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Newton's rings interference pattern

Collimating lens

Collimating lens

Collimating lens and filter

Newton's rings plates illuminated

Newton's rings plates illuminated

Newton's rings plates

Newton's rings plates

Collimating lens

Collimating lens

Equipment set up on an optical bench

Equipment set up on an optical bench

Newton's Rings

In this session you will have:

Understood the concept of interference

 

Gained experience using an optical bench

 

Understood the behaviour of lenses and the optimisation of light throughput in an optical system

 

Learnt about and compared the effectiveness of different graphical methods and analysis techniques in error analysis

Introduction

Newton's RingsIn this experiment you will learn about thin film interference using a system of lenses to produce concentric bright and dark interference fringes on a white screen. The thin film in this case is provided by an air gap between a glass plate and a planoconvex lens. The separation of the fringes will be used to determine the radius of curvature of the lens and the wavelength of the incident light. (Pictured right: Newton's Rings)

Other Resources

Script

The script for this experiment can be found in the lab script book or on DUO.