I.

AIM
a) To calibrate the grating spectrometer using the known source (Hg source) of
light and to calculate the grating constant.
b) To calculate the wavelengths of the 4 unknown lines (Orange, Red-1, Red-2,
and Red-3) from the Hg source.
c) Using the same grating, with sodium vapour source, to calculate the
wavelength of the sodium doublet lines.

II. Theory
A diffraction grating can be considered as a large number of slits equally spaced
apart and the phenomenon of diffraction observed through a grating is the
superposition of light waves from a coherent source passing through these N
slits. Usually, N is about the order of 15000 grooves per inch in order to produce
a high-quality grating for the visible region.

In case of a double slit diffraction, it is observed that the intensity distribution on

the screen is somewhat smudgy and the maxima and minima are not very clear,
they’re not distinct. But in case of a grating, the superposition of light rays at a
point on the screen, for diffracted light from all the N slits adds up in phase, and
creates a bright spot of very high intensity and the minima are adjacent to these,
creating distinct darkness. So the various maxima are visible at a significant
distance from each other. This helps better in the study of various spectra of
light.
 In order to keep the diffracting angles symmetric for the diffraction order “±m”,
the grating is calibrated for normal incidence of the light beam. In such
conditions, for the intensity maxima, the grating equation is :

Where,
d = grating constant (separation between slits)
ϴ = diffraction angle

For minima,

Where,
K = 1,2,….,N-1,N+1,….
Hence, there are N-1 minima between 2 consecutive principal maxima.

For Hg vapour lamp, light of various wavelengths are emitted which cover the
whole of visible region.

For Sodium vapour lamp, the 3p-3s transitions in sodium atoms lead to emission
of only 2 lines. Due to internal magnetic field produced by the orbiting electrons,
the p orbital splits and hence only 2 lines are observed, positioned very close to
each other. These are called the “sodium doublet” and give sodium it’s yellow
colour.

III. Observation Table and Graphs

Calibrating the apparatus :

Initial Position of the telescope 0˚

Adding 90˚ to the initial position 90˚
After rotating 45˚ 137˚30'
Subtracting 45˚ from the initial 92˚30'
 Diffraction Grating Constant ( order m = 1)

Spectrometer Grating
Spectrometer Reading (in ͦ ) Difference Wavelength sin (theta Constant, d
Colour Reading (in ͦ ) [left] (right) (2 theta ͦ ) (in A˚) rad) (in A˚)
Violet 1 330.500 307.500 23.000 4046.56 0.199 20296.945
Violet 2 331.750 306.667 25.083 4077.81 0.217 18778.81029
Blue 332.950 305.500 27.450 4358.35 0.237 18369.35216
Blue
Green 333.750 304.083 29.667 4916.04 0.256 19202.66694
Green 335.083 303.967 31.117 5460.74 0.268 20359.23453
Yellow
1 335.900 302.500 33.400 5769.59 0.287 20077.87988
Yellow
2 336.067 302.483 33.583 5790.65 0.289 20044.30316

Average = 19589.88456

0.350
Wavelength(λ) vs Sin(ϴ)

0.300

0.250

0.200
y-axis: Sin(ϴ)

0.150

0.100

0.050

0.000
3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000

x-axis: Wavelength, λ (in A )ͦ

 Wavelength of the 4 unknown lines (order m = 1)

Spectrometer Reading Spectrometer Reading Difference (2 sin (theta Wavelength

Colour (in ͦ ) [left] (in ͦ ) (right) theta ͦ ) rad) (in A˚)
orange 336.500 302.000 34.500 0.296541575 5809.215055
Red 1 337.000 301.500 35.500 0.304864299 5972.256254
Red 2 337.167 301.333 35.833 0.307633412 6026.502863
Red 3 337.317 301.200 36.117 0.309985113 6072.572405

Wavelength of Sodium Doublet Lines (order m = 1)

Spectrometer Reading Spectrometer Reading Difference (2 sin (theta Wavelength

Colour (in ͦ ) [left] (in ͦ ) [right] theta ͦ ) rad) (in A˚)
Line
D1 302.167 336.333 34.167 0.293762284 5754.769065
Line
D2 302.083 336.433 34.350 0.295291203 5784.720415

IV. Analysis
For the given various values of the wavelengths (λ) and corresponding sin(ϴ)
(spread of the spectrum for that λ), the diffraction grating constant is calculated
as ( for order m = 1) :
d = λ/sin(ϴ)
Average value : d0 = 1958.988 nm

Now this value of d0 can be used to find the wavelength for the other 4 unknown
lines :
λ = d*sinϴ
λOrange = 580.921 nm
λRed-1 = 597.225 nm
λRed-2 = 602.650 nm
λRed-3 = 607.257 nm

The wavelengths of the sodium doublet can also be calculated in a similar way:
λD1 = 575.477 nm
λD2 = 578.472 nm
V. Results with Error

Error

Least Count of Spectrometer = 1’ = (1.67 x 10-2)˚

Thus,
grating const (d) = ±36.251 nm
λOrange = 580.921 ± 34.332 nm
λRed-1 = 597.225± 37.514 nm
λRed-2 = 602.650± 37.162 nm
λRed-3 = 607.257± 36.830 nm
λD1 = 575.477 ± 38.313 nm
λD1 = 575.477 ± 37.687 nm