Optics Photometry

2.4.02-11 Photometric law of distance with Cobra3

What you can learn about

 Luminous flux
 Quantity of light
 Luminous intensity
 Illuminance
 Luminance

Principle:
The luminous intensity emitted by a
punctual source is determined as a
function of distance.

Experimental objective:
The luminous intensity is a function
of the distance of the light sensor
from the light source. The law for
point light sources on which this is
based should be determined.

What you need:

Cobra3 Basic Unit 12150.00 1
Power supply, 12 V- 12151.99 1
RS232 data cable 14602.00 1
Cobra3 Force/Tesla Measurement Software 14515.61 1
Power supply, 0...12 V 13505.93 1
Stand tube 02060.00 2
Distributor 06024.00 1
Barrel base -PASS- 02006.55 2
Bench clamp -PASS- 02010.00 1
Meter scale, l = 1000 mm 03001.00 1
PEK photodiode, G1 39119.01 1
Film resistor, 470 , G1 39104.15 1
Incandescent lamp, 6 V/5 A, E 14 06158.00 1 Luminous intensity as a function of the square of the reciprocal of the dis-
tance (lamp diode)
Lamp holder E14, on stem 06175.00 1
Connecting cord, 32 A, l = 75 cm, red 07362.01 1
Connecting cord, 32 A, l = 75 cm, blue 07362.04 1 Tasks:
Movement sensor with cable 12004.10 1 1. The luminous intensity emitted by
Adapter, BNC-socket/4 mm plug pair 07542.27 1 a punctual source is determined as
Adapter, BNC-socket / 4mm plug 07542.20 1 a function of distance from the
source.
Right angle clamp -PASS- 02040.55 1
2. The photometric law of distance is
Weight holder, 1 g 02407.00 1 verified by plotting illuminance as
Silk thread, l = 200 m 02412.00 1 a function of the reciprocal value
Plate holder 02062.00 1 of the square of the distance.
PC, Windows 95 or higher

Complete Equipment Set, Manual on CD-ROM included

Photometric law of distance with Cobra3 P2240211

104 Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE Systeme GmbH & Co. KG D - 37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Photometric law of distance with Cobra3 2.4.02
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Related topics Lamp holder E14, on stem 06175.00 1

Luminous flux, quantity of light, luminous intensity, illuminance, Connecting cord, 32 A, l = 75 cm, red 07362.01 1
luminance. Connecting cord, 32 A, l = 75 cm, blue 07362.04 1
Movement sensor with cable 12004.10 1
Principle Adapter, BNC-socket/4 mm plug pair 07542.27 1
The luminous intensity emitted by a punctual source is deter- Adapter, BNC-socket / 4mm plug 07542.20 1
mined as a function of distance. Right angle clamp -PASS- 02040.55 1
Weight holder, 1 g 02407.00 1
Tasks Silk thread, l = 200 m 02412.00 1
1. The luminous intensity emitted by a punctual source is Plate holder 02062.00 1
determined as a function of distance from the source. PC, Windows 95 or higher
2. The photometric law of distance is verified by plotting illumi-
nance as a function of the reciprocal value of the square of
the distance.

Experimental objective
The luminous intensity is a function of the distance of the light
sensor from the light source. The law for point light sources on
which this is based should be determined.

Equipment
Cobra3 Basic Unit 12150.00 1
Power supply, 12 V_ 12151.99 1
RS232 data cable 14602.00 1
Cobra3 Force/Tesla Measurement Software 14515.61 1
Power supply, 0...12 V 13505.93 1
Stand tube 02060.00 2 red
Distributor 06024.00 1 black
Barrel base -PASS- 02006.55 2 yellow
Bench clamp -PASS- 02010.00 1 BNC1
Meter scale, l = 1000 mm 03001.00 1 BNC2
PEK photodiode, G1 39119.01 1
Film resistor, 470 , G1 39104.15 1 Fig. 2. Connection of the movement sensor to the Cobra3 Basic
Incandescent lamp, 6 V/5 A, E 14 06158.00 1 Unit

Fig. 1. Experimental set-up

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22402-11 1
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2.4.02 Photometric law of distance with Cobra3
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Set-up and procedure
The experimental set-up is shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
Align the filament of the lamp such that its wide side faces the
photocell. Adjust the photodiode in such a manner that it
remains oriented towards the lamps filament when moved.
Naturally, the lamps filament and the photocell must be
mounted at the same height above the table.
Since the distance law which is to be verified is only valid for
point light sources, an initial separation (sensor lamp fila-
ment) of 15 cm should be used. Darken the room or shield the
experiment from direct sunlight.
Connect the Cobra3 Basic Unit to the computer port COM1,
COM2 or to USB port (use USB to RS232 Adapter). Start the
measure program and select Cobra3 Force/Tesla Measure-
ment Module. Begin recording the measured values using the
parameters given in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Measuring parameters
Fig. 4. Measuring parameters
2 22402-11 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics
To measure the path with the movement recorder, the bigger of
the two thread grooves is used. For the calibration of the
movement recorder use the Options button, then select Cali-
bration distance (e.g. 30 cm) in Angle/Distance window (see
Fig. 4). Press <Start> button first then move the recorder slow-
ly and regularly for the selected calibration distance and press
<Stop> button finally. To conclude this procedure press
<Calibrate> button in the Calibration window.
After the calibration put the photocell in the initial position
(15 cm away from lamp filament) and press the continue-but-
ton. Start the measurement and move slowly (about 0.5 cm/s)
the photocell along the meter scale away from lamp filament.
Measurement points are only entered into the graph if the tread
groove of the movement recorder is moved. At a distance of
approximately 80 cm you can terminate the measurement, as
the luminous intensity has now become very low and in addi-
tion the diffuse light fraction is relatively large.
Theory and evaluation
A punctual light source of luminous intensity I (Candela/cd)
emits a light flux ' (Lumen/lm) throughout a solid angle v.
Luminous intensity in a solid angle element dv amounts to:
I = d' / dv [cd] (1)
For luminous sources extended in space (also such which emit
no light by themselves, but which are reflecting), luminance B
is given by:
B = dI/dA [cd/cm2] (2)
If an area dA* is illuminated by a luminous flux d', illuminance
E (Lux/lx) is:
E = d' / dA* [lx] (3)
Fig. 5 gives a schematic representation of the illumination of a
surface element dA* through a punctual light source P. The
luminous intensity of the source is I and its distance from the
surface element is r, the perpendicular to the surface element
points in the direction of the connecting line with the light
source.
The illuminance E is given by:
d>dv
E  d>dA*  (4)
dv>dA*
With dv = dA* / r2 and (1) one obtains: E = I/r2 (5)
Fig. 5. Schematic determination of the photometric law of dis-
tance.
PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Photometric law of distance with Cobra3 2.4.02
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Equation (5) describes the photometric law of distance. Analysis of the measurement
According to this, the illuminance E of a surface decreases For the analysis of the results convert the measured value
proportionally to the square of distance r for constant luminous number into the actual distance. Select the following parame-
intensity I. ters:
In the Measurement / Display options window:
Displayed range: from 15 to 80
In the Measurement / Information / x-Data window:
Fig. 6. Luminous intensity as a function of distance (Lamp Title: Distance
Diode) Symbol: s
Unit: cm
Digits beyond point: 3
In the Measurement / Information / Channels window:
Title: Intensity
Symbol: I
Unit: V
Digits beyond point: 3

In the Analysis / Channel modification window select:

first source channel: Distance
Operation: f := x + 15
Destination channel: into new measurement/as x-channel
Now the luminous intensity is plotted as a function of actual dis-
tance between the lamp filament and sensor (see Fig. 6). After
conversion use the same Analysis / Channel modification win-
dow for the calculation of the square of the inverse value
1/(x*x) (see Fig. 7):
first source channel: Distance
Fig. 7. Parameters for the channel modification Operation: f := 1/(x*x)
Destination channel: into new measurement / as x-channel
In Fig. 8 the measured values of the luminous intensity are plot-
ted as a function of the reciprocal values of the square of dis-
tance r. The photometric law of distance is verified by the lin-
earity of the primary graph.

Fig. 8. Luminous intensity as a function of the square of the

reciprocal of the distance (lamp diode)

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22402-11 3
 LEP
2.4.02 Photometric law of distance with Cobra3
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4 22402-11 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen