OPTICS

PHY402 (DSC) Practical 4

Sl No Name of Experiment Page No
1 Cauchy's constants using spectrometer
2 Diffraction grating Determination of grating
constant and wavelength (minimum deviation
method).

3 Newton's rings Determination of radius of

curvature of a Plano convex lens.

4 Air wedge Determination of thickness of a thin

paper

5 Polarization Determination of unknown

concentration of sugar solution by graphical
method using a polarimeter
6 Determination of capacitance using time
constant of RC circuit by charging process.

7 Determination of resistance using time

constant of RC circuit by discharging process
8 Bi-prism determination of wavelength.

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Experiment No: Date:

Cauchy’s constants
Aim:

To determine Cauchy’s constants A & B of Prism by Minimum deviation method

Apparatus:
Spectrometer, prism, mercury source, spirit level.
Procedure:
The least count (LC) of the spectrometer is determined. The following preliminary
adjustments of the spectrometer are made.
1 The telescope is directed towards white wall and the eyepiece is moved to and fro
gently till the cross wires are clearly seen.
2 The telescope is directed towards a distant object. The rack and pinion screw is
adjusted till the image of the object is clearly seen without any parallax between the
image and cross wires.
3 The telescope is brought in line with the collimator. The slit is illuminated by the
composite light and is made narrow. Looking through the telescope the rack and
pinion screw of the collimator is adjusted till the image of the collimator of the slit is
clearly seen.
4 The prism table is leveled using spirit level and the leveling screws.

Given- angle of the prism A = 60o

To determine angle of minimum deviation ‘D’:

The prism is placed on the prism table with its refracting edge parallel to the slit so that light
from collimator falls fully on any of the refracting faces. The telescope is moved towards the
base BC till the spectrum is clearly seen. The prism table is fixed in the minimum deviation
position. The readings ‘R’ of the telescope corresponding to lines of the different colours in
the minimum deviation position are taken. The prism is removed from the prism table. The
telescope is moved to get the direct image of the slit and the reading ‘RO’ is noted. The angle
of minimum deviation ‘D’ and refractive index ‘μ’ calculated for each line using the relations

Eqn (1)
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( )
Eqn (2)
( )

Cauchy’s constants are calculated using the relations,

Eqn (3)

( )
Eqn (4)

colour λ R ( )
m degree degree
( )
Blue
Green

Least count of the spectrometer = =

Result:

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Experiment No: Date:

DIFFRACTION GRATING
Aim:

To determine the wavelengths of prominent lines of the first order mercury using diffracting
grating spectrum by minimum deviation method by knowing the grating constant.

Apparatus required:

Grating spectrometer, plane diffraction grating, mercury lamp, condensing lens, reading
lamp, reading lens, etc.

Theoretical Preamble:

A diffraction grating is a plane surface containing a large number of parallel and uniform
rulings (slits) of alternate transparency and opacities, as shown in Fig. 1. The sum of the
widths of a transparency and opacity is referred to as grating constant or grating element,
denoted by C. If N is the number of lines of transparency (or opacity) per inch on a grating,
the grating elements is given by

C = m Eqn (1)

When a parallel beam of composite light is incident on a diffraction grating, it is diffracted by

the rulings (or slits) and the emergent beam suffers deviation. If i and ϴ are respectively the
angle of incidence and the angle of diffraction, the angle of deviation for the beam will be
d = i + ϴ ( Fig 2)

In the experiment, if the deviation is minimized to D called the angle of minimum deviation
(the condition is called minimum deviation), then it can be shown that i and ϴ becomes equal
to each other so that ϴ = . Under this condition, the emergent beam of light has maxima
given by the equation

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Where n is the order of diffraction (n= 1 in the present experiment). Thus, D is diffraction for
different wavelength λ consequently a beam of white light splits into its constituent colours
(wavelength λ) to give rise to a spectrum of light. If C, n and D is known, the wavelength of
the constituent colours may be determined.

Procedure:

The preliminary adjustments of the spectrometer are carried out .The diffraction
grating is mounted on the prism table. The silt viewed directly through the telescope and
reading RO for the position of the telescope is taken. Turn the telescope to the left or the right
and get the first order spectrum the prism table is turned so that the lines move towards the
direct reading RO and retrace their path. The prism table is fixed in the position where the
lines change the direction of motion. The intersection of the cross wire is set on the violet,
blue, green, yellow-2, yellow-1, lines and the reading R is noted at minimum deviation
position.
Determination of grating element C

C = (2.54 х 10-2) / 15000 = m

LC of the circular scale of the spectrometer = = =

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Reading for the incident beam, R0

MSR = CVD = R0= MSR + (CVD Х LC) =

Order of spectrum n = 1

Tabular Column

Prominent Standard Reading R Angle of Calculate λ

Line Wave length MSR CVD R=MSR+(CVD х LC) Minimum Ao
colour Ao degree degree deviation
D = R RO
degree
Yellow – 2 5791
Yellow – 1 5770
Green 5461
Blue 4358
Violet 4078

Result:

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Experiment No: Date:

NEWTONS RING’S
Aim:
To determine the radius of curvature of a given Plano convex lens by using Newton’s Ring
set up.

Apparatus:
Monochromatic source (Sodium lamp), Travelling Microscope, Plano convex lens, plane
glass plate, inclined glass plate.

Formula:

R= ( ) m Eqn (1)

Where ‘R’ is the radius of curvature of the given Plano convex lens,

= Wavelength of monochromatic light = 5893 ,

= radius of ring
n is the ring number.

Figure:

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Procedure:
The least count of the travelling microscope is determined and is set for horizontal transverse.
The convex lens is placed on the optically plane glass plate in such a way that the convex
surface of the lens whose radius of curvature ‘R’ is to be determined.

A thin film of air is enclosed between the lower surface of the lens and the upper surface of
the glass plate.

Now the arrangement is placed on a black paper on the base of the wooden frame. The
inclined glass plate is fixed at an angle of 4 to the base of the wooden frame. A parallel
beam of monochromatic light is made to fall on the glass plate. The rays are partly reflected
downwards onto the air film. The travelling microscope is clearly focused on the air film. A
system of Newton’s Rings are seen in the field of view of travelling microscope the
intersection of cross wire is brought at the centre of the ring system, the central dark spot is
the zeroth dark ring.

Starting from the central dark ring the travelling microscope is moved to the left,
when one of the cross-wire moves tangentially to the rings while the other moves along the
diameter to avoid the backlash. The travelling microscope is moved to the 2 ring then it is
moved to the right till it is tangentially to the 2 ring. Then it is repeated for 15th, 10th,
dark rings and readings are noted without disturbing arrangement then is moved to the right
till the cross-wire is tangential to the successive 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th and 2 dark ring and in
each case the readings are noted.

From the observations the radii of these rings are calculated, the value is determined and
the radius of curvature of the Plano-convex lens is calculated using the formula.

Tabular column:
Ring T.M. T.M. Diameter Radius
Number reading reading D = (a b) r=
Left (a) Right (b) m
m
m m

Mean [ ]=

Result:

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Experiment No: Date:

INTERFERENCE AT A WEDGE
Aim:

To calculate the thickness of the paper by interference at a wedge set up.

Procedure:

A thin paper is placed between two optically flat glass plates so as to form an airside.
Monochromatic light from a sodium vapour lamp is made to incident normally as in the case
of the Newton rings experiment. A travelling microscope is focused on the air wedge as
shown in the Fig (1). In the field of view of the microscope, parallel equidistant bands are
seen. The band width w is found by finding the readings for 0th, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th band.
The distance L from the point of contact of the glass plates and the paper is noted. The
thickness of the paper is calculated using the formula and verified using a screw gauge.

Formula:

Where, λ =5893×10-10 m

Figure:

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Tabular Column

Band Reading Band Reading Width of 8 Band width

No. cm No. cm Bands cm
0 8
2 10
4 12
6 14
8 16
Mean Band width (w) =

Calculations:

Length of the air wedge L =

Result:

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Experiment No: Date:

SPECIFIC ROTATION USING POLARIMETER

Aim:
[Link] find the concentration of the given sugar solution and
ii. To determine the specific rotation of an optically active substance (sugar solution)
using Laurent’s half shade Polarimeter.

Apparatus required:
Laurent’s half shade Polarimeter, light source, condensing lens, optically active
substance(sucrose crystals), solvent(water), digital balance (if required), filter paper, funnel,
beaker, measuring jar (for preparing solution), meter scale, etc.

Introductory remarks:
When a plane polarized light is passed through an optically active solution (or substance) (see
Fig.1), the plane of polarization of light is rotated by an angle θ. This angle of rotation is
proportional to (i) length l of the solution, (ii) concentration C of the solution, (iii)
wavelength λ of light and (iv) temperature T of the solution. For a given light source (i.e., λ)
and temperature, mathematically we may write:
θ α LC
θ = SLC Eqn (1)

Eqn (2)

Where, S is a constant called specific rotation of the optically active substance for the
given source, when the temperature remains constant. From Eqn (1) it is evident that, if we
plot a graph of θ versus LC, we obtain a straight line of slope equal to S. hence from
knowledge of θ, L and C we can determine the value of S.
The rotation of polarization θ is usually observed by means of a device called the
Laurent’s half shade device. The device has two semicircular fields of view, generally of
unequal darkness (one bright and one dark). By rotating the device about the line of
transmission of light, both the half-views can be made equally dark (or equally bright).
Normally readings are taken when both the half- views show equal brightness
Procedure:
Least count of the circular scale of the Laurent’s half shade Polarimeter is determined. The
length of a Polarimeter tube is noted. It is filled with pure and distilled water, and is placed in
the path of the plane polarized light. The tube is covered by sliding the cylindrical lid of the
tube housing. The half shade eyepiece is rotated till both the half views become equally
bright (Fig. 1), the corresponding reading of the eyepiece position R0 is noted. This procedure
is followed for Polarimeter tubes containing sugar solution of various concentrations and the
readings are organized as shown in Table 1.
A graph of θ = RC R0 versus LC is plotted as shown in Fig. 2. The concentration Cx
of the given sugar solution is determined by the method interpolation as shown in Fig 2. The
slope of the graph gives the value of S.

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Fig.1: Passage of plane polarized light through an optically active solution. The sequence of
procedural steps to be followed for taking readings of R0 and RC is also shown below.

Observations and calculation:

Table 1:
Study of variation of polarising angle θ with respect to concentration C

LC of the circular scale = 1MSD/ No. of VSD =

Reading for pure/ distilled water (Ro)

MSR = VSD=

R0 = (degree)

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Concentration Length Product LC in Reading RC θ = (RC R0)

(Kgm-3) (m) (kgm-2) (deg) (rad)

Cx Lx =

Lx= LxCx from graph = Cx =

S = slope of the graph = rad m2kg-1

Result:

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Experiment No: Date:

Charging of RC circuit
Aim:
To determine the unknown capacitance using time constant of RC circuit during charging.

Apparatus:
D.C Power Supply, Voltmeter, Timer, Resistor and Capacitor.

Procedure:
The connections are made as shown in the circuit diagram. The toggle switch S is set ‘OFF’
position and the timer is set to zero. The capacitor is discharged which is ensured with zero
reading on the voltmeter across the capacitor.

Charging mode:
The toggle switch S is set to ‘ON’ position and simultaneously timer is set to ‘START’. The
capacitor gets charged. Note down the instantaneous voltage across the capacitor in intervals
of 5 seconds until it shows constant value.

A graph of voltage across the capacitor versus time is plotted and the maximum voltage
across the capacitor is noted. The time constant is the time corresponding to [Link] noted
from the graph. The unknown capacitance C is calculated using the formula shown below.

Formula: C = μF

Where R = Known Resistance in Ω

C = Unknown Capacitance in μҒ
T = Time constant in S

Circuit Diagram

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Nature of graph

Observation and tabular column

Resistance in the circuit = 20kΩ

Time Voltage across the Capacitor

(S) (V)

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Experiment No: Date:

Discharging of RC circuit
Aim:
To determine the unknown resistance using time constant RC during discharging.

Apparatus:
D.C Power Supply, Voltmeter, Timer, Resistor and Capacitor

Procedure:
The connections are made as shown in the circuit diagram. The toggle switch S is set `OFF`
position and the timer is set to zero. The toggle switch S is set to `ON` position the capacitor
is charged till the voltage across the capacitor shows constant value. A graph of voltage
across the capacitor versus time is plotted. The time constant is the time corresponding to
0.368v, is noted from the graph. The unknown resistance R of the circuit is calculated using
the formula as shown below.

Formula:

R= Ω

Where R = unknown resistance in Ω

C = known Capacitance in μF
T = Time constant in S

Circuit Diagram:

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Nature of Graph:

Observation and Tabular Column:

Capacitance in the circuit = µF

Time Voltage across the

(S) Capacitor
(V)

Result:

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Experiment No: Date:

FRESNEL'S Bi- PRISM

Aim:

To determine wavelength (λ) of sodium source using Fresnel’s Bi-prism.

Apparatus:

Sodium light, Optical bench, Bi- prism, Convex lens.

Theory:

A Fresnel’s Bi- prism is a thin double prism placed base to base and has very small
refracting angle (0.5)o this is equivalent to a single prism whose one of the angle nearly 179o
and other two refracting angles of 0.5o each.

The interference is observed by the division of wave front. The monochromatic light from a
source S perpendicular to the plane of paper, which divides into two components one of these
component is refracted from upper portion of Bi-prism and appear to come from S1 where the
other one refracted through lower portion and appears to come from S2 . These sources S1 and
S2 acts as two virtual coherent sources formed by the original source. Light waves arising
from S1and S2 interfere in the shaded region and interference fringes are formed which can be
observed on screen.

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Procedure:

The adjustable slit, the Bi-prism and the micrometre eye piece are mounted on vertical
uprights on optical bench. Using a condensing lens, light from the sodium light is focused on
the slit. The slit is adjusted to be as narrow as possible and also vertical. The Bi-prism
mounted closed behind the slit is also adjusted to be vertical by a tangential screw. Two clear
vertical images after the slit can be seen through the Bi-prism observing through the eye
piece. Behind the Bi-prism the tangential screw of the bi- prism holder is slowly adjusted till
sharp vertical bright and dark fringes are seen. It is important that the source, slit, Bi-prism
and eye piece should be along with vertical axis of the optical beach. If this is not so, the
fringes in the field of view is in a way to the right or left and go beyond the field of view. The
eye piece is fixed in a suitable position, an optical bench and the micrometre is adjusted so
that the intersection of cross wire coincides with the centre of the bright fringe. The reading
on the micrometre is noted. As the intersection of the cross wires coincides with the centre of
5th fringe, the reading on the micrometre is noted. Similarly for 10th and 15th fringes the
readings are tabulated. Then the fringe width (width of one fringe) and average fringe width β
is determined.

Next the micrometre eye piece is fixed in suitable position and convex lens of suitable
focal length (about 15 cm) is mounted between the eye piece and Bi-prism (care is taken to
see that Bi-prism is not disturbed in anyway) for two positions of the lens on the bench, two
clear images of the virtual sources can be seen through the eye piece. When we place the
convex lens towards the Bi-prism we get diminished image, distance between convex lens
and image are taken as C1 and when we place the convex lens away from the Bi- prism we
get enlarged images. The distance between them is measured in two positions C1and C2by
means of the micrometre.

Formula:

= m Eqn (1)

d=√ m Eqn (2)

Where

is the wave length of monocromatic light in m

D is the distance between source and eye piece in m

C 1 and C 2 are distance between virtual images in two positions in m

β is fringe width in m

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Observations and calculations:

Least count of micrometre (1) = value of one MSR/Total number of VSD

Least count of micrometre = cm
Least count of micrometre (2) = PSR/Total number of HSD
Least count of micrometre = mm
Tabular column:
Fringe Micrometre reading Fringe Micrometre reading Width Fringe Mean
No. cm No. cm of n width (m)
PSR HSD PSR HSD fringes β
(mm) (div) (mm) (div) (m) (m)
5 15
10 20

Distance between source to screen D = m

Distance between the virtual image towards Bi- prism in first position of the lens

C1= m

Distance between the virtual image towards eye piece in second position of the lens

C2= m

Result:

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