SPECTROMETER

SPECTROMETER
The purpose of this project is to learn the theory of the prism spectrometer and to explain the functions of its various components. To determine the angle of the given prism and its angle of minimum deviation and hence calculate its refractive index using a prism spectrometer S.DAYALLINI

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AIM OF THE PROJECT :

The purpose of this project is to learn the theory of the prism spectrometer and to explain the functions of its various components. To determine the angle of the given prism and its angle of minimum deviation and hence calculate its refractive index using a prism spectrometer.

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INTRODUCTION :
A spectrometer is an optical device used to observe and measure the angular deviations of incident light due to refraction and dispersion. The dependence of the velocity of propagation of the wave on the properties of the medium gives rise to the phenomena of refraction and reflection, which occurs when a wave crosses a surface separating two media, where the wave propagates with different velocities. The reflection and refraction of waves that occur at surfaces of discontinuity can be analysed geometrically using the ray concept when no other changes happen at the surface. This method is called wave geometry or ray tracing. In particular, for electromagnetic waves in the visible and near visible regions, it constitutes geometrical optics, which is a very important branch of applied physics. In this way we are able to examine optical behavior that does not depend on the nature of light, but only on the straight-line path it travels. Under the approximation of general optics we can say that although the light wave spreads as it moves away from the source, it travels in the straight line.

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A prism spectrometer is based on the concepts of refraction in rays and basically deals with ray optics. Lets take a look at some important topics that constitute a prism spectrometer.

Light Rays:
In optics, a ray is an idealized narrow beam of light. Rays are used to model the propagation complex optical systems to be analysed mathematically or simulated by computer.Ray theory does not describe phenomena such as interference and diffraction,which requires wave theory. A light ray is a line or curve that is perpendicular to the lights wavefronts (and is therefor e collinear with the wave vector).Light rays bend at the interface between two dissimilar media and maycurve in a medium in which the refractive index changes.Geometric optics describes how rays propagate through an optical system.

Special Rays :
There are many special rays that are used in optical modeling to analyse an optical system. These are defined and described below ,grouped by the type of system they are used to model.

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Interaction with surfaces :

Diagram of rays at a surface ,where, i is the angle of incidence, reflection, and f is the angle of refraction.

is the angle of

An incident ray is a ray of light that strikes a surface. The angle between this ray and the perpendicular or normal to the surface is the angle of incidence. The corresponding reflected ray to a given incident ray , is the ray that represents the light reflected by the surface. The angle between the surface normal and the reflected ray is known as the angle of reflection. The refracted ray or transmitted ray corresponding to a given incident ray represents the light that is transmitted through the surface. The angle between this ray and the normal is known as the angle of refraction , and it is given by Snells Law.

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SPECTROMETER Optical systems :

A meridonial ray or tangential ray is a ray that is confined to the plane containing the systems optical axis and the object point from which the ray originated. A skew ray is a ray that does not propagate in a plane that contains both the object point and the optical axis. Such rays do not cross the optical axis anywhere , and are not parallel to it. The marginal ray (sometimes known as an a ray or a marginal axial ray ) in an optical system is the meridonial ray that starts at the point where the object crosses the optical axis , and touches the edge of the aperture stop of the system. A paraxial ray is a ray that makes a small angle to the optical axis of the system , and lies close to the axis throughout the system.

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Refraction :

Illustration of Snell's law

Refraction occurs when light travels through an area of space that has a changing index of refraction. The simplest case of refraction occurs when there is an interface between a uniform medium with index of refraction n1 and another medium with index of refraction n2.In such situations ,Snell's Law describes the resulting deflection of the light ray. n1 Sin1 = n2 sin 2 where 1 and 2 are the angles between the normal ( to the interface) and the incident and refracted waves , respectively. This phenomenon is also associated with a changing speed of light as seen from the definition of index of refraction where v1 and v2 are the wave velocities through the respective medium. Snells Law can be used to predict the deflection of light rays as they pass through linear media as long as the indexes of refraction and the geometry of the media are known. For example, the propagation of light through a prism results in the light ray being deflected depending on the shape and orientation of the prism. Additionally ,since different frequencies of light have slightly
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different indexes of refraction in most materials , refraction can be used to produce dispersion spectra that appear as rainbows. The discovery of this phenomenon when passing light through a prism is famously attributed to Isaac Newton.

A ray tracing diagram for a simple covering lens.

A device which produces converging or diverging light rays due to refraction is known as lens. Thin lenses produce focal points on either side. Two types of lenses exist. Convex lenses, which cause parallel light rays to converge, and Concave lenses, which cause parallel light rays to diverge. Lenses suffer from aberrations that distort images and focal points. These are due to geometrical imperfections and due to the changing index of refraction for different wavelengths of light(chromatic aberration)

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Dispersion:
It is phenomenon in which white light splits into different colour. The most familiar example of dispersion is probably a rainbow , in which dispersion causes the spatial separation of a white light into components of different wavelengths.

The phase velocity v of a wave in a given uniform medium is given by V=c/n Where c is the speed of the light in a vacuum and n is the refractive index of the medium. The most commonly seen consequence of dispersion in optics is the separation of white light into a colour spectrum by a prism.From Snells Law it can be seen that the angle of refraction of light in a prism depends on the refractive index of the prism material.Since that refractive index varies with wavelength ,it follows that the angle that the light is refracted by will also vary with wavelength , causing an angular separation of the colours known as angular dispersion.

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THE PRISM SPECTROMETER

APPARATUS REQUIRED FOR MAKING A PRISM SPECTOMETER
PRISM SODIUM VAPOUR LAMP ADJUSTABLE SLITS TELESCOPES COLLIMATING LENS PRISM TABLE GRADUATED SCALE

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SPECTROMETER TELESCOPE :
An optical instrument designed to make distant objects appear nearer ,containing an arrangement of lenses , or of curved mirrors and lenses , by which rays of light are collected and focused and the resulting image magnified. As the telescopes we use are normally refracting telescope .The objective in a refracting telescope refracts or bends light. This refraction causes parallel light rays to converge at a focal point , while those not parallel converge upon a focal plane. The telescope converts a bundle of parallel rays to make an angle , with the optical axis to a second parallel bundle with angle . The ratio / is called the angular magnification. It equals the ratio between the retinal images obtained with and without the telescope. The telescope consists of two coaxial metal tubes sliding one over the other. It consists of an eye piece provided with crosswire at one end of the tube and an objective lens at its other and coaxially. The distance between the objective lens and eye piece can be adjusted. The telescope is attached to an arm which is capable of rotation about its o vertical axis. A circular scale graduated in degrees known as main scale is attached to the telescope.

COLLIMATING LENS :
A collimator is a device that narrows a beam of particulars or waves. To narrow can mean either to cause the directions of motion to become more aligned in a specific direction. To covert divergent beams of light into a parallel beam , a collimating lens is needed. The collimating lens we use here is a convex lens. The collimator consists of a vertical adjustable slit and a convex lens fixed to the outer ends of two coaxial tubes. The slit is adjusted to be at the principal focus of the convex lens.

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SPECTROMETER PRISM :
A prism is a medium bounded by the two plane surfaces making the angle (called as a prism or apex angle).We assume that the medium has an index of refraction n surrounded by a medium having unit index , such as air. An incident ray such as PQ suffers two refractions and emerges deviated at angle relative to the incident direction

A triangular prism separating white light into its component colours. Chromatic dispersion occurs at the first surface and is increased at the second surface.

Symmetrical path of the ray through a prism in the case of minimum deviation.

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Circuit diagram

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THEORY:
The spectrometer is an instrument for analyzing the spectra of radiations. The glass-prism spectrometer is suitable for measuring ray deviations and refractive indices. Sometimes a diffraction grating is used in place of the prism for studying optical spectra. A prism refracts the light into a single spectrum ,where as the diffraction grating divides the available light into several spectra. Because of this ,slit images formed using a prism are generally brighter than those formed using a grating. Spectral lines that are too dim to be seen with grating can often be seen using a prism. The collimator has to be focused by adjusting the position of the slit until it is at the focal point of the lens. The parallel beam of light from the collimator passes through a glass prism standing on a prism-table which can be rotated , raised or lowered , and levelled. The prism deviates the component colors of the emitted light by different amounts and the spectrum so produced is examined by means of a telescope, which is mounted on a rotating arm and moves over a divided angular scale. The theory of the prism spectrometer indicates that a spectrum of maximum definition is obtained when the angular deviation of a light ray passing through the prism is a minimum. Under such conditions it can be shown that the ray passes through the prism symmetrically For a given wavelength of light traversing a given prism , there is a characteristic angle of incidence for which the angle of deviation is a minimum. This angle depends only on the
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index of refraction of the prism and the angle between the two sides prism traversed by the light. The relationship between these variables is given by the equation :

= Sin (A+D) / 2 Sin A / 2

Note : D is minimum deviation.
Where is the index of refraction of the prism ; D is the angle between the sides of the prism traversed by the light , and is the angle of minimum deviation. The telescope can also be locked or moved very slowly by a fine adjustment screw and the instrument is provided with a heavy base for stability. To obtain sharp spectral lines the slit width should be quite small , about 0.1 0.3 mm.

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PROCEDURE
PRELIMINARY ADJUSTMENTS
Spectrometer :
1. Position the telescope at some distant object. 2. Adjust the eyepiece of the telescope until the crosswires are in focus. 3. Focus the telescope on the distant object (Infinity). 4. Position the instrument on the laboratory table. Position a sodium lamp close to the slit at the end of the collimator. 5. Rotate the telescope so that it faces the collimator and you can observe the slit image. 6. Adjust the collimator only until the image of the wide slit is in focus (it allows to place a slit in the focal point of collimator lens and generate parallel rays coming out from collimator).
7. Adjust the slit width until its image is just wider than the crosswire(i.e. make a slit as

narrow as possible to make measurements more precise).

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SPECTROMETER Turntable :
The rotation axis of the turntable should be perpendicular to the plane containing the principal axis of the telescope and collimator. 1.Place a prism on the centre of the turntable. 2. Adjust the height of the turntable using screws S1 , S2 , S3 until the collimator is centered on the vertical dimension of the prism.

DETERMINATION OF ANGLE OF THE PRISM

Experimental Procedure :
1. Rotate the turntable until the refracting edge of the prism is approximately pointing towards the collimator. Light from the collimator will be reflected from both sides of the prism. 2. Rotate the telescope until the first of the reflected slit image is centered on the crosswire. Record the angle of telescope. 3.Rotate the telescope until the second of the reflected slit image is centered on the crosswire. Record the angle of the telescope. 4.The angle between the two telescope positions is twice the prism(apex) angle . The error of apex angle is a sum of two elements:

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one being the smallest marked scale-division (referring to precision of angle measurement) and the second is given by the half of the angular width of the slit.

DETERMINATION OF ANGLE OF THE PRISM

Experimental Procedure :
1.Rotate the turntable and telescope until light will pass approximately through the prism. 2.Rotate the telescope until the succession of views is observed as the turntable is rotated consistently in the same direction. Record the angle of the telescope. Repeat this procedure for different wavelengths. 3.Remove a prism and measure the angle for the direction of incident ray. Record the angle of the telescope. 4.The angle between the two telescope positions from step 2 and 3 is the minimum deviation angle.The error of the measured angles of minimum deviation is a sum of three elements, two of them are identical as in the case of and third is given by the half of the angular dead interval. The death interval is an angle of the turntable rotation ( constantly in the same direction) from the moment when the slit image is stopped in the field of view until the instant when it starts to move back.

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OBSERVATIONS AND CALCULATIONS :

To find LC of Vernier Scale :
Value of 1 main scale division = = 30 Total no. of divisions on the vernier = N=30

LEAST COUNT = 1 / N*1 MSD = 30 / 30 = 1

To find the angle of the prism

Vernier 1 Main Scale Vernier Caliper Total Reading=MSR+(VC*LC) Main Scale Vernier 2 Vernier Caliper Total Reading=MSR+(VC*LC)

reading reading (MSR) Reading of the image reflected from face one (R1) Reading of the image reflected from the other face (R2) 2A = R1R2 12020' 93 1 931' 213 (VC) 21 213 21'

reading reading (MSR) 30 (VC) 26 390 26 '

270

270 5'

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MEAN 2A = 12020' => A=6010'

To find the angle of minimum deviation of the prism

Vernier 1 RAY Main Scale Vernier Caliper Total Reading=MSR+(VC*LC) Main Scale Vernier 2 Vernier Caliper Total Reading=MSR+(VC*LC)

reading reading (MSR) Reading of the image in minimum deviation position (R3) Reading of the direct image (R4) D = R3-R4 479' 99.5 10 99.510' 146 (VC) 19 14619'

reading reading (MSR) 326 (VC) 20 32620'

279.5

279.51'

46.5 19'

MEAN OF D = 47 9'

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REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THE MATERIAL OF THE PRISM

= Sin [ (A+D) / 2] Sin A / 2

To find the refractive index of the material of the prism :

=Sin [ (A+D) / 2] Sin A / 2

= Sin [ (6010'+479') / 2] Sin (6010') / 2 = Sin (106 79' ) / 2 Sin (6010') / 2 = Sin 53 39' Sin 30 5' = 0.8054 0.5012 = 1.59 = 1.59

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INFERENCE :
From the above observation we find : The angle of the prism = 6010' The minimum deviation =47 9' The refractive index of the material of given prism = 1.59

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CONCLUSION :
1. Thus we learnt the theory of the prism spectrometer and explained the functions of its various components. 2. We determined the angle of the given prism. 3. We determined the angle of minimum deviation of the given prism. 4. And hence we calculated the refractive index of the prism.

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BIBILIOGRAPHY :
Physics NCERT textbook (XII)

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