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Newton’s Rings

Newton’s Rings 3. Newton’s Rings Background Coherent light

Phase relationship Path difference Interference in thin film
Newton’s ring apparatus Aim of the experiment To study the
formation of Newton’s rings in the air-film in between a plano-
convex lens and a glass plate using nearly monochromatic light
from a sodium-source and hence to determine the radius of
curvature of the plano-convex lens. Apparatus required A nearly
monochromatic source of light (source of sodium light) A plano-
convex lens An optically flat glass plates A convex lens A traveling
microscope Theory When a parallel beam of monochromatic light is
incident normally on a combination of a plano-convex lens L and a
glass plate G, as shown in Fig.1, a part of each incident ray is
reflected from the lower surface of the lens, and a part, after
refraction through the air film between the lens and the plate, is
reflected back from the plate surface. These two reflected rays are
coherent, Fig. 2. Newton’s rings Date : 32 Newton’s Rings hence
they will interfere and produce a system of alternate dark and
bright rings with the point of contact between the lens and the
plate as the center. These rings are known as Newton’s ring. For a
normal incidence of monochromatic light, the path difference
between the reflected rays (see Fig.1) is very nearly equal to 2t
where  and t are the refractive index and thickness of the air-film
respectively. The fact that the wave is reflected from air to glass
surface introduces a phase shift of . Therefore, for bright fringe 
 2 1 2 t  n  ; n = 0,1,2,3 (1) and for dark fringe 2t  n ; n =
0,1,2,3 (2) For n-th (bright or dark) ring (see Fig. 2), we also have 
 2 2 2 4 R t R D n    (3) where Dn = the diameter of the n-th
ring and R = the radius of curvature of the lower surface of the
plano-convex lens. On neglecting t 2 , equation (3) reduces to Dn 2
= 8tR (4) From equations (1) and (4), we get,   μ λ R 2 1 D 4 n 2
n   , for n-th bright ring (5)   μ λ R 2 1 D n m 4 n m 2     ,
for (n+m)-th bright ring (6) Similarly, from equations (2) and (4),
we obtain  n R Dn 2 4  , for n-th dark ring (7)  n m  R Dn m
4(  )   , for (n+m)-th dark ring (8) Thus for bright as well as dark
rings, we obtain   4mλ μ D D R 2 n m n 2    … (9) Since =1
for air-film, above equation gives   4mλ D D R 2 n m n 2    …
(10) 33 Newton’s Rings Procedure 1. Level the traveling
microscope with its axis vertical. Arrange the set-up as shown in
Fig.1 and focus the microscope on the air-film. Newton’s Rings will
be clearly seen. 2. Adjust the glass plate G1 for maximum visibility
of the point of contact of lens L with the glass plate G and hence for
maximum visibility of Newton’s Rings. In this orientation, G1 is at
450 to the incident beam of light. 3. Move the microscope to the
right of the central dark spot (say order ‘n’, this is because the
central ring is often broad and may not necessarily will be zero
order) and set it on the extreme tenth (n+10th order) distinct
bright ring so that the cross-wire perpendicular to the direction of
movement of the microscope passes through the bright ring and is
tangential to it. Record the microscope position from the horizontal
scale along with its number with bright ring around the central
dark spot as the first bright ring. Move the microscope to left and
record the position of the next bright ring. Repeat it till you reach
to the tenth bright ring on the left. From these measurements,
evaluate the diameters of different rings. Repeat these
measurements for microscope movement from left to right and
evaluate the diameters of different rings. Determine the average
diameters of different rings. 34 Newton’s Rings Observations
Vernier constant for the horizontal scale of the microscope (Least
Count) : Table 1 Measurements of the diameter of the ring Ring
No. (n) Microscope readings (cm) on the Diameter Dn+m= R1-R2
(cm) 2 n m D  (cm2 ) m1 –m2 2 n m 2 n m1 2 D D    (cm2 ) Left
(R1) Right (R2) Main Scale Vernier Total Main scale Vernier Total
n+10 n+9 n+8 n+7 n+6 n+5 n+4 n+3 n+2 n+1 35 Newton’s Rings
36 Calculation and Results Plot a graph between 2 n m 2 n m1 2 D
D    vs m1-m2 Table 2 Calculation of radius of curvature, R,
from the graph 1 n m2 2 n m 2 D   D  (cm2 ) from graph m1-m2
 (cm) (589310-8 ) 4(m m )λ D D R 1 2 n m 2 n m 2 1 2     
(cm) Newton’s Rings 37 Estimate error in R The radius of curvature
is calculated from Equation (3), viz. 4(m - m )λ D D R 1 2 2 n m 2 1
n m 2     Since n m2 D  and n m1 D  are only measured, the
maximum proportional error in R is given by   2 n m 2 1 n m 2 2
n m 2 1 n m 2 D D δ D D R δ R        = 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 2( )
2( ) n m n m n m n m n m n m D D D D D D           Since
1 n m D  or 2 n m D  is measured by taking the difference
between the two readings of a scale provided with a vernier, the
maximum error in measuring each of these quantities is twice the
vernier constant i.e. 2v.c. Therefore, D v c n   2 . Hence, ( ) 4 . ( )
4.12121222nmnmnmnmnmnmDDvcDDDDvcR
R             Newton’s Rings 38 Discussion (i) The
Newton’s ring experiment can be also used to find the wavelength
of a monochromatic light. In this case, the radius of curvature of
the convex surface of the given lens is supplied or is determined
otherwise. By employing sodium light whose mean wavelength is
5893Å, R can be determined from Eqn.(3), as in the present
experiment. Then the same equation can be used to find the
wavelength  of any other given monochromatic light. Newton’s
Rings 39 (ii) R is calculated from Eq. (10). An error in the actual
ring number n+m1 does not affect the result. (iii) Since the first
few rings near the center are deformed, they must be avoided while
taking readings for the rings. (iv) Care must be taken not to disturb
the lens and glass plate combination in any way during the
experiment. Questions 1. In the Newton’s ring experiment, how
does interference occur? 2. Where have the fringes formed? 3. Why
are the fringes circular? 4. Are all rings equispaced? 5. Why is an
extended source used in this experiment? 6. What will happen if a
point source or an illuminated slit is used instead of the extended
source? 7. In place of lens, if a wedge shaped film formed by two
glass plates is supplied to you, will you be able to observe Newton’s
ring? Why? 8. How is the central spot in your experiment, bright or
dark? Why? 9. Instead of reflected rays, if you look at transmitted
rays, what do you expect to observe? 10. What happens with the
central spot when a liquid of refractive index  greater than that of
the lens and less that that of the glass plate is introduced between
the lens and the glass plate? 11. Is it possible to determine the
refractive index of the liquid by this experiment? 12. What would
happen to the ring if the space between lens and the plate is filled
with a liquid of refractive index ? 13. What do you expect to see in
the microscope if you use a white light source? 14. What is the
difference between biprism fringes and Newton’s ring fringes? 15.
On which factors does the diameter of a ring depend? 16. What
would happen if a glass plate is replaced by a plane mirror? 17.
Why should a lens of large radius of curvature be used in this
experiment? 18. Is it desirable to measure the radius of curvature
of the given lens by a spherometer in the usual way? 19. What do
you understand by (a) fringes of equal thickness (b) fringes of equal
inclination and (c) fringes of equal chromatic order. 20. How does
the sodium source, which you are using in your experiment work?
References 1. Fundamental of Optics by F. Jenkins and H. White
535 JEN/F 2. Optics by A.Ghatak 535 GHA/O 3. Optics by E. Hecht
535 HEC/O Newton’s Rings 40 Graph : Newton’s Rings