EXPERIMENT: ULTRASONIC DIFFRACTION

OBJECTIVES
● To determine the speed of ultrasonic waves in a liquid.
● To calculate the Bulk Modulus of the given liquid.
● To evaluate the adiabatic compressibility of the given liquid.

THEORY
This experiment is based on the phenomena of diffraction of light due to ultrasonic sound
waves. The ultrasonic waves when passed through a liquid, cause density changes in the liquid.
The density changes are seen in the liquid are due to periodical change in Pressure and
therefore there is a periodical variation in the refractive index of the liquid. The high and
low-density regions with regular spacing between them are formed; and these regions act like
the grating of a spectrometer, with the diffraction grating element d.

This phenomenon of interaction between light waves and ultrasonic waves in a liquid is an
indirect method of calculating the velocity of sound in the given liquid. Stationary waves are
formed due to interference between incident and reflected waves. The separation between the
two successive nodes and anti-nodes of the stationary(standing) wave formed is equal to the
wavelength of the ultrasonic wave in the given liquid. The region on compression and
rarefactions have different densities. This leads to a phase difference between the waves
travelling through them. Since these compression and rarefaction regions act as a diffraction
grating, so the grating element is the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave in the medium.

Let Λ denote the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave, ν denote the frequency of crystal
oscillator and V denote the velocity of the ultrasonic wave in the liquid. Then the velocity of the
ultrasonic wave in the liquid is calculated as:
V​ = ν Λ

If λ is the wavelength of the laser used, d is the grating element and θ is the angle of
diffraction, then the nth order maximum is given by d sin θ = n λ .
But since d = Λ , ​therefore we have:
​ Λ sin θ = n λ
Λ = ​n λ / ​sin θ

The angle of diffraction ( θ ) can be calculated as :

 t​ an θ = D / L
where D is the distance of the nth fringe from the central maxima.

If ​V​ ​is the velocity of the ultrasonic wave and​ ρ ​is the density of liquid;
The Bulk Modulus of the liquid is given by:
β = ρV 2
The adiabatic compressibility of the liquid can be calculated by:
2
​K = 1/ ρV

Apparatus

● Kinematic Laser Mount

● Diode Laser
● Power Supply for Laser
● Glass Tank with Liquid
● Glass Tank Holder
● Crystal with Mount
● RF Oscillator
● Optical Rail (1500 mm)
● Cell mount with linear translation stage and Pinhole detector
● Output measurement unit

Experimental setup and Procedure

1. Light source: ​As a coherent, monochromatic light source, we used a ”Uniphase” He-Ne
laser. It emits light at a wavelength of 650nm and has an average power of around 1
mW. Then we fixed the laser mount on the optical rail.

2. Placing the liquid tank: ​We performed the experiment in water. We placed the glass
tanker holder on the rail and then placed the tank filled with liquid and kept it on tank
holder. The piezoelectric element kept in the liquid was connected to HF-oscillator. Then
we fixed the crystal on the mount immersed it fully in the liquid. Connected it
to the RF oscillator. Fixed cell mount with linear translation stage on the rail. Inserted
the pinhole detector into the cell mount and connected the output probe to the
measurement unit.
 3. Generation of ultrasonic waves:​ Finally we switched on the laser and the output
measurement unit. Aligned the crystal and laser so that laser beam should be parallel to
the face of the crystal. Adjusted the kinematic setup provided on the laser mount to get
the beam in the field where the standing waves were generated because of the
oscillating piezoelectric element placed in the liquid.

4. Frequency measurement: ​The oscillation frequency of the piezo element was

determined with the digital oscilloscope. The resonance frequency of the piezoelectric
element was determined experimentally when the maximum number of diffraction
maximums can be observed.

5. Obtaining the diffraction pattern:​ We allowed the laser spot to fall on the detector
stage and adjusted the frequency of the Oscillator accordingly until we got a very good
fringe pattern on both sides of the central bright spot. The diffraction pattern, consisting
of equidistant spots of high intensity was projected on the CCD chip. Using the
micrometre driven stage we moved the detector to the extreme end of the diffraction
pattern. Scanned the pattern at close intervals and each time we noted the micrometre
reading and corresponding output of the detector.

OBSERVATIONS

1. The wavelength of the laser λ = ​650 nm

2. Least count of the micrometre =​ 0.01 mm
3. Distance between the crystal and the detector, L = ​1217 mm
4. Frequency of the crystal ν =​2.94 MHz
5. The density of Water = 1000 kg/ m3
6. The Bulk Modulus of Water= ​2.11 x Pa
7. The compressibility of Water= ​0.47 x 10−9 m2 /​N
Observation Table:-
micrometre micrometre DISTANCE TAN OF ANGLE
n CM nth (D​)mm (​D/L) theta sin(theta) Λ V(m/s)
0.00049
0.001314 0.001314 440667
1 7 5.4 1.6 1.314708299 707542 707163 73 1453.555631
0.00049
0.002629 0.002629 440795
2 7 3.8 3.2 2.629416598 410538 407509 91 1453.5594
0.00047
0.004075 0.004075 846163
3 7 2.04 4.96 4.075595727 573162 561879 5 1406.677207
0.00048
0.005340 0.005340 680694
4 7 0.5 6.5 5.341002465 95168 926287 33 1431.212413
Micrometer Current Micrometer Current
0.2 3 7.2 43400
0.4 3.2 7.4 37000
0.6 2.9 7.6 16800
0.8 2.4 7.8 3000
1 2.7 8 1000
1.2 3.1 8.2 3000
1.4 5 8.4 7500
1.6 8 8.6 10000
1.8 9.5 8.8 6700
2 18 9 1500
2.2 27 9.2 500
1.96 35.6 9.4 140
2.4 20 9.6 60
2.6 12 9.8 57
2.8 9 10 92
3 15.2 10.2 200
3.2 73 10.4 590
3.4 200 10.6 180
3.6 500 10.8 20
3.8 600 11 8.2
4 500 11.2 5.2
4.2 200
4.4 100
4.6 170
4.8 1000
5 3500
5.2 8700
5.4 12800
5.6 10000
5.8 4500
6 1800
6.2 1700
6.4 6700
6.6 20000
6.8 40500
7 44200
References:
1. https://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~phy224_324/experiments/velocity-in-water/The-Velo
city-of-Ultrasonic-Waves-in-Water.pdf
2. http://www.physik.unibe.ch/unibe/portal/fak_naturwis/b_paw/a_fphyast/content/e418
21/e41822/e140946/e148625/e270487/files473955/labmanualultrasound_ger.pdf
3. https://www.niser.ac.in/sps/sites/default/files/basic_page/Diffraction%20by%20ultraso
nic%20waves%20in%20liquid.pdf
4.