The lab was designed by and uses equipment provided by Professor Eric Szarmes. We will learn techniques of modern optics and measure polarization phenomena including the Brewster angle, extinction ratio for polarized light (Malus’s Law) and birefringence. 1. Observation of polarization phenomena: polarization of reflected light from dielectric surfaces. polarization of scattered light from the … Read more
Read before class: Textbook section 3.7 Taylor Classical Mechanics, chapter 12 We will attempt to observe the onset of chaos in a series diode-R-L circuit. The input to the circuit will be a sinusoidal driving voltage V_0 cos(omega t). Find the resonant frequency of the circuit. This should be close to 1/[2 pi sqrt(LC)]. Look … Read more
Text Reading Melissinos, Sec 8.4 and Sec 9.2 I . Introduction In this experiment you will use radioactive sources with emissions of known energy to calibrate a NaI(Tl) detector and measure the position of the Compton edges resulting from known gamma ray lines in Na^22, Cs^137, Co^60 and Co^57. The experiment consists of four parts: … Read more
Read: Textbook section 8.2 Bigelow, Chapter 5 (the handout). Use the program NUCRAD to learn about interactions of radiation with matter. This program has now been installed on the PC’s in Rooms 221 and the Modern Physics Lab. Do the exercises below and hand in the answers with needed graphs. No formal narrative report is … Read more
1. Observe a very short ( -1 volt, 20 ns wide) pulse on a fast oscilloscope. Termination: Observe the effect on the pulse of a) no terminating resistor at the scope, b) 50 ohm terminating resistor at the scope. Always terminate cables correctly if the device input does not provide 50 ohm termination internally. Reflections: … Read more
Textbook reading Read section 8.4: The Scintillation Counter. Read p.409-421 (section 9.5), the description of 22Na experiments. Also examine the diagram on p.341. I. Introduction This experiment is concerned with the operation of high speed pulse circuitry, the coincidence technique, the angular correlation of gamma rays in 22Na and 60Co [and in a later lab … Read more
Textbook reading Briefly review oscilloscopes (section 3.3) How do photons interact with matter (section 8.2.5). Make sure you understand Figs 8.7 and 8.9. How is it different from Fig 8.3 for charged particles? Review phototubes, see appendix E2. I. Introduction In this experiment you will use a light emitting diode (LED), a photomultiplier tube (PMT) … Read more