Practical 2 - Muhammad Nasri Bin Muhammad Ali
Practical 2 - Muhammad Nasri Bin Muhammad Ali
Practical 2 - Muhammad Nasri Bin Muhammad Ali
PENDIDIKAN
MALAYSIA
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JABATAN SAINS
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Catatan (jika ada)
Markah:
CONTENT
1.0 Introduction 3
2.0 Aim 3
3.0 Apparatus 3
6.0 Data 6
8.0 Conclusion 7
12.0 Reference 10
PRACTICAL 2 : YOUNG’S DOUBLE SLIT EXPERIMENT
1.0 Introduction
A wave is a disturbance in a medium that carries energy from one point to another
without a net movement of particles (Freegarde, 2013). Examples of waves or
oscillations can be found everywhere from the vibrations of atoms to the ripples on the
surface of water. There are two types of waves which is mechanical waves that require
medium for its propagation like sound wave. This wave can travel through medium like
air, water and solids but it would not be able to travel through a vacuum because there
are no particles that can act as a medium for the energy to be transferred. Next is
electromagnetic waves where this wave does not require any medium for its
propagation like magnetic and light waves.
These waves can be transverse or longitudinal depending on the direction of its
oscillation. Foo, Yee, Lee and Chong (2016) stated that transverse waves oscillate
along the path perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave while
longitudinal waves oscillate along the path parallel to the direction of propagation of the
wave. All electromagnetic waves are transverse while mechanical wave can be both
transverse and longitudinal.
2.0 Aim
3.0 Apparatus
I. Retort stand
II. Retort clamp
III. Red laser pointer
IV. Ruler
V. Double slit
VI. A4 paper
4.0 Theory
Giancoli (2013) stated that early theory of Corpuscular theory of light by Isaac
Newton where he believed that light travelled as a flow of particles that moves in a
straight line until they are being refracted or reflected. Contrastingly, Huygen’s wave
theory stand on the fact that light travels in a wave-like pattern which means that light
have the properties of wave like wavelength, amplitude, and frequency. Then, this
theory has being proven by Thomas Young where he has performed an experiment to
supported the idea of the wave-like nature of light by using a screen containing a single
slit to produce a coherent light beam from the sunlight (Towne, 2004). As the light
passed through this slit, it diffracted to produce a single coherent light which then
projected on a second screen that has two slits to create two sources of coherent light.
As the light waves passed through, it become diffracted and overlap which shows the
process of interference. The interference pattern made up of bright and dark fringes is
created by both diffracted light from the double slits where the constructive interference
is shown through bright fringes while destructive interference is shown as dark fringes
(Poh, 2014). This interference pattern can be used to be able to compute the
wavelength of the light.
The wavelength of this light sources can be calculated from this experiment through
a formula as being shown below.
ax
λ=
D
Where:
λ=Wavelength
a=Distance between two coherent sources
x=Fringe width (distance between two consecutive bright fringes)
D=Distance between the slits∧the screen
10) Step 4 until 9 is repeated with different distances between the slits and the screen, D
of 3.0m and 4.0m
6.0 Data
−2 −3
2.5 0.031 0.032 0.032 3.2 ×10 3.2 ×10 640
7.0 Data analysis and interpretation
Table 2: Data analysis
−2 −3
1.0 1.4 ×10 1.4 ×10
−2 −3
1.5 2.0 ×10 2.0 ×10
0.5 670.5
−2 −3
2.0 2.7 ×10 2.7 ×10
−2 −3
2.5 3.2 ×10 3.2 ×10
Based on the data that is being shown in Table 2, it shows that there are 4 set of data
being taken for this double slit experiment with different distance between the slits and the
screen, D which is 1.0 m, 1.5 m, 2.0 m and 2.5 m. This difference in distance resulting in
different distance between two consecutive bright fringes, x that can be seen on the screen.
This x can be calculated by the distance covered by 10 consecutive bright fringes, Ldivided
by 10. For the Lvalue, the readings were taken three times to obtain the average value to
avoid errors. For every value of distance between the slits and the screen, D , of 1.0 m, 1.5
m, 2.0 m and 2.5 m, the wavelength of the red laser light is calculated using the Young’s
interference formula which is 700 nm, 667 nm, 675 nm and 640 nm. Then, the final value for
the average number of all the wavelength calculated for each distance is 670.5 nm. Based on
this result, the wavelength for this red laser light is in fact in the range of theoretical red-light
wavelength which is around 620 nm to 750 nm.
8.0 Conclusion
In conclusion, the wavelength of a red laser beam is 670.5 based on the result of the
double slit experiment. The result is in the range of a theoretical red-light wavelength. Thus, it
proved that a double slit experiment is able to determine the wavelength of a monochromatic
light.
9.0 Discussion
A laser is a device that causes atoms or molecules to emit light at specific wavelengths
and amplifies it, resulting in a highly narrow beam of radiation (Hitz, Ewing, & Hect, 2012).
The emission usually only covers a small spectrum of visible, infrared, and ultraviolet
wavelengths. Lasers produce light beams that has useful characteristics like coherent,
monochromatic, well-controlled, and accurately directed that is used in many devices
nowadays. Firstly, a barcode scanner, also known as a barcode reader, is a device that
decodes and collects the information contained in barcodes using lights, lenses, and a
sensor.
Webb and Jones (2004) stated that laser scanners use a laser beam as a light source
and scan the laser beam back and forth over the barcode using oscillating mirrors or rotating
prisms. The reflected light from the barcode is then measured by a photodiode which will
generates an analogue output that is transformed to a digital signal that can be translated.
This laser scanners have many advantages like it does not require an image processor like a
camera. They are also work really quick, with speeds of up to 1,300 scans per second. By
utilizing lasers in this device, it produces a collimated beams of light that do not diverge no
matter how far they go which help in reading barcode from relatively long distance.
Next, a laser speed gun, also known as Lidar is also one of the devices that incorporate
laser in its components where it can help in measuring speed of a vehicle for officers to
detect over speeding drivers.
Diagram 3: Schematic diagram of Lidar gun components (Vortex Radar, 2020)
A laser speed cannon fires a short burst of infrared laser light at the vehicle and then waits
for it to reflect back (Weeb & Jones, 2004). The cannon calculates the distance to the car by
counting the number of nanoseconds it takes to complete the round journey and dividing by
two to find its speed. The advantage of Lidar is it has a narrow light beam which helps in its
accuracy in targeting and detecting speed violation and license plat of a specific vehicle
which is better that a radar-based speed gun.
In conclusion, laser has been implemented in many devices that is used in many
sections like barcode scanner in commercial uses and Lidar for law enforcement.
There are some issues that has been faced during this experiment. Firstly, there are
some errors on the value of distance between two consecutive bright fringes, x when the
experiment was done using a 0.1 mm. Then, the experiment is repeated using different slits
which is 0.5 mm slit as an alternative way to avoid this instrumental errors. Next, the retort
stand that is being used in this experiment is in poor condition. This results in difficulty to
determine and adjust the accurate distance between the slit and the screen. To avoid errors,
this reading was taken 3 times to get the average value for more accurate result.
11.0 Reference
Foo S. T., Yee C. T., Lee B. H. & Chong G. C. (2016). Success Fizik SPM. Kula Lumpur
Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd
Hitz, C. B., Ewing, J. J., & Hecht, J. (2012). Introduction to laser technology. John Wiley &
Sons.
Poh L. Y. (2018). STPM Text Physics. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbitan Pelangi Sdn. Bhd.
Webb, C. E., & Jones, J. D. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of Laser Technology and Applications:
Laser design and laser systems (Vol. 2). CRC Press.