Cornu’s Method - Hyperbolic Fringes

Arun Naren GR

School of Physics IISER Thiruvananthapuram

Abstract In 1869 ,Alfred Cornu found out that the interference phenomena in optics be used
to measure deformation of a solid object under load. As the topology of the solid object changes
due to external conditions, so does it’s Newton Rings.
Keywords Newton rings : Poisson’s ratio : Young’s modulus

1 Theory rial is stretched rather than compressed, it usu-

ally tends to contract in the directions trans-
A solid material will undergo elastic defor- verse to the direction of stretching.The Pois-
mation when a small load is applied to it in son’s ratio of a stable, isotropic, linear elastic
compression or extension. Elastic deformation material must be between ‘
is reversible, meaning that the material returns ‘1.0 and +0.5 because of the requirement for
to its original shape after the load is removed. Young’s modulus, the shear modulus and bulk
Young’s modulus E, or modulus of elasticity in modulus to have positive values.
tension or compression (i.e., negative tension),
is a mechanical property that measures the
compressive stiffness of a solid material when
force is applied lengthwise. It quantifies the
relationship between compressive stress (force
per unit area) and axial strain (proportional
deformation) in the linear elastic region of a
material and is determined using the formula
stress When load is applied on both the sides of the
Y =
strain
glass beam, it gets deformed due to strain along
Poisson’s ratio is a measure of the Poisson ef- the longitudinal direction (X-axis). Since Pois-
fect, the phenomenon in which a material tends son‘‘s ratio ν is nonzero, the glass beam will
to expand in directions perpendicular to the di- bend in the transverse direction (Y-axis). Thus
rection of compression. Conversely, if the mate- the beam deforms into the shape of horse saddle
2 Cornu’s Method - Hyperbolic Fringes
forming a thin film of air between them. When
the film is illuminated by monochromatic light,
interference occurs between the light reflected
from the bottom of the glass plate and the top
of the beam as shown in Fig. 1
Fig.1. Geometry for obtaining interference fringes
Let ‘‘x‘‘and ‘‘y‘‘represent coordinates along
longitudinal and transverse direction with the
middle point being the origin(O). Also, let Rx
and Ry be the radius of curvature in longi-
tudinal(x) and transverse(y) directions respec-
tively. In order to obtain the shape of the in-
terference fringes, consider that the thickness of
air film between the glass plate and the beam
to be t(x,y) at appoint (x,y) in the xy-plane.
First, let us consider only the x- dependence
of air film i.e. t = t(x) . The width t(x) of
the air film inside the glass beam and the x-
axis through the origin at a coordinate x along
x-axis can be obtained from
(Rx − t(x))2 = (Rx )2 − x2
Assuming t(x) to be very small,
x2
t(x) =
2Rx
Similarly, the width t(y) of the air film inside
the glass beam and the xy-plane through the
origin O at a coordinate y along y-axis can be
obtained from
y2
t(y) = −
2Ry
The sign of t(y) is negative because along y-
axis the glass beams bents upward. Therefore
width of air film between parallel plate and
glass beam at a coordinate (x, y) is given by
x2 y2
t(x, y) = t(x) + t(y) = −
2Rx 2Ry
The shapes of the fringes are determined by
the locus of all points that have identical path
difference. In the present case, the path differ-
ence will be identical for points with a constant
value of thickness t(x,y). Thus the shape of the
fringe will be given by,
x2 y2
− = a2
2Rx 2Ry
The light waves passing through glass plate
will be divided into two parts. One compo-
nent would comprise the reflection from the
bottom of the glass plate-air interface and the
second one would be from the top of air film-
glass beam interface. These two components
would interfere and produce the fringe pattern.
The latter one would undergo a phase change
of π because of reflection at air film-glass beam
interface. Young‘‘s modulus is given by,
3gl(m2 − m1 )L1 L2
Y =
λsbt3 (L1 − L2 )
where,
g = acceleration due to gravity
l = distance between weight hanger and
knife edge
Cornu’s Method - Hyperbolic Fringes 3

s = number of fringes considered

b = breadth of the beam
t = thickness of the beam
λ = wavelength of light used,
and L1 and L2 are the mean value of Dn+10 2 -
Dn 2 in the longitudinal direction for m1 and m2
respectively. Dn 2 versus n graph was plotted for
m1 and m2 .
Young’s modulus is given by:

3gl(m2 − m1 )
Y = Fig.1. Dn 2 vs n for 100g in longitudinal direction
λsbt3 (cotθ1 − cotθ2 )

where cot(θ1 ) and cot(θ2 ) are the reciprocals of

the slopes of the two graphs. Poisson‘‘s ratio is
given by,
(T 1 − T 2 )L1 L2
σ=
(L1 − L2 )T 1 T 2

where T1 and T2 are the mean D2n+s 2 -D2n 2 in

the transverse direction for m1 and m2 respec-
tively. Poisson’s ratio can be calculated from
the graph as

(cotθ1 − cotθ2 )T Fig.2. Dn 2 vs n for 200g in longitudinal direction

σ=
(cotθ1 − cotθ2 )L

2 Observations

Wavelength λ= 589.3 nm
l= 113 mm
b= 39.7 mm
t= 2.9 mm
g= 9.8 ms-2
4 Cornu’s Method - Hyperbolic Fringes

Fig.3. Dn 2 vs n for 100g in transverse direction Ycalc. = 3.916Pa

Poisson ratio is given by,

(T 1 − T 2 )L1 L2
σ=
(L1 − L2 )T 1 T 2
σ calc. = 0.307
2.1.2 Graph

Young’s modulus is given by,

3gl(m2 − m1 )
Y =
λsbt3 (cotθ1 − cotθ2 )

Using Python and NumPy library slope of

each graph is found.
Ygraph = 2.986
Fig.4. Dn 2 vs n for 200g in transverse direction σ = 0.36
2.1.3 Error Calculation

2.1 Calculations Error in Ycalc. = 9.375

Error in Ygraph = 9.03
• Mean value of Dn+10 2 − Dn 2 :
Error in σ calc. = 21.2
1) In transverse direction:
Error in σ graph = 7.69
For 100g, T1 = 15.52385mm2
For 200g, T2 = 8.58586mm2
3 Acknowledgements
2) In longitudinal direction:
For 100g, L1 = 42.011925mm2 I am greatly thankful to IISER and
2
For 200g, L2 = 25.12906mm Dr.Rajeev Kini for providing me an opportu-
2.1.1 Theoretical nity to perform this experiment.

Young’s modulus Y is given by References

3gl(m2 − m1 )L1 L2 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton

Y =
λsbt3 (L1 − L2 )
Cornu’s Method - Hyperbolic Fringes 5

Table 1. m1 = 100g

Order Left readings Right readings Dn (mm) Dn 2 (mm) Dn+10 2 − Dn 2 (mm2 )

20 2.71 8.16 5.45 29.7025 -
18 2.8 8.2 5.4 29.16 -
16 2.98 7.86 4.88 23.8144 -
14 3.14 7.715 4.575 20.930625 -
12 3.285 7.57 4.285 18.361225 -
10 3.48 7.35 3.87 14.9769 14.7256
8 3.7 7.13 3.43 11.7649 17.3951
6 3.94 6.92 2.98 8.8804 14.934
4 4.21 6.64 2.43 5.9049 15.025725
2 4.6 6.28 1.68 2.8224 15.538825

Table 2. m1 = 200g

Order Left readings Right readings Dn (mm) Dn 2 (mm) Dn+10 2 − Dn 2 (mm2 )

20 5.085 9.295 4.21 17.7241 -
18 5.24 9.14 3.9 15.21 -
16 5.37 9.03 3.66 13.3956 -
14 5.49 8.91 3.42 11.6964 -
12 5.66 8.8 3.14 9.8596 -
10 5.81 8.64 2.83 8.0089 9.7152
8 5.86 8.49 2.63 6.9169 8.2931
6 6.06 8.3 2.63 5.0176 8.378
4 6.27 8.11 1.83 3.3489 8.3475
2 6.55 7.84 1.29 1.6641 8.1955

Table 3. m1 = 200g

Order Left readings Right readings Dn (mm) Dn 2 (mm) Dn+10 2 − Dn 2 (mm2 )

20 18.88 9.395 9.485 89.965225 -
18 18.68 9.54 9.14 83.5396 -
16 18.41 9.8 8.61 74.1321 -
14 18.11 10.03 8.08 65.2864 -
12 17.84 10.29 7.55 57.0025 -
10 17.56 10.58 6.98 48.7204 41.244825
8 17.28 10.91 6.37 40.5789 42.9607
6 17.01 11.28 5.93 35.1649 38.9672
4 16.56 11.17 4.79 22.9411 42.3453
2 15.9 12.37 3.53 12.4609 44.5416
6 Cornu’s Method - Hyperbolic Fringes

Table 4. m1 = 200g

Order Left readings Right readings Dn (mm) Dn 2 (mm) Dn+10 2 − Dn 2 (mm2 )

20 17.83 10.8 7.03 49.4209 -
18 17.63 10.57 7.06 49.8436 -
16 17.44 10.75 6.69 44.7569 -
14 17.23 10.96 6.27 39.3129 -
12 17.08 11.15 5.93 35.1649 -
10 16.93 11.43 5.5 30.25 12.1709
8 16.68 11.78 4.9 24.01 24.8336
6 16.31 12.06 4.25 18.0625 26.6944
4 15.93 12.9 3.03 9.1809 30.204
2 15.26 13.41 1.85 3.4225 31.7424
Cornu’s Method - Hyperbolic Fringes 7