is used to measure small distances (in centime-
7.3.5 Plane Transmission Grating ters and fractions whereas spectrometer scales
are used to measure small angular displacements
An arrangement, which is equivalent in its ac- (in degrees, minutes, and seconds){1 degree =
tion to a large number of parallel slits of same 60 minutes, and 1 minute = 60 seconds; (1◦ =
width separated by equal opaque spaces is called 60’ and 1’ = 60”)
diffraction grating. It is constructed by ruling
fine equidistant parallel lines on an optically plane
glass plate with the help of a sharp diamond point 7.4.1 Least Count of the Spectrom-
of an automatically plane transmission grating. If eter Scale:
the rulings are made on a metallic surface, the
grating is called reflection grating. The number Physics Laboratory, SGSITS has two types of
of ruled lines in a grating varies from 15000 to spectrometers in which

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 7. Grating Diffraction 32 7.5. Formula Used:

1. 60 divisions of vernier Scale are equal to 7.6.1 Adjustment of the Spectrome-

59 divisions of the Main Scale, and ter:
2. 30 divisions of vernier Scale are equal to Before doing any measurement with the spec-
29 divisions of the Main scale. trometer, the following adjustments exactly in
the sequence given below must be made:
Now, we will find out the least count in first case
which 60 divisions of Vernier scale are equal to
• The axis of the collimator and the telescope
59 divisions of the main scale. The method is as
must intersect at the perpendicular to the com-
follows:
mon axis of the prism table and the telescope
(usually being made by the manufacturer)
1. Value of one division of circular main scale
= 0.5◦ = 30’ (as 1◦ = 60’) • The eyepiece should be focused on the cross-
wires. For doing it turn the telescope towards
2. Value of one division of sliding vernier scale a white wall and adjust the distance between
= (59/60) x 0.5◦ the objective and eyepiece of the telescope
with the help of rack and pinion arrangement
3. Least count of spectrometer scale = Value
such that the field of view appears bright.
of 1 div. of main scale - value of 1 div. of
Now alter the distance between eyepiece and
vernier = 0.5◦ - [(59/60) x 0.5]◦ = [0.5 x
the cross-wires by pulling or pushing the eye-
1/60]◦ = 0.5’ = 30” (THIRTY SECONDS)
piece in the eyepiece tube, till the cross-wires
4. Similarly the least count of the spectrom- are distinctly visible. This focuses the eye-
eter scale in second case in which 30 divi- piece on the cross-wires.
sions of Vernier scale are equal to 29 divi-
sions of the circular main scale can also be Adjustment of Collimator and the telescope
calculated. In this case the value of least must be adjusted respectively for emitting and
count will be 1’ or 60” receiving parallel rays of light. This can be done
in the following manner.

7.5 Formula Used: 1. Illuminate the slit of the collimator with the
source of light, whose spectrum is to be an-
The wavelength λ of any spectral line using plane alyzed (mercury vapor lamp in this experi-
transmission grating can be calculated from the ment). Bring the telescope in line with the
formula (e + d) sin θ = nλ , Where (e + d) is collimator with the help of rack and pinion
the grating element, θ is the angle of diffrac- arrangements such that the image of the col-
tion, and n is the order of the spectrum. If limator slit as seen through the telescope ap-
there are N lines per inch ruled on the grat- pears to be sharp and well focused. Make
ing surface then the grating element is given by the collimator slit as narrow as possible (of
(e + d) = 2.54/N cm. Hence (2.54/N) sin θ = course with a clear appearance through the
nλ or λ = 2.54 sin θ/nN cm telescope).

2. Mount the prism on the prism table such that

7.6 Procedure its center coincides with the center of the
prism table and adjust the height of the prism
The whole experiment is divided into two parts table such that the prism is in level with the
(i) Adjustments, and (ii) Measurement of the collimator and the telescope.
diffraction angle θ.
Adjustment

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 7. Grating Diffraction 33 7.6. Procedure

If necessary, the telescope may be slightly turned necessary, to get these images at the center of
to keep he spectrum in the field of view but its the cross wires. When this is done the rulings
(telescope) focusing arrangement is not to be dis- of the grating will be parallel to the main axis
turbed while focusing collimator. Focus the tele- of the instrument.
scope on he spectrum with the help of its rack
• The slit should be adjusted parallel to the rul-
and pinion arrangement to make the spectrum as
ings of the gratings
sharp as possible. This time do not disturb the
precious arrangement of the collimator. For this rotate the slit in its own plane till the
diffracted images of the spectral lines become
as bright as possible. The observations may
7.6.2 Adjustment of the grating for now be taken.
normal incidence:

For this proceed as follows: 7.6.3 Measurement of the Angle of

Diffraction:
• Bring the telescope in line with the collimator • To measure the angle of diffraction, proceed
such that the direct image of the slit falls on as follows:
the vertical cross wire of the telescope. Note
the readings on both spectrometer scales. • Rotate the telescope to one side (say left) of
the direct image of the slit till the spectrum
• Rotate the telescope through 900 from this of the first order (n=1) is visible in the field
position and then clamp it. The axis of the of view of telescope. Clamp the telescope and
telescope will now be perpendicular to the axis then move it slowly by tangent screw till the
of collimator. vertical cross wire coincides with the red line
• Mount the grating on the prism table such of the spectrum. Note the readings of both
that its ruled surface passes through the cen- the verniers. Thus go on moving the tele-
ter of the prism table and is also perpendicular scope so that the vertical cross wire coincides
to the line joining the two leveling screws E1 in turn with the different spectral lines namely,
and E2 as shown in Figure 7.1b. The prism yellow, green, violet, etc. Each time note the
table is now rotated till the reflected image of readings of both the spectrometer scales (left
the slit from the grating surface falls on the and right verniers).
vertical cross wire. Adjust the screws E1 and • Unclamp the telescope and rotate it to the
E2 if necessary to get the image in the cen- other side (say right) of the direct image till
ter of the field of view. The grating surface the first order spectrum is again visible in the
is now inclined at an angle of 450 with the field of view. Clamp the telescope and use the
incident rays. Note the readings of both the tangent screw to coincide the vertical cross
spectrometer scales. wire on various spectral lines in turn and each
• Rotate the prism table through 450 or 1350 time note the readings of the verniers.
as the case may be so that the ruled surface • Find the difference in the readings of the same
of the grating becomes normal to the incident kind of vernier for the same spectral line in two
rays and faces the telescope. Now clamp the settings. This gives an angle equal to twice
prism table. the angle of diffraction for that spectral line in
• The ruling of the grating should be paral- the first order (n=1). Half of it is will give the
lel to the main axis of the instrument: For angle of diffraction. Similarly calculate the
this unclamp the telescope and rotate. The angle of diffraction for other spectral lines.
diffracted images of the slit or the spectral • Repeat the above observations for second or-
lines will be observed in the field of view of der spectrum also.
the telescope. Adjust the leveling screw K, if

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 7. Grating Diffraction 34 7.7. Observations

• The number of lines per inch on the grating

surface is usually written on the grating (the
grating used in SGSITS have 15,000 lines per
inch).

7.7 Observations

Angle θ
1. Least count (LC) of the Spectrometer scale:

(a) Value of 1 div of main scale (a) = ..

(b) Number of div on vernier scale (b) = ..

2θ = x-y
a
(c) LC of Spectrometer scale = b = ....

Table 7.1: Table for the measurement of the angle of diffraction θ

2. Number of lines per inch on grating (N)=...
2.54
3. Grating element (e + d) = = ...

Vernier Total
N

(y)
Spectrum to the
7.8 Precautions right of the direct

Scale
• The axes of the telescope and the collimator
images
Main
must intersect at and be perpendicular to the Scale
main axis of the spectrometer.

• The collimator must be so adjusted as to give

Vernier Total

out parallel rays.

(x)
Spectrum to the left
of the direct images

• The telescope must be so adjusted as to re-

ceive parallel rays and form a well defined im-
Scale

age of the slit on the crosswire.

• The prism table must be optically leveled.

Main
Scale

• The grating should be so mounted on the

prism table that its ruled lines are parallel to
the main axis of the spectrometer.
Window 1
Window 2
Window 1
Window 2
Window 1
Window 2
Window 1
Window 2
Window 1
Window 2
Wndows

• The plane of the grating should be normal to

the incident light and its ruled surface must
face the telescope so that the error due to
nonparallelism of the incident rays is mini-
Yellow
Violet

Green

mum.
color

Blue

Red

• The slit should be as narrow as possible and

parallel to the ruled surface of the grating.

• While handling the grating one should not

touch its faces but hold it between the thumb
and the fingers by edges only.

• While taking observations of the spectral lines,

the prism table must remain clamped.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 7. Grating Diffraction 35 7.9. Calculations & Results:

• The reading of both the verniers should be • What is the difference between a prism spec-
recorded. This eliminates the error due to trum and a grating spectrum?
non-coincidence of the center of the gradu-
ated scale with the main axis of the spectrom- • What are the various series of lines observed
eter. in hydrogen spectrum?

• What is Rydberg constant?

7.9 Calculations & Results: • . When white light passes through a diffrac-
tion grating, what is the smallest value of m
For first order λ = (e+d)sin(θ/2) Å. for which the visible spectrum of order m over-
laps the next one, of order m+1? (The visible
Calculate λ for all visible spectral lines. spectrum runs from about 400 nm to about
700 nm.)

• Is a CD (compact Disk) a grating?

Table 7.2: Observations error (%)

Colour Wavelength λ error

CHECK APPENDIX - B FOR ATOMIC
Standard measured
SPECTRA FROM MERCURY
(Å) (Å) (%)
Violet I 4047
Blue 4358
Green 5461
Yellow I 5770
Red 6234

7.10 Sample Questions

• What do you understand by diffraction of light?

• How does it differ from interference of light?
• What is a diffraction grating? How is it con-
structed?
• How do you measure the wavelength of light
using grating?
• What is grating element?
• How do you adjust telescope and collimator
for parallel rays?
• How do you set the grating for normal inci-
dence?
• Why should the ruled surface of grating face
forwards the telescope?
• How many orders of spectra are you getting
with the grating?

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 8 Numerical Aperture of Optical Fiber

8.1 Aim to transmit the light, while the glass coating, or

cladding, prevented the light from leaking out of
To measure the numerical aperture of given op- the core by reflecting the light within the bound-
tical fiber. aries of the core. Commercial applications fol-
lowed soon after. In 1977, both AT&T and GTE
installed fiber optic telephone systems in Chicago
8.2 Equipment required and Boston respectively. In 1990, Bell Labs trans-
mitted a 2.5 Gb/s signal over 7,500 km without
regeneration. Today, DWDM technology contin-
He-Ne or semiconductor laser, optical fiber, photo
ues to develop. As the demand for data band-
detector, translation stage, etc.
width increases, driven by the phenomenal growth
IMPORTANT : DO NOT LOOK INTO of the Internet, the move to optical networking
THE LIGHT BEAM EMITTED FROM is the focus of new technologies.
THE LASER OR FROM THE FIBER.
THIS MAY LEAD TO PERMANENT
DAMAGE TO YOUR EYE.

8.3 Brief history of optical fiber

The earliest attempts to communicate via light

undoubtedly go back thousands of years. Early
long distance communication techniques, such
as "smoke signals", developed by native North
Americans and the Chinese were, in fact, optical
communication links.
Jean-Daniel Colladon, a 38-year-old Swiss profes-
sor at University of Geneva, demonstrated light
guiding or Total internal reflection (TIR) for the
first time in 1841. He wanted to show the fluid
flow through various holes of a tank and the
breaking up of water jets.
In 1870, John Tyndall, using a jet of water that
flowed from one container to another and a beam
of light, demonstrated that light used internal
reflection to follow a specific path. As water Figure 8.1: Portraits of Jean-Daniel Colladon
poured out through the spout of the first con- and John Tyndall. The bottom image shows
tainer, Tyndall directed a beam of sunlight at the early TIR demonstration.
path of the water. The light, as seen by the au-
dience, followed a zigzag path inside the curved
path of the water.
8.4 Theory
Fiber optic technology experienced a phenom-
enal rate of progress in the second half of the
An optical fiber (or fibre) is a glass or plastic
twentieth century. Early success came during
fiber that carries light along its length. Fiber
the 1950 with the development of the fiberscope.
optics is the overlap of applied science and engi-
This motivated scientists to develop glass fibers
neering concerned with the design and applica-
that included a separate glass coating. The in-
tion of optical fibers. Optical fibers are widely
nermost region of the fiber, or core, was used

36
Expt. 8. Numerical Aperture of OF 37 8.5. Procedure:

Figure 8.2: Demonstration of total internal re-

flection (TIR) in an optical fiber.

used in fiber-optic communications, which per-

mits transmission over longer distances and at
higher bandwidths (data rates) than other forms
of communications. Fibers are used instead of
Figure 8.3: Pictorial view of experimental
metal wires because signals travel along them
setup used for the calculation of NA of opti-
with less loss, and they are also immune to elec-
cal fiber.
tromagnetic interference. Fibers are also used for
illumination, and are wrapped in bundles so they
can be used to carry images, thus allowing view- As this fiber accepts light up to 34 degrees off
ing in tight spaces. Specially designed fibers are axis in any direction, we define the ACCEPTANCE
used for a variety of other applications, including ANGLE of the fiber as twice the critical angle or
sensors and fiber lasers. in this case, 2×34=68◦ .

Light is confined in the core of the optical fiber by

total internal reflection. This causes the fiber to 8.5 Procedure:
act as a waveguide. Fibers which support many
propagation paths or transverse modes are called
multi-mode fibers (MMF), while those which can Important Precaution: Do not look in
only support a single mode are called single-mode to the light beam emitted from the laser
fibers (SMF). MMF generally have a larger core or from the optical fiber. It may lead to
diameter, and are used for short-distance com- permanent damage to you eye.
munication links and for applications where high
power must be transmitted. SMF are used for 1. Switch on the laser.
most communication links longer than 550 me-
tres (1,800 ft). 2. Adjust the height and position the optical fiber
Multimode optical fiber will only propagate light such that light is launched into the fiber. Use
that enters the fiber within a certain cone (see a small paper nearer to the other end of the
Figure 8.3), known as the acceptance cone of the optical fiber to check light output.
fiber. The half-angle of this cone is called the ac- 3. Mount the detector nearer to the other end of
ceptance angle, θmax . For step-index multimode the fiber, adjust the height and position the
fiber, the acceptance angle is determined only by detector for maximum coupling.
the indices of refraction:
√ 4. Make the output end of optical fiber vertically
n sin θmax = N A = n21 − n22 , (8.1) aligned with the center of the graduated co-
centering ring pattern as given in physics lab
where n1 is the refractive index of the fiber core, journal and shown in figure 8.4.
and n2 is the refractive index of the cladding.
5. Vertically move the output end of optical fiber
For example, taking 1.62 for n1 and 1.52 for n2 ,
nearly 1cm away from the center of the pat-
we find the NA to be 0.56. By calculating the
tern.
sin−1 (0.56) = 34◦ , we determine THE CRITI-
CAL ANGLE.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 8. Numerical Aperture of OF 38 8.6. Measurement and Results:

10. Record the values of FWHM at different dis-

tances Z.

11. Plot another graph between the distance Z and

FWHM. Find the slope F W HM/z. Refer to
figure 8.5

12. The sine of slope of the curve directly gives the

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Numerical aperture of the given optical fiber.
NA = sin θ = sin(tan−1 (FWHM/Z)).

8.6 Measurement and Results:

Z - Vertical position of fiber tip
D - Diameter of illuminated ring
Figure 8.4: Sample curves of ring patterns
FWHM - half of the measured diameter
to be illuminated vertically by the laser light
emerging out from the output end of the fiber. Z (cm) 1 2 3 4 5
1 1 D (mm) ... ... ... ... ...
1 0 F W H M FWHM (mm) ... ... ... ... ...
θ C
9 Z

8
Light has been coupled to an optical fiber. The
value of numerical aperture of the given optical
(m m )

6
S l o p = t a n ( θ) = B C / A B fiber found to be .. .
F W H M

3
A
B
8.7 Probable Questions
2

1 1. What is an optical fiber?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
V e r tic a l P o s itio n , Z , o f O p tic a l F ib e r (c m )
2. How numerical aperture and acceptance cone
Figure 8.5: Sample curves obtained at different
can be explained?
Z. The inset shows the method to calculate
FWHM. 3. What are the sources for fabricating optical
fiber?
6. Record the diameter of the ring illuminated by
4. Discuss some applications of FO.
the light emerging out from the fiber end.
5. Is light of any wavelength can be coupled to
7. Now move the output end of optical fiber nearly
optical fiber?
2cm away from the center of the pattern repeat
the initial adjustments and record the diame-
ter of the ring illuminated by the light emerging 8.8 Suggested reading
out from the fiber end.

8. Repeat the previous steps for three more dis- 1. www.lightandmatter.com (Download Book on
tances i.e. 3, 4 and 5cm. Optics, it is free!).

9. In a graph paper plot the half of the diameter 2. F. A. Jenkins and H. E. White, Fundamentals
of ring ( which is full width at half maxima of Optics, (McGraw-Hill, New York).
(FWHM) of the output intensity) along Y-axis
3. M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics,
and vertically scan distance along X-axis. Re-
(Pergamon, Oxford 1986).
fer to figure 8.4

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 9 Measurement of Planck’s constant using LEDs

9.1 Aim

To measure Planck’s constant using light emit-

ting diodes (LED) of various colors, to under-
stand work function and to obtaine VI charcater-
istics of junction diodes and Zenor diode.

9.2 Apparatus required

LEDs of various colors (Blue, Green, Yellow, Or-

ange, Red, Infrared, etc), pn junction diodes,
Zener diode, power source, connecting wires, Volt
meter, Ammeter etc.
Figure 9.1: Max Planck presents Albert Ein-
stein with the Max-Planck medal of the Ger-
9.3 Theory man Physical Society, June 28, 1929 in Berlin.

9.3.1 Historical Perspectives or absorbed by a system results from a change

in state whereby the quantum number, n, of the
Max Planck (1858-1947) was born in Kiel Ger- system changes by one. In 1905 Albert Einstein
many and attended schools in Munich and Berlin. (1879-1955) published a paper in which he used
Planck was pioneer in the field of quantum physics. Planck’s quantization of energy principle to ex-
Around 1900 Planck developed the concept of a plain the photoelectric effect. The photoelectric
fundamental unit of energy, a quantum, to ex- effect involves the emission of electrons from cer-
plain the spectral distribution of blackbody radi- tain materials when exposed to light and could
ation. This idea of a basic quantum of energy not be explained by classical models. For this
is fundamental to quantum mechanics of mod- work Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics
ern physics. Planck received a Nobel Prize for in 1921.
his work in the early development of quantum Niels Bohr (1885-1962) used Planck’s ideas on
mechanics in 1918. Interestingly, Planck him- quantization of energy as a starting point in de-
self remained skeptical of practical applications veloping the modern theory for the hydrogen atom.
for quantum theory for many years. In order Robert Millikan made the first measurement of
to explain blackbody radiation, Planck proposed Planck’s constant in 1916. The best known value
that atoms absorb and emit radiation in discrete for Planck’s constant is 6.62607554 x 10−34 Js.
quantities given by

E = nhν (9.1)
9.4 Experiment
where:
In this experiment, you will use light emitting
n is an integer known as a quantum number diodes (LED) to measure Planck’s constant. You
should be familiar with semiconductors and diodes
ν is the frequency of vibration of the molecule, from Modern Physics. To review: LEDs are semi-
and conductors that emit electromagnetic radiation
h is a constant, Planck’s constant. in optical and near optical frequencies when a
voltage is applied to them. LEDs emit light only
Planck named these discrete units of energy quanta. when the voltage is forward biased and above
The smallest discrete amount of energy radiated a minimum threshold value. This combination

39
Expt. 9. Finding h using LED & VI study of diodes. 40 9.5. Procedure

of conditions creates an electron hole pair in a 9.5 Procedure

diode. Electron hole pairs are charge carriers
and move when placed in an electrical poten- 1. The circuit that will be used to experimentally
tial. Thus many electron hole pairs produce a determine Planck’s constant is illustrated in
current when placed in an electric field. Above Figure 9.2.
the threshold value the current increases expo-
nentially with voltage. 2. Connect any one LED (say red) to the circuit.
The wire color almost matches with the color
A quanta of energy is required to create an elec-
emitted by LED.
tron hole pair and this energy is released when an
electron and a hole recombine. In most diodes 3. Put the multimeter to 10mA mode.
this energy is absorbed by the semiconductor as
heat, but in LEDs this quanta of energy produces 4. Make sure that the knobs of power supply are
a photon of discreet energy E = hν. Because at the lowest. Switch on the power supply
multiple states may be excited by increasing the and check the voltage is zero.
voltage across a diode, photons of increasing en-
5. Slowly increase the voltage and observe the
ergies will be emitted with increasing voltage.
corresponding change in the current value.
Thus the light emitted by an LED may span a
range of discrete wavelengths that decrease with 6. Record the voltage (from power supply) and
increasing voltage above the threshold voltage current values in your note book.
(shorter wavelength ⇒ higher energy). We are
interested in the maximum wavelength that is 7. Now change the connections to another LED.
determined by the minimum energy needed to
8. Repeat steps 2-7 for Blue and Green LEDS
create an electron hole pair. It is numerically
and record your data.
equal to the turn on voltage of the LED. The re-
lation between the maximum wavelength, λ, and 9. Now plot V-I characteristics of all three (red,
the turn on voltage, V0 , is blue and green) LEDS.
hc
E = hν = = eV0 = eVthreshold (9.2) 10. Find the threshold voltage (V0 ) for each one
λ of them, by extrapolating the linear part of
where: the curve to x-axis as shown in figure 9.3.

11. If possible plot all LEDS in the same graph

ν is the frequency of the emitted photons, sheet.
c is the velocity of light, 12. Record the values of λ, 1/λ and corresponding
V0 in another table.
e is the electronic charge, and
13. Plot another graph of V0 vs 1/λ. Make a
h is Planck’s constant.
straight line fit to the data.
The maximum wavelength of the LED can be 14. The slope of the graph is hc/e. Find the
measured to a resolution of a few nanometers Planks constant by multiplying the slope with
with a good spectrometer. If the turn on voltage, e/c.
V0 , is measured for several diodes of different
color (and different maximum wavelength, λ),
a graph of V0 vs. 1/λ should be linear with a
slope of hc/e. An experimental value of Planck’s 9.6 Questions
constant may then be determined by using the
known values of the speed of light, c, and the 1. What is photoluminescent?
charge of an electron, e.
2. What is a LED? What is Laser Diode? What
is Photoelectric effect?

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 9. Finding h using LED & VI study of diodes. 41 9.6. Questions

Breakdown
Reverse Forward

V
A

Figure 9.3: Sample V-I characteristic of a junc-

tion diode, note that the scale used +ve and
-ve axes are not same. The middle one shows
the LED VI curve of LED. Find Vo by extrap-
olating the data. The last graph shows the
linear fit of data V0 vs 1/λ.

the LED point gap. How would this velocity

change with color? (Hint: KEmax = qV o =
1 2
2 mv )

5. If the point gap approximates 1.0 mm, calcu-

late the acceleration (v 2 = 2ad) of the elec-
tron and the time t to cross the gap. What
vector field supplies the accelerating force?
Figure 9.2: Circuit diagram and experimental
setup for measuring Planck’s constant.

3. Which LED has the highest work function (W0 )?

Explain what does this mean.

4. Choose one of your LEDs, then calculate the

final velocity of an electron as it travels across

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

Expt. 9. Finding h using LED & VI study of diodes. 42 9.6. Questions

Red Blue Green

V I V I V I
(V) (µA) (V) (µA) (V) (µA)
0.01 —- 0.01 —- 0.01 —-
0.02 —- 0.02 —- 0.02 —-
– —- – —- – —-
3.0 —- 2.0 —- 1.0 —-
– —- – —- – —-
– —- – —- – —-

Table 9.1: Record of V-I data for LEDs. The

values shown in the tables are for indicative
purpose only.

Diode No. λ (nm)

Ultraviolet LED-1 401
Blue LED-2 454
Green LED-3 505
Yellow LED-4 514
Orange LED-5 596
Red LED-6 647
Infrared LED-7 942

Table 9.2: Wavelength and color of LED

S. No. LED λ 1/λ V0

Color (nm) (nm)−1 (Volt)
1 IR
2 Red
3 Orange
4 Yellow
5 Green
6 Blue
7 UV

Table 9.3: Data from the V-I plots for LEDs.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

10 Physics Education Technology: Interactive Simulations

10.1 Aim is having lower life time. The stimulated emis-

sion can be achieved between the lower and
To study the working of laser using “PhET” Laser intermediate level (this level need to have larger
Module. life time.)

10.2 Equipment required

PC, Java Runtime environment and Phet.jar file.

10.3 Laser Theory

Devices generating visible or invisible light, based

on the process of stimulated emission of light are
called lasers. LASER is an acronym for Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
Laser emits directed light beam which due to its Figure 10.1: Parts of a laser system. 1- Active
high spatial coherence can propagate over long medium, 2-Pumping source, 3-4-Cavity cou-
distances without much divergence (often limited plers, 5-laser output.
only by diffraction)and can be focused to very
small spots, where a high intensity is achieved. In this experiment the above mentioned ideas will
be verified and understood.

10.3.1 Introduction
10.4 Making of a LASER
Coherent Light generation is obtained by the pro-
cess of Light oscillation and Stimulated Emission
This part of the experiment expects the student
of radiation. The lasing from laser source need
to understand the processes of Absorption, spon-
to satisfy the following
taneous emission and stimulated emission pro-
cess. Also, this module will help you understand
1. A lasing medium, cavity mirror and pump. the process of population inversion, laser oscilla-
2. Population inversion between the lasing levels tion, and lasing process.

3. Multiple oscillations inside the cavity to en- 1. Open the Laser module from desktop short-
hance number of photons for stable operation. cut.
4. The pump energy should exactly match with 2. Observe various parts of the system, locate
the energy gap between the two level, (in case find the operating with the following (i) Lamp
of 2-level laser, 2LL) control with intensity and wavelength, (ii) Laser
power indicator, (iii) energ levels of the 2-L
5. In order to achieve the population inversion in
system, and (iv) other options.
a 2LL, the upper level should have very large
life time. 3. Increase the power of lamp, What do you ob-
serve?
6. While in a 3LL, the intermediate level needs
large life time. 4. Hold the Level - 2 and drag up and down,
what do you observe? At a particular value
7. In a 3LL population inversion can be achieved
the atoms goes from State 1 → 2, what does
by pumping atoms to third level directly, which

43
 Expt. 10. Understanding Laser using PhET module 44 10.4. Making of a LASER

this mean? What is the name of this pro- 12. Reduce the lifetime level 2, where does the
cess? What is the minimum requirement here electron stays? Record and explain your an-
in terms of energies? swer.
5. Now keeping the energy levels constant, ad- 13. Reduce the lifetime level 3, where does the
just the wavelength of source. What is your electron stays? Record and explain your an-
observation for what values does the atom swer.
goes to excited states? What is the minimum
requirement here in terms of energies? 14. Click Waveview for lower transition. What
type of radiation is coming out, explain.
6. Make pump and atom energies equal. The
atom goes to exited state in both medium 15. Change the internediate energy level, tune wave-
and energy level diagram. Reduce the lifetime length of Lamp - 1 to match. Is the radiation
to minimum. What do you observe? The coming out. How critical is this? What type
level system shows the Why does the atom is of process is this? Why the energy needs to
staying in the exited state (upper level)? be many degrees accurate here?

7. Increase the life time, put source power to 16. Enable mirrors. Make sure that atleast two
maximum. Click on the enable mirror (cav- photons of Lamp -1, are trapped and oscil-
ity). How many photons are trapped in the lating, otherwise disable and enable mirror.
cavity. Some of them escape through the sys- Once stable conditions is achieved, observe
tem, some does not, why? Is the atom go to carefully, wait for about 20 seconds and mon-
excited state? For how long the photons are itor the internal power to build up. When
trapped in the cavity? green indicators reaches 50%, slowly reduce
the reflectivity to 90%, What do you observed.
Explain the complete process as per your un-
derstanding.

17. Wait for few seconds, why all the energy drains
very fast. Repeat the previous step. Make
lower transition to Photons. Why the gen-
erated photons are always doublet. Compare
the results obtained in step - 8, to this. What
is their path? Change to wave view. Reduce
the refrlactivity to 99%. How long does the
lasing continues? How to explain the process
Figure 10.2: A front panel of PhET window happened in this step?
showing the Lamp-1, medium and power lev-
18. Make lifetime of upperlevel to maximum and
els.
for lowerlevel minimum. Explain your obser-
vations. What are the optimum values of life-
8. Now reduce the life time to minimum, are the time of levels?
photons trapped? Explain your observations?
19. Summarise the observations.
9. Increase lifetime, disable and enable the cav-
ity to trap some more photons. Reduce the
reflectivity gradually from 100 to 50, record • Report a diagram of the laser with conditions
and explain your observations. for laser output

10. Select Three level system. • Summarise answers to all questions asked above.

11. Increase the power of Lamp 2, carefully ob-

serve what is happening. Is the atom goes to
levels 1, 2 and 3.

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 A Color Tables

A.1 Color and wavelength (nm)

Take color print-out for clarity or use color monitor to viewing.

360 380 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580 600 620 640 660 680 700 720 740 760 780 800 Wavelength and the
corresponding color.

A.2 Standard values for Mercury Spectrum.

Name yellow 2 yellow 1 green blue-green blue violet 2 violet 1

Color
λ(nm) 579.0 577 546 491 435 407 404

Table A.1: Standard values for Mercury Spectrum and corresponding color.

A.3 A Mercury Spectrum obtained from a spectrograph.

Figure A.1: Typical spectrum one observes in Physics Laboratory at SGSITS, Indore.

45
 B Some useful data and information

Table B.1: Base SI units

Name Symbol Unit
length m meter
time s second
mass kg kilogram
electric current A ampere
Temperature K kelvin
Amount of substance mol mole
Luminous intensity cd candela

Table B.2: Derived SI Units

Name Symbol Unit
energy J joule
electric charge C coulomb
electric potential V volt
electric capacitance F farad
electric resistance Ω ohm
electric conductance S siemens
magnetic Flux Wb weber
inductance H henry
pressure Pa pascal
magnetic Flux density T tesla
frequency Hz hertz
power W watt
force N newton
angle rad radian
angle sr steradian

46
Expt. 10. Understanding Laser using PhET module 47

Table B.3: Common Exponent

Symbol Name name of ten Factor
Y yatta 1024
Z zetta 1021
E exa 1018
p peta 1015
T tera trillion 1012
G giga billion 109
M mega million 106
k kilo thousand 103
h hecto hundred 102
da deca ten 101
d deci tenth 10−1
c centi hundredth 10−2
m milli thousandth 10−3
µ micro millionth 10−6
n nano billionth 10−9
p pico trillionth 10−12
f femto 10−15
a atto 10−18
z zepto 10−21
y yocto 10−24

Table B.4: Constants

symbol Name Value units
h Planck’s constant 6.626 068 76 ×10−34 Js
R gas constant per mole (8.20545±0.00037) ×10−2 liter atm/K-mole
kB Boltzmann’s constant (1.38042±0.00010) ×10−23 J/K
σ Stefan-Boltzmann (5.6686±0.0005)×10−8 W/m2 K4
constant
c velocity of light (2.99793±0.00001) ×108 m/s
e elementary charge (1.60207±0.00007) ×10−19 coulombs
me mass of electron (9.10958±0.00005) ×10−31 kg
N Avogadro number (6.02472±0.00036) ×1023 molecule/mole
ϵ 1/µ0 C permittivity of (8.8542±0.0001) ×10−12 farad/m
free space
µ permeability of free 4π = 12.5664 ×10−7 henry/m
space
Mass per unit length of 1 mg/cm
Nichrome

SGSITS, Indore Dept. Appl.Phys. & Optoelex.

 C Brief History of Indian Nobel Laureates

The Nobel Prize is the most respected award the world over and here is a list of those Indians who
have won this award and made the country proud.

C.1 Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Nobel Prize for Literature (1913) Tagore was born and lived in Calcutta for most of his
life. He was one of modern India’s greatest poets and the composer of independent India’s national
anthem. In 1901 he founded his school, the Santiniketan, at Bolpur as a protest against the existing
bad system of education. The school was a great success and gave birth to Viswabharati. He was
awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature for his work "Gitanjali"; for the English version, published
in 1912. The noble citation stated that it was "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful
verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English
words, a part of the literature of the West." In 1915, he was knighted by the British King George
V. Tagore renounced his knighthood in 1919 following the Amritsar massacre or nearly 400 Indian
demonstrators.

C.2 Sir C.V. Raman (Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman)(1888 -

1970)

Nobel Prize for Physics (1930) C V Raman was born on 7th Nov. 1888 in Thiruvanaikkaval,
in the Trichy district of Tamil Nadu. He finished school by the age of eleven and by then he had
already read the popular lectures of Tyndall, Faraday and Helmoltz. He acquired his BA degree
from the Presidency College, Madras, where he carried out original research in the college laboratory,
publishing the results in the philosophical magazine. Then went to Calcutta and while he was there,
he made enormous contributions to vibration, sound, musical instruments, ultrasonics, diffraction,
photo electricity, colloidal particles, X-ray diffraction, magnetron, dielectrics, and the celebrated
"RAMAN" effect which fetched him the Noble Prize in 1930. He was the first Asian scientist to
win the Nobel Prize. The Raman effect occurs when a ray of incident light excites a molecule in
the sample, which subsequently scatters the light. While most of this scattered light is of the same
wavelength as the incident light, state (i.e. getting the molecule to vibrate). The Raman effect is
usef

C.3 Dr. Hargobind Khorana

Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology (1968) Dr. Hargobind Khorana was born on
9th January 1922 at Raipur, Punjab (now in Pakistan). Dr. Khorana was responsible for producing
the first man-made gene in his laboratory in the early seventies. This historic invention won him
the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968 sharing it with Marshall Nuremberg and Robert Holley for
interpreting the genetic code and analyzing its function in protein synthesis. They all independently
made contributions to the understanding of the genetic code and how it works in the cell. They
established that this mother of all codes, the biological language common to all living organisms, is
spelled out in three-letter words: each set of three nucleotides codes for a specific amino acid.

48
C.4 Dr. Subramaniam Chandrasekar

Nobel Prize for physics (1983) Subramaniam Chandrashekhar was born on October 19, 1910
in Lahore, India (later part of Pakistan). He attended Presidency College from 1925 to 1930, following
in the footsteps of his famous uncle, Sir C. V. Raman. His work spanned over the understanding
of the rotation of planets, stars, white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, galaxies, and clusters of
galaxies. He won the Nobel Prize in 1983 for his theoretical work on stars and their evolution.

C.5 Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997)

Nobel Prize for peace (1979) Born in 1910, Skoplje, Yugoslavia (then Turkey) and originally
named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa dedicated her life to helping the poor, the sick, and
the dying around the world, particularly those in India, working through the Missionaries Of Charity
in Calcutta. The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet
Union and Eastern European countries. They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in a
number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake
of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. The order also has
houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics,
homeless, and AIDS sufferers. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.

C.6 Dr. Amartya Sen

Nobel Prize for Economics (1998) Born in 1933, Bolpur, in West Bengal, Amartya Sen is the
latest in our list of Nobel Laureates. He was honored with the Nobel Prize for his work in Welfare
economics. When Thailand’s Baht plummeted, markets from Bombay to New York were in turmoil
and there was talk of worldwide depression, Sen’s argument that growth should be accompanied
by democratic decision-making seemed only too correct. Amidst the human suffering caused by
mass unemployment and exacerbated – as many felt – by the stringent economic policies of the
International Monetary Fund and ideas of free-market capitalism, Sen’s call for social support in
development appeared humane and wise. A new brand of softer, gentler economics seemed in order.
Although Sen is probably best known for his research on famines, his work on women – the attention
he has drawn to their unequal status in the developing world, and his calls for gender-specific aid
programs – is just as important.

C.7 V.S. Naipaul (1932- )

British writer of Indian origin, Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Literature 2001 "for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel
us to see the presence of suppressed histories."

C.8 ___________________

(Do you want to have your name here?) Work hard, read and understand more science, may be one
day your dream might become true.
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