By:

______________
Class: ____________
Roll No: __________

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge the valuable contribution of Dr.

S.K. Singhal in providing me the proper
guidance to complete the physics project. The
experiments would not have been completed
without his support and kind help. I would also
like to thank the Physics Laboratory Assistant
Mr. Girish.

Name of Student

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*********************

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that ___________________, Roll

number _______ of Class _____ has successfully
completed the _____________ under my
supervision according to the guidelines laid
down by CBSE.

Teacher In charge HOD Science

DR.S.K.SIN
GHAL

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 AIM OF EXPERIMENT

To calculate the Refractive Index of the

Prism for various wavelengths of the
Mercury Spectrum.

Apparatus required

a) Mercury lamp (as source of white light)

b) Spectrometer
c) Prism
d) Spirit level

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 Theory of experiment

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, whereas 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 a grating can often be seen
using a prism. Unfortunately, the increased brightness of the spectral lines
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is offset by a decreased resolution, since the prism doesn’t separate the
different lines as effectively as the grating.

However, the brighter lines allow a narrow slit width to be used, which
partially compensates for the reduced resolution. With a prism, the angle
of refraction is not directly proportional to the wavelength of the light.

Therefore, to measure wavelengths using a prism, a calibration graph of

the angle of deviation versus wavelength must be constructed using a
light source with a known spectrum. The wavelength of unknown spectral
lines can then be interpolated from the graph.

Once a calibration graph is created for the prism, future wavelength

determinations are valid only if they are made with the prism aligned
precisely as it was when the graph was produced. To ensure that this
alignment can be reproduced, all measurements are made with the prism
aligned so that the light is refracted at the angle of minimum deviation.

The light to be examined is rendered parallel by a collimator consisting of

a tube with a slit of adjustable width at one end and a convex lens at the
other. 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 leveled.

The prism causes the deviation of 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.
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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 index of
refraction of the prism and the angle between the two sides of the prism
traversed by the light. The relationship between these variables is given
by the equation:

Where n is the index of refraction of the prism and δm is the angle

between the sides of the prism traversed by the light and is the angle of
minimum deviation. Since n varies with wavelength, the angle of
minimum deviation also varies, but it is constant for any particular
wavelength. 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.

The amount by which the visible spectrum spreads out into its constituent
colors depends on how rapidly the refractive index of the prism material
varies with the wavelength of the radiation, i.e. . This quantity is called
the dispersion and is of prime importance in spectroscopy, since if the
dispersion is small, radiation of slightly differing wavelengths cannot be
resolved into separate and distinct spectral lines.

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 About the prism

In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished

surfaces that refract light. At least two of the flat surfaces must have an
angle between them. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the
application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular
prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides. Prisms can be made
from any material that is transparent to the wavelengths for which they
are designed. Typical materials include glass, plastic and fluorite.

A dispersive prism can be used to break light up into its

constituent spectral colors (the colors of the rainbow). Furthermore,
prisms can be used to reflect light, or to split light into components with
different polarizations.

How prisms work?

Light changes speed as it moves from one medium to another (for

example, from air into the glass of the prism). This speed change causes
the light to be refracted and to enter the new medium at a different angle
(Huygens principle). The degree of bending of the light's path depends on
the angle that the incident beam of light makes with the surface, and on
the ratio between the refractive indices of the two media (Snell's law).

The refractive index of many materials (such as glass) varies with

the wavelength or color of the light used, a phenomenon known
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as dispersion. This causes light of different colors to be refracted
differently and to leave the prism at different angles, creating an effect
similar to a rainbow. This can be used to separate a beam of white light
into its constituent spectrum of colors.

Prisms are sometimes used for the internal reflection at the surfaces rather
than for dispersion. If light inside the prism hits one of the surfaces at a
sufficiently steep angle, total internal reflection occurs and all of the light
is reflected. This makes a prism a useful substitute for a mirror in some
situations.

Types of prism

In optics, a Porro prism, named for its inventor Ignazio Porro, is a type
of reflection prism used in optical instruments to alter the orientation of
an image.
It consists of a block of glass shaped as a right geometric prism with
right-angled triangular end faces. In operation, light enters the large
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rectangular face of the prism, undergoes total internal reflection twice
from the sloped faces, and exits again through the large rectangular face.
Because the light exits and enters the glass only at normal incidence, the
prism is not dispersive.

An image travelling through a Porro prism is rotated by 180° and exits in

the opposite direction offset from its entrance point. Since the image is
reflected twice, the handedness of the image is unchanged.

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 Refractive index

In optics the refractive index (n) of an optical medium is a dimensionless

number that describes how light, or any other radiation, propagates
through that medium. It is defined as

=n

Where c is the speed of light in vacuum and v is the phase velocity of

light in the medium.
The refractive index determines how much light is bent, or refracted,
when entering a material. This is first use of refractive indices and is
described by Snell's law of refraction,

n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ2,

Where θ1 and θ2 are the angles of incidence and refraction, respectively,

of a ray crossing the interface between two media with refractive
indices n1 and n2.

The refractive indices also determine the amount of light that

is reflected when reaching the interface, as well as the critical angle
for total internal reflection.
The definition above is referred to as the absolute refractive index to
distinguish it from definitions where the speed of light in other reference
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media than vacuum is used. Historically air at a
standardized pressure and temperature has been common as a reference
medium.

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 Dispersion

In optics, dispersion is the phenomenon in which the phase velocity of

a wave depends on its frequency. Media having this common property
may be termed dispersive media.

In optics, one important and familiar consequence of dispersion is the

change in the angle of refraction of different colors of light, as seen in

the spectrum produced by a dispersive prism and in chromatic

aberration of lenses. 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 (different colors). However, dispersion also has
an effect in many other circumstances.

Cause of dispersion of light

The refractive index of materials varies with the wavelength

(and frequency) of light. This causes dispersion causing prisms
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and rainbows to divide white light into its constituent spectral colors. As
the refractive index varies with wavelength, so will the refraction angle as
light goes from one material to another. Dispersion also causes the focal
length of lenses to be wavelength dependent. This is a type of chromatic
aberration, which often needs to be corrected for in imaging systems. For

visible light normal dispersion means that the refractive index is higher
for blue light than for red.

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 Procedure

• First the telescope has to be focused on distant objects i.e. infinity and
this has to be maintained until the experiment is over, so as to not refocus
again. Then, the cross-wires should be focused by moving the eye-piece
of the telescope.

• Adjust the Collimator such that the image seen in the telescope is sharp
of the slit without the prism.

• Measuring the Angle of Prism A: Place the prism on the Prism Table and
lock the prism table in the position so the incident beam falls on one of
the edges of the prism. Now, move the telescope and locate the images of
the slit and note down the angles. The difference between both the angles
is 2A. Hence, half of the difference will give us A.

• Now, choose an angle of incidence other than the previous chosen one,
with eye locate approximately the angle at which the spectrum starts to
move in the opposite direction as the prism table is rotated, and lock the
prism table. Now, using the telescope, fix the telescope on one of the
spectrum lines, and then use the fine adjustment for the movement of
prism table to move the table so that we get the precise location of the
angle where the line starts to move in the opposite direction, and note the
angle for this.

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 • Without disturbing anything, remove the prism and get the measure of
the angle of the direct image of the slit in the telescope. The difference
between these two angles is the Angle of Minimum Deviation δm for this
spectral line λ. Repeat the same for all the spectral lines that are given by
the mercury lamp.

• From above data we can calculate the refractive index n of the prism for
various wavelengths. For the Calibration Curve, plot a graph of δm versus
λ. For the Dispersion Curve, plot a graph of n versus λ.

• We can also calculate the Cauchy’s constants A and B by doing a least

squares fit of the data to the Cauchy Formula n = A + . We can also
calculate the Resolving Power (R) of the prism using the two yellow lines
of the mercury spectrum as,

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OBSERVATIONS

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Now, if µ be the refractive index of the medium, then by Cauchy’s
formula,

Now, we take two arbitrary readings, say for RED and YELLOW light.
Then, we put the values of µ and λ and get two simultaneous equations.
We solve for a and b. The values are:

a = 1.42 and b = 23190.125.

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For verification, we substitute these values in the equation again, but
using a different λ value, say of GREEN light. We get the µ for GREEN
light to be 1.50 which is same as the experimental value.

Result
The mean refractive index of the material = 1.504

Discussions

•It must be ensured that the light rays coming out of collimator are
parallel. Hence, the collimator must be focused properly before the
experiment.
•The plane on which the prism rests must be horizontal.
•The slit must be as thin as possible in order to avoid diffraction.

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 Precautions

1. Allow the lamps and electronics to heat up.

2. Use the correct wavelengths of the lights to be measured.
3. Carry out the set up procedure in the correct order.
4. Perform calibration checks after set up.

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1. Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia
2. Physics NCERT Class XII
3. Textbook of Physics – Pradeep’s
4. Encarta Encyclopedia
5. Britannica Encyclopedia

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