LD

Optics Physics
Spectrometer Leaflets P5.7.1.1
Prism spectrometer

Measuring
the line spectra of inert gases
and metal vapors
using a prism spectrometer

Objects of the experiment

Adjusting the prism spectrometer.
Calibrating the prism spectrometer with an He-lamp.
Measuring an “unknown” line spectrum.
Identifying the “unknown” light source.

Principles
Inert gases and metal vapors which are excited to luminance plane of the lens. In this way, a pure spectrum is formed in the
emit spectral lines, i. e. a specific selection of wavelengths focal plane, and we can observe this using the ocular O9.
which are characteristic for the respective element. By pre- Objective lens O2 and ocular O9 together form an astronomical
cisely measuring these wavelengths, we can draw well- telescope focused on infinity.
founded conclusions about the nature of these light sources. The prism is positioned so that the beam path is symmetrical for
We can use a prism to separate these spectral lines. Here, the a medium wavelength of the spectrum (about 500 – 600 nm),
wavelength-dependency of the refractive index n of the prism and the deviation is thus minimal. This in turn maximizes the
material (here flint glass) is exploited. The light rays are re- spectral resolution.
fracted in the prism and deviated to different extents, depend- The telescope is mounted on a swivel arm so that the deviation
ing on their wavelengths. Shorter-wave light in the visible range angle can be measured. When the telescope is turned, cross-
of the spectrum is deviated more than long-wave light. hairs positioned in the focal plane of the ocular are placed on
In the prism spectrometer, emerging light propagates in a the individual spectral lines. To enable measurement of the
diverging manner though the vertical slit S, for which the width angle and thus the relative position of the lines, the telescope
and height can be varied, and falls on the objective lens O1; its is combined with a graduated circle (a disk with a scale with
distance from the slit is equivalent to its focal length (see half-degree graduations) to form a goniometer. The vernier
Fig. 1). The slit and the lens together form a collimator. Behind permits the position to be read off to within an angular minute.
the lens, the light falls on the prism P as a parallel beam, i. e. The relationship between the refractive index n and the
all rays are incident on the prism at the same angle. The prism wavelength is not linear. If the wavelengths of an unknown light
refracts the light, and each wavelength is deviated at a different source are to be assigned to the deviations through the prism,
angle. Finally, a second objective lens O2 focuses all parallel the spectrometer must first be calibrated. This is accomplished
rays of a specific wavelength to an image of slit S in the focal using a lamp for which the spectral lines are known and
distributed over the entire visible range. Using the resulting
calibration curve, it is then possible to assign the spectral lines
of an unidentified light source to the corresponding wave-
lengths. These are then compared with a suitable reference
table to determine the light source.
0206-Wit

Fig. 1 Beam path in a prism spectrometer

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Apparatus
1 Spectrometer and goniometer . . . . . . . 467 23

1 Spectral lamp He, pin contact . . . . . . . 451 031

1 Spectral lamp Cd, pin contact . . . . . . . 451 041
1 Housing for spectral lamps with pin contact 451 16
1 Universal choke, 230 V, 50 Hz . . . . . . . 451 30

1 Transformer, 6 V AC, 12 V AC . . . . . . . 562 73

1 Stand base, small, V-shape . . . . . . . . 300 02

additionally usable:

1 Spectral lamp Ne, pin contact . . . . . . . 451 011

1 Spectral lamp Hg/Cd, pin contact . . . . . 451 071
1 Spectral lamp Ti, pin contact . . . . . . . . 451 081
1 Spectral lamp Na, pin contact . . . . . . . 451 111

Fig. 2 Spectrometer
a Telescope
b Adjusting screw for laterally displacing the collimator
Adjusting the spectrometer c Prism table
d Adjusting screw for laterally displacing the telescope
In order to conduct precise measurements, the apparatus must
e Collimator
be carefully adjusted.
f Spectrometer base unit
The slit and the crosshairs must be positioned exactly in the
focal plane of the respective objective lens (telescopic beam
path).
The slit and the prism surfaces must be aligned parallel to the
rotary axis of the telescope.
Some of the adjustment steps, as well as the measurements of
line spectra, are more easily carried out when the room is
darkened somewhat.

Preliminary adjustment: possible to carry out precise measurements when the collima-
tor and the telescope are adjusted by the same experimenter.
The inclination of the prism table can be varied only to a limited When other experimenters wish to observe the spectra, sub-
extent. To ensure that enough play is left for adjustment, align sequent focusing may only be carried out by moving the ocular
the table as horizontally as possible (by eye) during preliminary (a4).
adjustment.
– Remove ocular (a4), mount illumination source (a3) in the
– Align the telescope (a), the prism table (c) and the slit tube telescope and replace the ocular with the opening for the
(collimator) (e) horizontally by eye (see Fig. 2). illumination source (a5) facing downward (see Fig. 3).
– Center the telescope and the collimator laterally using the – Focus the crosshairs by moving the ocular (a4) in the ocular
screws for lateral adjustment (b), (d) and then screw them tube and aligning it if necessary. Make sure that the open-
tight. Do not loosen the adjusting screws too much on one ing for the illumination source (a5) is still facing downward.
side, as these support the telescope and the collimator. – Focus the horizontally aligned telescope on a distant object
(> 500 m) using the focus adjustment knob (a1).
Focusing the telescope to infinity:
As the image of the observed object and the crosshairs must
Note: Experimenters requiring vision correction can see distant both be in the focal plane of the objective lens when the setting
objects clearly with the telescope; however, in this case the is correct, there should be if possible no parallax between the
telescope by definition is not set precisely to infinity. It is still observed object and the crosshairs.

Safety notes
Do not exceed the maximum permissible voltage for
the He-lamp of the illumination system (Umax = 8 V).
Adjusting the illumination source:
The spectral lamps and the housing become very hot
during operation. – Aim the telescope at the collimator (open the slit slightly).
– Connect the illumination source (a3) to the voltage U = 6 V.
Allow lamps to cool before changing or replacing.
– Using arresting screw (a2), mount the illumination device
on the telescope so that the inside of the slit is well
illuminated, without altering the position of the ocular.

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Fig. 3 Telescope with illumination source Fig. 4 Spectrometer with flat glass plate
a1 Focus adjustment knob a Telescope
a2 Arresting screw for illumination source b Leveling screws for prism table
a3 Illumination source c Collimator
a4 Ocular d Flat glass plate in holder
a5 Opening for illumination source (not visible)
a6 Height adjustment screw for telescope

Aligning the optical axis of the telescope perpendicular – Aim the telescope at the collimator and open the slit slightly
to the spectrometer axis: using the micrometer screw for slit width (e1).
– Place the flat glass plate in its holder (g) in the center of the – Set the slit to a suitable, observable slit height using the
prism table at an angle of 458 to the collimator (e) so that slide (e5).
the (imaginary) line between two of the adjusting screws of – With the height adjustment screw of the collimator (e4),
the prism table is parallel to the side surfaces of the flat align the middle of the slit with the horizontal cross-hair and
glass plate (see Fig. 4). lock the slit in position.
– Align the telescope (a) perpendicular to one of the side
faces of the flat glass plate so that the cross-hairs are
reflected in this surface.
– Adjust the horizontal cross-hair so that is coincident with
its reflection. In making this adjustment, correct half the Fig. 5 Collimator
difference using the height-adjustment screw of the tele- e1 Micrometer screw
scope (a6) (see Fig. 3) and the other half using the leveling e2 Collimator tube
screw (c1) of the prism table. e3 Arresting screw for collimator tube
– Repeat the following two steps until the horizontal cross- e4 Height adjustment screw for collimator
e5 Slide for adjusting slit height
hair and its mirror image coincide on both sides of the flat
glass plate:
1) Turn the telescope 1808 as shown in Fig. 4 so that the
cross-hairs are reflected on the opposite side of the flat
glass plate.
2) Check whether the cross-hair and its mirror image coin-
cide. If not, correct half the difference using the height-ad-
justment screw of the telescope (a6) (see Fig. 3) and the
other half using the leveling screw (c1) of the prism table,
as described above.
– Secure the height-adjustment screw of the telescope (a6)
using a lock nut.
– Remove the flat glass plate with holder from the prism
table.
– Disconnect the illumination source from its voltage supply.

Adjusting the collimator:

– Illuminate the slit from the outside using e. g. a light bulb or
one of the spectral lamps.

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Fig. 6 Aligning the prism surfaces Fig. 7 Spectrometer base unit and prism table
c1 Leveling screws for prism table c1 Prism table
h (Flint) glass prism in holder c2 Leveling screws for prism table
f1 Arresting screw for prism table
f2 Arresting screw for graduated circle
f3 Fine-adjustment screw for telescope rotation
f4 Arresting screw for telescope (not visible)
f5 Verniers
f6 Magnifiers
f7 Graduated circle
– Loosen the arresting screw for the collimator tube (e3) and
slide the collimator tube (e2) in the direction of the arrow
(see Fig. 5) until a sharp image is obtained.
– By turning the tube, align the slit vertically so that it is
parallel to the vertical cross-hair, and then tighten the
arresting screw for the collimator tube (e3).

Aligning the prism surfaces parallel to the access of rota-

tion:
– Turn the telescope so that it is at an acute angle to the
collimator and fix it in place using the arresting screw (f4)
(see Fig. 6 and Fig. 7).
– Place the prism in holder (h) on the prism table as shown
in Fig. 6 so that one surface of the prism is parallel to the
imaginary line between two leveling screws of the prism
table.
– Turn the prism table until the image of the slit reflected by
one face of the prism is visible in the telescope, and tighten
the arresting screw (f1) for the prism table.
– Using the leveling screw at the back (c1), move the re-
flected slit image to the middle of the cross-hairs.
– Repeat the following two steps until the reflection of the slit
does not change vertically when the prism table is turned:
1) Loosen the arresting screw (f1) of the prism table and
turn the prism table until the image of the slit is reflected
by the next prism surface, then retighten the arresting
screw of the prism table.
2) Using the leveling screw which is now on the back side
of the prism table (as seen from the telescope), bring the
reflection of the slit into the middle of the cross-hairs.

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Setup – Align the vertical cross-hair of the telescope with each of

the spectral lines in turn using the fine-adjustment knob
– Attach the He-spectral lamp in the housing, mount it in the
(f3). Read off the corresponding telescope position on the
stand base as shown in Fig. 8, connect it to the universal
graduated circle using the magnifiers (f6) and write this
choke and switch it on.
value in the experiment log.
– Illuminate the slit with the He-spectral lamp. Make sure that
the He-lamp is positioned in the optical axis of the collima- c) Measuring the line spectra of other light sources,
tor. e. g. spectral lamp Cd:
– Position the prism on the prism table and align the tele-
scope so that the light through the slit passes through the – Allow the He-lamp and housing to cool, then exchange
prism (when viewed from above, see Fig. 1) and the spec- lamps and illuminate the slit.
trum can be observed in the telescope. – Align the vertical cross-hair of the telescope with each of
the spectral lines one after another as described above
using the fine-adjustment knob (f3) and read off and write
Carrying out the experiment
these values in the experiment log.

a) Setting the angle of minimum deviation:

The resolution increases with decreasing slit widths; however,
the light intensity of the spectrum is correspondingly reduced:
– Using the micrometer screw for slit width (e1), set the slit
to a suitable width.
– Slowly turn the prism table and observe the shift of the
spectral lines with the telescope until a “center” line of the
spectrum (e. g. yellow, l = 587.6 nm) just passes through a
reversing point (minimum setting).
– Fix the prism table and telescope in the minimum position
using the corresponding arresting screws (f1) and (f4).

b) Calibrating the spectrometer using the He-spectral

lamp:
Note: the spectrometer is equipped with two opposing ver-
niers. In order to minimize reading errors and compensate for
any eccentricity of the circular graduation with respect to the
axis of rotation, find the mean value of two readings.
– Align the telescope so that the vertical cross-hair coincides
with one of the outer spectral lines (in this measurement
example the red line).
– Turn the graduated circle (f7) to the 08 and 1808 lines of the
verniers (f5) and lock the graduated circle using the corre-
sponding arresting screws (f2).

Fig. 8 Complete experiment setup after adjustment

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2o

1o

0o

500 600 700 λ

nm

Fig. 9 Schematic diagram for the definition of angle a Fig. 10 Calibration curve of the prism spectrometer
In the measurement example, a8 has been selected so Dots: measured values from table 1
that the wavelength l = 706.5 nm at the angle a8 = 0.008 Line: Interpolated curve

Measuring example and evaluation Additional information

Note: With the prism spectrometer it is also possible to see The spectrometer and goniometer can also be used as a
low-intensity lines which do not belong to the spectrum of the grating spectrometer (see experiment description P5.7.1.2). In
respective metal vapor or inert gas. Due to the manufacturing this configuration, a calibration curve is no longer required for
process, other gases may also be included in the light bulb. In determining the wavelengths.
metal vapor lamps, argon (Ar) is additionally used as a base gas. However, the intensity of the spectra is less, so that weak lines
Table 1: Measured values for calibrating the spectrometer are often invisible. Additionally, multiple diffraction orders
using the He-spectral lamp; see Fig. 9 for definition of a occur, which, depending on the grating used, can be super-
posed on one another and thus impede assignment.
lliterature
a When using a diffraction grating, the resolution of the
nm
spectrometer is usually better than with the prism spectrome-
706.5 0.008 ter. For example, the two Na-D lines, which can just barely be
667.8 0.208 differentiated in the prism spectrometer with the slit set to
587.6 0.768 minimum width, can be easily resolved and measured sepa-
501.6 1.738 rately in a spectrometer using a Rowland grating.
492.2 1.888
471.3 2.238
447.1 2.738

To identify unknown light sources, the wavelengths of the

spectral lines are read off and compared with the measured
angles from the calibration curve (see Fig. 10). The given
literature values refer to the wavelengths in a vacuum. The
conversion to wavelengths in air is not necessary.

Table 2: Measured values for example lamp Cd; see Fig. 9 for
definition of a
levaluation lliterature
a
nm nm

2.308 468.7 467.8

2.088 480.4 480.0
1.638 507.7 508.6
0.438 631.8 632.5
0.358 644.1 643.8

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