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M4-02. Newton's Rings - Projection

Purpose

Projection of Newton's rings.

Equipment

Superpressure mercury lamp, glass plates, 20cm focal length convex lens, and light baffle.

Setup Time

5 minutes.

Images

m4-02

Description

A high-intensity mercury lamp illuminates a pair of touching glass surfaces, one plane and the other convex, contacting each other along the central ray. The reflected light is focused onto a distant screen, forming the classical Newton's rings interference pattern.

References

Syed Ziauddin, Newton's Rings, TPT 10, 477, (1972). ◙A. F. Leung and Jiyeon Ester Lee, Newton's Rings: A Classroom Demonstration With a He-Ne Laser, AJP 59, 662-664 (1991). ◙Michael Belsley, Comment on "Newton's Rings: A Classroom Demonstration With a He-Ne Laser [AJP 59, 662-664 (1991)], AJP◙60, 1044-1045 (1992). ◙Kai-yin Cheung and Se-yuen Mak, Apparatus for Teaching Physics: Giant Newton's Rings, TPT 34, 35-37 (1996).