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Measurement of index of refraction of air and carbon dioxide using Michelson

interferometer

Conference Paper · October 2012

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Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology National Central University
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 Proceedings of the 14th SPVM National Physics Conference
c 2012 SPVM. All rights reserved. ISSN 1655-4620. http://physics.msuiit.edu.ph/spvm

88
Measurement of index of refraction of air and carbon
dioxide using Michelson interferometer
Audrei Anne B. Bonusa , Gregorio T. De Leon IIIa , Elena Patricia L. Dizona ,
Mhar Ian C. Estayana , Denice N. Feriaa , Marion John R. Parasa ,
Joseph Vermont B. Bandoya∗ and Rafael Alfonsob

a
Department of Mathematics and Physics, College of Science,

T
University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila
b
Department of Chemistry, College of Science,
University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila

The research was all about determining the index of refraction of air and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) using the
Michelson interferometer and compare the relationship of gas samples. Index of refraction describes the amount

AF
of substance that can be transmitted through a medium. For gaseous materials, the index of refraction is the
measured by the amount of light that propagated through the gas medium. It is expressed as a ratio of the speed
of light in vacuum relative to that in the considered medium. Measurement of interfering electromagnetic waves
with high accuracy relies on the fact that two crossing light beams can produce motionless patterns of light and
dark bars both referred as interference fringes at intervals that have a basic relation to the wavelength applied.
An interferometer is an optical device which utilizes the effect of interfering refractive index.
The study only covers the measurement of index of refraction of air and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in an airtight
test cell. Furthermore, bright fringes are measured and compared to determine the identification of the gas
particles being measured. In this study, the Michelson interferometer was used to measure wavelength of light.
It was used to quantify the index of refraction of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) gas at constant pressure and air that
varies with pressure within the limit of 2.54cm Hg to 38.1cm Hg.
The results have shown the measurement of index of refraction of air at room pressure is 1.000000473
and index of refraction for carbon dioxide gas (CO2 ) is 1.000112498. Furthermore, the linear regression of
index of refraction with respect to air pressure was 0.977 and the slope was 3×10−5 . The results present that
DR
the relationship between pressure and index of refraction of the gas samples are directly proportional. As an
implication, the use of this experiment can determine the concentration of the gas samples.
Keywords: Michelson interferometer, index of refraction, carbon dioxide gas (CO2 ), diffraction,
and Bright fringes

∗ Corresponding author : josephvermont@gmail.com

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