Experiment 3: Newton’s Rings

Soumya Malviya Venkata Sathya Pavani Tirunagari Shambhavi Agrawal

22110256 22110284 22110240
Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering
IIT Gandhinagar IIT Gandhinagar IIT Gandhinagar
soumya.malviya@iitgn.ac.in venkata.sathya@iitgn.ac.in shambhavi.agrawal@iitgn.ac.in

Aim—To determine the radius of curvature of a lens by

Newton’s rings method. (2n + 1)λR
rn2 = (v)
I. I NTRODUCTION 2
Newton’s Rings experiment demonstrates the phenomenon This gives the diameter of the nth bright fringe:
of interference of light which was first observed by Sir Issac
Newton. These rings are a series of concentric circular rings
Dn2 = 2(2n + 1)λR (vi)
consisting of alternating bright and dark fringes. These fringes
are obtained due to constructive/destructive interference of Similarly, the diameter of the nth dark fringe is given by:
light waves reflected from the lens and glass surface. This
experiment helps to calculate the radius of curvature of the
lens used. Dn′2 = 4nλR (vii)

II. T HEORY Due to imperfectness of the contact between the two sur-
Newton’s Rings are obtained due to the air film formed by faces at the centre of the lens, the exact order of fringes cannot
placing a plano-convex lens on top of a glass plate. The film is be ascertained. However, the difference in diameters of two
thinnest at this point of contact. When this film is illuminated bright (or dark) fringes of order n1 and n2 is related by:
by a parallel beam of monochromatic light, alternating dark
and bright fringes (consecutive circles) will be obtained. These Dn2 1 − Dn2 2
fringes are obtained when the reflected waves obtained from = 4λR (viii)
n1 − n2
the lower surface of the convex lens and the flat upper surface
of the glass plate interfere constructively or destructively.
Consideration of the optical path difference between these
two rays (for a thin lens with extremely small curvature and
rear normal incidence) leads to interference conditions. The
conditions for dark and bright fringes are given by:
 
λ
2t ≈ 2n (Dark fringe) (i)
2
 
λ
2t ≈ (2n + 1) (Bright fringe) (ii)
2
Where t is the air gap at the point of consideration.
It is observed from Fig.1. that if the radius of the nth bright
fringe is rn and R is the radius of curvature of the lower
surface of the lens, then:
Fig. 1: Lens diagram showing waves
2
R = rn2 2
+ (R − t) (iii)
The schematic shown in the Fig.1. and Fig,2. show rays
Or, neglecting t2 : of monochromatic light from the sodium lamp falling on the
beam splitter which is inclined at 45◦ . As a result the beam
rn2 falls normally to the plano-convex lens and glass plate set up.
t≈ (iv)
2R The final reflected waves again go through the beam splitter
Substituting this into the interference condition for the nth and through the microscope lens for the viewer to see. The
bright fringe, we get: microscope can then be adjusted as required.
 • The distance between two fringes keeps on decreasing as
we move away from the center since the radius of these
fringes increases more slowly as fringe order increases.
This is because they follow a square root relationship.
• The interference rings obtained are circular due to the
symmetry of the thin air film formed between the two
lenses. Hence, there is circular symmetry of the thickness
of this film around the point of contact. Since the convex
lens is spherical the point of contact is circular.

Rings Xm (in mm) ′ (in mm)

Xm Dm (in mm) 2 (in mm2 )
Dm
1 14.81 13.48 1.33 1.7689
2 15.00 13.27 1.73 2.9929
3 15.18 13.14 2.04 4.1616
4 15.33 12.97 2.36 5.5696
Fig. 2: Experimental Setup 5 15.46 12.84 2.62 6.8644
6 15.58 12.74 2.84 8.0656
7 15.68 12.62 3.06 9.3636
III. E XPERIMENTAL P ROCEDURE 8 15.78 12.51 3.27 10.6929
9 15.87 12.42 3.45 11.9025
A. Apparatus and Materials Used 10 15.96 12.34 3.62 13.1044
11 16.03 12.26 3.77 14.2129
• Microscope Eyepiece 12 16.12 12.18 3.94 15.5236
• Sodium lamp 13 16.19 12.09 4.10 16.8100
• Power supply for sodium lamp 14 16.27 12.03 4.24 17.9776
15 16.34 11.95 4.39 19.2721
• Beam Splitter
16 16.40 11.88 4.52 20.4304
• Micrometer 17 16.46 11.82 4.64 21.5296
18 16.53 11.76 4.77 22.7529
B. Methodology 19 16.60 11.69 4.91 24.1081
20 16.66 11.62 5.04 25.4016
1) Clean the lens required for the experiment with iso-
propyl alcohol. TABLE I: Data of Newton’s Rings
2) Place plano-convex on top of the optically flat disk in the
region of depression near the objective of the microscope
such that there is only one point of contact between both
the lens.
3) Secure beam splitter into the holder and with the screws.
4) Switch on the Sodium vapor lamp and place the lamp
in front of the microscope.
5) Change the declination of the beam-splitter to 45° with
respect to the direction of the light
6) Now the focus the image by adjusting the distance of
the microscope tube from the object, using the focusing
knob.
7) After a focused image of fringe system in view, coincide
the intersection of the crosswire system with the center
of the fringe pattern by using the micrometer screws.
8) Position the microscope in such a way that one of its 2
Fig. 3: Dm vs Ring number
crosswire touches the rings tangentially and traverse
through 20 rings by turning the micrometer screw in
The slope of the fitted line of the data is 1.2385 mm2 /ring.
one direction only.
Wavelength of the light λ = 5893Å
9) Move the crosswire to one of the rings (say mth). ‘m’
is the ring no. with respect to the smallest well defined
Using (viii), Radius of curvature is evaluated as follows
ring (1st ring). Next by turning the fine movement knob,
:
move the microscope to record Xm and X’m 1.2385 × 10−6
= 52.54cm
IV. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION 4 × 5893 × 10−10
• Circular bright and dark fringes (Newton’s Rings) were V. E RROR A NALYSIS
observed between the plano-convex lens and the flat glass The average value of the slope calculated from Table.II. is
plate. Savg = 1.2433
 No. Slope (S in mm2 ) R (in mm) ∆S
1 1.20 50.75 0.04215
• The thin film between the two lenses can be replaced
2 1.29 54.66 0.04985 with other fluids such as some liquid and the result will
3 1.35 57.33 0.11290 show how the film material affects the fringe pattern.
4 1.25 52.94 0.00950
5 1.25 53.01 0.01110 VII. P RECAUTIONS
6 1.31 55.73 0.07515
7 1.27 53.85 0.03095 1) Care must be taken while handling all optical compo-
8 1.21 51.15 0.03275 nents such as lenses.
9 1.15 49.01 0.08330 2) Please do not place your fingers on main optical surfaces
10 1.21 51.32 0.02890
11 1.30 55.09 0.06005
or hold components by their edge.
12 1.23 52.05 0.01150 3) Keep the important surfaces away from anything that
13 1.23 52.23 0.00745 might scratch them.
14 1.23 52.03 0.01210 4) Clean the lenses properly.
15 1.13 47.89 0.10975
16 1.16 49.26 0.07725 5) Ensure that you can observe and move through at least
17 1.29 54.69 0.05075 20 rings on both sides of the center of the fringe system
18 1.32 56.18 0.08585 before taking any measurements.
TABLE II: Slope values and radius of curvature 6) To avoid errors due to backlash, always move the
microscope in the same direction while measuring the
fringe diameter.
The error in slope could be calculated using the formula: 7) When recording Xm and Ym on either side of the center,
make sure the same ring number (m) is assigned on both
∆S = |Sm − S| sides, starting with the smallest ring as the first ring.
VIII. AUTHOR C ONTRIBUTIONS
The standard deviation of the slope = 0.0614mm2 .
The relative error in slope is evaluated as follows: 1) Soumya Malviya (22110240) - Data Tabulation, Graphs,
Apparatus and Materials Used, Acknowledgement, Re-
∆S port Formatting
= 0.049
S 2) Shambhavi Agrawal (22110256) - Introduction, Theory,
The relative error in slope is equal to the relative error in the Conclusion, Precautions
radius of curvature.So, 3) Venkata Sathya Pavani Tirunagari (22110284) - Results
∆R and Discussion, Calculations, Methodology, Report
= 0.049 Formatting
R
These errors could be accounted for due to various reasons:
• Errors could be introduced while adjusting the micro-
IX. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
scope crosswire to the middle of the width of each ring. We would like to thank to Prof. Naveen Sisodia and the
• Least count errors will be introduced due to limited teaching assistants for setting up the apparatus and clarifying
resolution of the instrument. our doubts whenever required.
• Presence of dust/tissue particles left on the lens and
glass could affect the interference leading to measurement
errors.

VI. C ONCLUSION
By this experiment, we successfully demonstrated the inter-
ference phenomenon and determined the radius of curvature of
the lens (52.54 cm) by analyzing the Newton’s Rings obtained.
Also since we measured the radius of several rings, we were
able to calculate the radius of curvature of the lens with
reduced error.
The following points can be taken into consideration for
future scope of work:
• Light sources of different wavelengths or tunable varying
wavelengths can help understand how wavelengths inter-
act with the thin films and its effect on Newton’s Rings.
• Changing other factors such as the lens, the temperature,
irregularities on the lens will have its effects on the
Newton’s Rings.