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    PAG 06.2 - Experiments With Light

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    jmsonl
    This document describes three experiments to investigate properties of light: measuring the speed of light using a microwave oven, investigating refraction and total internal reflection using ray boxes, and performing Young's double slit experiment. The experiments use common household and lab equipment and provide methods, calculations, safety notes, and objectives for each experiment.

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    PAG 06.2 - Experiments With Light

    Uploaded by

    jmsonl
    37 views5 pages
    This document describes three experiments to investigate properties of light: measuring the speed of light using a microwave oven, investigating refraction and total internal reflection using ray boxes, and performing Young's double slit experiment. The experiments use common household and lab equipment and provide methods, calculations, safety notes, and objectives for each experiment.

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    Module 1 Practical Skills in Physics

    Original Title

    PAG 06.2 - Experiments with light

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    This document describes three experiments to investigate properties of light: measuring the speed of light using a microwave oven, investigating refraction and total internal reflection using ray boxes, and performing Young's double slit experiment. The experiments use common household and lab equipment and provide methods, calculations, safety notes, and objectives for each experiment.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    37 views5 pages

    PAG 06.2 - Experiments With Light

    Uploaded by

    jmsonl
    This document describes three experiments to investigate properties of light: measuring the speed of light using a microwave oven, investigating refraction and total internal reflection using ray boxes, and performing Young's double slit experiment. The experiments use common household and lab equipment and provide methods, calculations, safety notes, and objectives for each experiment.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 5

    OCR A Physics A-Level

    PAG 6.2
    Experiments with light

    www.pmt.education
    All electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed in a vacuum, hence in this experiment
    we can find the speed of light using a microwave as both visible light and microwaves are
    EM waves.

    Equipment
    ● Microwave oven
    ● Ruler
    ● Chocolate bar

    Method
    1. Remove the turntable wheels from the microwave so that the plate is stationary.
    2. Place the chocolate on the turntable and turn the microwave on for 30 seconds.
    3. Take the chocolate out and observe the pattern of melted and solid strips.
    4. Using the ruler, measure the distance between 4 melted strips and divide by 3 to find
    the distance between adjacent melted strips.

    Calculations
    ● The microwaves in the oven reflect
    off the walls and interfere to form
    standing waves with nodes and
    antinodes, the antinodes are where
    the chocolate melts as the wave is
    at maximum amplitude. The nodes
    are where it stays solid, as these are
    the points of minimum displacement.
    ● The distance between 2 adjacent melted strips is the distance between 2 antinodes,
    however this is only half a wavelength (see diagram below).

    ● Multiply the distance between the 2 adjacent strips by 2 to find the wavelength of the
    microwaves, make sure this value is in m.
    ● The frequency of the microwaves is shown on the microwave oven, make sure this
    value is in Hz.
    ● Multiply the frequency by the wavelength to find the speed of microwaves as ​c = fλ​.

    www.pmt.education
    Notes
    ● EM waves will travel slightly slower in air than in a vacuum, the speed of light in air is
    299,700,000m/s whereas it is 299,792,458m/s in a vacuum.
    ● Using a longer bar of chocolate reduces the uncertainty in the measurements and
    using one of uniform thickness makes it easier to discern where the antinodes are (as
    the thinner parts will melt faster in a non-uniform bar).

    Safety
    ● Microwaves can cause burns, make sure the protective mesh in the inner screen is
    present.

    Investigating refraction and total internal reflection of light using ray boxes, including
    transparent rectangular and semi-circular blocks

    Equipment
    ● Ray box
    ● Semi circular pyrex/glass block
    ● Rectangular pyrex/glass block
    ● White paper sheets with protractor printed on
    ● Plain white paper
    ● Pencil and ruler

    Method (semi-circular block)


    1. To investigate refraction, place the semi-circular block on top of the protractor with
    the centre of its diameter aligned with 0° on the protractor.
    2. Direct the ray towards this 0° point from a point at nearly 180° and using the pencil
    and ruler trace the ray entering the block and leaving.
    3. Repeat this, moving the ray around every 10°.
    4. Record the angle at which the angle of refraction is 90°, (the ray leaves along the
    straight boundary of the block). This is the critical angle.
    5. Increase the angle further and observe that it does not leave the block, it is being
    totally internally reflected.

    Method (rectangular block)


    1. Place the block on white paper and draw in pencil around it to mark its position
    2. Mark a point on the longer edge approximately 1-2 cm from the
    corner, this is the target for the incident ray.
    3. Aim the beam normal to the block and trace the entry and exit
    ray, the straight part of the protractor should be against the
    long side of the block.
    4. Rotate the beam 10° each time, still entering the block at the same marking and
    record each path.
    5. For each position, measure the angle of incidence (angle between the incident ray
    and normal) and the angle of refraction (angle between the refracted ray and
    normal).

    www.pmt.education
    Calculations
    sin i
    ● The refractive index of the rectangular block, n = sin r where i is the angle of
    incidence and r is the angle of refraction. To derive this formula replace n​1​ in Snell’s
    law with 1 as this is the refractive index of air.
    1
    ● The refractive index of the semi circular block is found by, n = sin c where c is the
    critical angle.

    Notes
    ● The printed protractor will have a large error and a real protractor underneath tracing
    paper may give more accurate results.
    ● Using a laser gives more defined rays so there is less uncertainty about where to
    trace the line (as the light is monochromatic so all light rays are refracted by the
    same amount).

    Safety
    ● Do not shine the light from the ray box in eyes as it can damage the retina.
    ● Lasers can permanently damage your eyesight therefore, when using lasers there
    are several safety precautions, which must be followed:
    ○ Wear laser safety goggles
    ○ Don’t​ ​shine the laser at reflective surfaces
    ○ Display a warning sign
    ○ Never shine the laser at a person

    Young’s Double Slit Experiment

    Equipment
    ● Laser
    ● Double slit
    ● Screen
    ● Ruler

    Method

    Image source: ​Stannered​, ​CC BY-SA 3.0

    www.pmt.education
    1. Shine the laser through the double slit so each slit acts as coherent point source.

    2. Observe the pattern of light and dark bands on the screen, mark the centre of each bright
    spot then turn the laser off and measure the distance of at least 4 fringe spacings.

    3. Measure the distance from the slits to the screen (D) and record the distance between the
    slits, s (should be given by manufacturer).

    Calculations
    ● Find the fringe spacing by dividing the distance across ​4 adjacent fringes by 3 to find
    fringe spacing (w).
    ws
    ● Rearrange the double slit equation to make 𝜆 the subject, 𝜆= D , and substitute the
    other values, making sure all units are in m, to calculate wavelength.

    Safety
    ● Lasers can permanently damage your eyesight therefore, when using lasers there
    are several safety precautions, which must be followed:
    ○ Wear laser safety goggles
    ○ Don’t ​shine the laser at reflective surfaces
    ○ Display a warning sign
    ○ Never shine the laser at a person

    Notes
    ● Vary wavelength by changing the colour of the laser and see how this affects the
    fringe spacing, varying different values can show how they are related.
    ● Use white light to see a less intense diffraction pattern with a bright white central
    fringe and ​spectral​ ​adjacent fringes.

    www.pmt.education

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