Engineering Physics

Laboratory
Course Code: PHY119

Dr. Subhojyoti Sinha

Department of Physics
School of Computer Science and
https://www.vlab.co.in/ Engineering
Lovely Professional university,
Punjab, India
 Engineering Physics Laboratory
(Course Code : PHY119)

AIM: To find the wavelength of sodium light by

measuring the diameter of Newton rings.
Learning Objectives :
(i) The students will learn about circular interference fringes.
(ii) The students will develop the understanding of phase change at reflection.
(iii) The students will understand the concept of thin films.
(iv) The students will understand the principle of reading microscope structure.
2
 Apparatus required

Image of Sodium vapor lamp

Travelling microscope Newtons ring experiment set up

A travelling microscope, a sodium vapor lamp, Newton’s rings apparatus consisting of an optically plane glass plate and
a convex lens placed in a box having an optically plane glass plate inclined at an angle of 450, a spherometer, a convex
lens of short focal length etc.
Basic Understandings

4
 What are Newton rings?
Circular interference fringes produced by enclosing a thin film of
varying thickness between the surface of a plano-convex lens of large
radius of curvature and a plane glass plate are known as Newton’s rings.
❑ A thin air film is formed between the plate
and the planoconvex lens

❑ The thickness of the air film varies from zero

at the point of contact to some value t.

❑ If the lens plate system is illuminated with

monochromatic light falling on it normally,
plano-convex lens concentric bright and dark interference rings
are observed in reflected light.
thin air film
❑ These circular fringes were discovered by
Newton and are called Newton’s rings.
Newton’s ring set up Interference pattern for
Newton’s ring
 Interference of Light
The variation of the light intensity in
space due to superposition of two or
more beams of light is called
interference.
Principle of superposition:
When Two or more disturbances arrive at a point in space
simultaneously the resultant disturbances at that point
according to the principle of superposition is given by the
vector sum of the disturbances which are assumed to be
small.

Light must have a wave nature.

7
 Condition for sustained interference
1. The two beams of light which interfere must be coherent.
Two sources of light are said to be coherent if the phase difference between them remains constant in
time. If the sources are incoherent phase difference changes continuously and we get general
illumination.
2. The interfering waves must have the same frequency. Also their amplitude will be
equal or nearly equal.
If the amplitude differ widely then the intensity in the bright region and and of the dark region will not
differ significantly and intensity variation cannot be recognized.
3. The original source must be monochromatic or very nearly monochromatic.
The spacing between the consecutive bright and dark fringes is a function of wavelength. So fringes of
different color will be in step only at the central fringe and soon we go out of step on either side of the
central fringe. Dark fringes of some wavelength may be masked by the bright fringes of some other
wavelength.
4. The two interfering beam must propagate along the same direction or must intersect
at very small angle

8
Constructive interference occurs when the maxima of two waves add
together (the two waves are in phase), so that the amplitude of the
resulting wave is equal to the sum of the individual amplitudes.
Destructive interference occurs when the maxima of two waves are 180
degrees out of phase: a positive displacement of one wave is cancelled
exactly by a negative displacement of the other wave.
 Note on the central dark spot:

At the point of contact of the lens with the glass

plate the thickness of the air film is very small
(d=0) compared to the wavelength of light. So, the
path difference introduced between the
interfering waves is zero. Consequently, the
interfering waves at the center are opposite in
phase and interfere destructively. Thus a dark
spot is produced.

Rings gets closer as the order number increases.

 Condition of constructive and destructive interference
In the newtons ring experiment the light falls on the air film almost normally . Under such circumstances the optical
λ
path difference between two successive reflected wave will be 2µ𝑑 +
2
Where d is the thickness of the air film at the point N and µ is the refractive index of the medium. There is abrupt
λ
phase change of π due to reflection. Which is equivalent to path difference of ±2
Therefore the condition of constructive interference is
𝝀 𝝀
𝟐µ𝒅 + 𝟐 = even multiple of 𝟐
𝝀 𝝀
Or 𝟐µ𝒅 =odd multiple of of 𝟐= (2m+1) 𝟐
𝝀
𝟐µ𝒅 = (2m+1)
𝟐
Where m=0,1,2,3…..

Therefore the condition of destructive interference is

𝝀 𝝀
𝟐µ𝒅 + 𝟐 = odd multiple of 𝟐
𝝀 𝝀
Or 𝟐µ𝒅 =even multiple of = 2m 𝟐
𝟐
𝝀
𝟐µ𝒅 =2m 𝟐
Where m=0,1,2,3…..

µ : Refractive index of the medium= here 1 for air

With this condition it can be derived that the square of the diameter
(𝐷𝑚
2
) of the m thorder bright or dark ring can be represented as:

For the m th order bright ring 𝐷𝑚

2
= 2(2𝑚 + 1)λ𝑅
For the m th order dark ring 2
𝐷𝑚 = 4𝑚λ𝑅
R= 𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑥 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑠

Then for two different order numbers of the rings ,i.e. say the m
th order and n th order bright rings, we can write :
2
𝐷𝑚 = 2 2𝑚 + 1 λ𝑅 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑛2 = 2(2𝑛 + 1)λ𝑅

Upon subtracting and rearranging, we get

 Questions on
Q
basic understandings
** 5 questions
each carrying 2
marks: you have
to answer all the
questions **

13
 Click : https://www.vlab.co.in/
Then

Click on simulator > sign in and continue

Or

Paste the following link on the address bar or click on it

http://lo-au.vlabs.ac.in/laser-
optics/Newtons_Rings_Wavelength_of_light/experiment.html
Initial view
 Working Formula

The wavelength of the light

𝝀 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕

𝑫𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒕𝒉 order 𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝑫𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒕𝒉 order 𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝑹 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 planoconvex 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒔
 Worksheet of the Student
Registration number : Date of performance:

➢ AIM:
Vernier constant = ………. Radius of Curvature =………
Note : Total microscope reading = Main scale reading + (vernier scale division × vernier constant)

* Give proper unit wherever applicable

➢ Calculations: Calculate the wavelengths (λ , λ , λ 1 2 3, λ4) using the formula :

Mean wavelength:

% Error calculation : × 100

λo = observed or calculated ; λA= actual wavelength=589.3 nm

➢ Result and discussions:

➢ Learning Outcomes:

Name and signature of the student

 A Activity Based Questions
while you perform the experiment in virtual lab

** 5 questions
each carrying 2
marks: you have
to answer all the
questions

25
Precautions for real lab experiment: