VIVA-VOCE

EXPERIMENT- 1
AIM: To determine the frequency of an electrically maintained
tuning fork by Melde’s method.

1. What is an electrically maintained tuning fork? How does it work?

Ans. Melde's electrically maintained tuning fork consists of a large tuning fork
(F) made of a ferromagnetic alloy. A bent strip of a metal is attached to one of
the prongs of the fork and this serves as a spring. This metal piece is in contact
with a metal screw (S), which can be worked through a fixed nut. An
electromagnet is fixed between the prongs. A current can be passed through
the electromagnet by connecting the terminals provided on the board, in
series with a battery (Ba), a plug key(PK) and a rheostat (Rh). And so
vibrations are produced in the fork by movement of prongs.

2. What is the difference between the transverse and longitudinal

arrangement?

Ans. In transverse arrangement, the fork is so placed that the motion of the
prong is at right angles to the length of thread. While in longitudinal
arrangement, the fork is so placed that the motion of the prong is along the
length of the thread.

3. Define frequency and state its unit.

Ans. The number of crests of a wave that move past a given point in a given
unit of time. The SI unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz).

4. Define nodes and antinodes of vibration in a stationary wave.

Ans. A node is a point along a standing wave where the wave has minimum
amplitude. Antinodes are formed in open boundary and particles at that
points have maximum amplitude.

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 5. What is the nature of the wave formed in Melde’s experiment?

Ans. Standing waves

6. What is the significance of the ‘U’ shape of the tuning fork?

Ans. The reason is in the acoustic properties of the shape - a U-shaped

fork produces a much purer tone than other shaped resonators. Secondarily,
when struck, the fundamental frequency of vibration has the two sides of
the fork move alternately towards and away from each other.

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 EXPERIMENT- 2
AIM: To determine the acceleration due to gravity (g) by Kater’s
reversible pendulum.
1) What is simple harmonic oscillation? Does the kater’s pendulum
undergo simple harmonic motion?

Ans. In mechanics and physics, simple harmonic motion is a type of

periodic motion or oscillation motion where the restoring force is directly
proportional to the displacement and acts in the direction opposite to that
of displacement .

A kater’s pendulum undergoes simple harmonic motion only for small

amplitudes because for small amplitudes the motion almost reduces
to a straight line

2) What is meant by acceleration due to gravity(g) and what is its

unit?

Ans. The acceleration gained by an object because of gravitational force is

called its acceleration due to gravity. Its SI unit is m/s2 . ... The acceleration
due to gravity at the surface of Earth is represented as g. It has a standard
value defined as 9.80665 m/s2.

3) How does the value of ‘g’ vary at different places and different
distances from the surface of the earth? Why it varies from place to
place?

Ans. gravity varies depending on the mass density and the distance from the
surface of earth. As earth is not a sphere, and not an ellipsoid as well, its mass
is not equally distributed. The value of gravity decays as the distance from the
center of mass increases.

It varies from place to place because:

 The Earth is not a perfect sphere - there's a bulge around the equator;

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  It spins, so there's a centrifugal effect at work as you move towards the
equator;
 Gravity becomes less as you move up in altitude, thus away from the
center of the planet;
 There are differences in the local geology (small effect, <0.01%)

4) What is the relation between g and G?

Ans. Relation between g and G

Using F = ma we know that the force on a

mass m at a point where the gravitational
intensity of a planet is g is mg.
But this force is also given by F = GMm/r2
where M is the mass of the planet and r is
the distance from its centre (See Figure 1).

So F = mg = GMm/r2 and therefore

g = GM/r2

If we think about the surface of the planet then

g = go and r = R and so:

Surface gravity (go) = GM/R2

5) Define centre of suspension and centre of oscillation?

Ans. The point about which a pendulum oscillates is called centre of

suspension.

Point in a physical pendulum, on the line through the point of suspension and
the center of mass, which moves as if all the mass of the pendulum were
concentrated there.

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 6) How does compound pendulum differs from simple pendulum?

Ans. In a simple pendulum the dimensions of the object in suspension is

significantly smaller than the distance from the centre of gravity of the object
to the axis of suspension. This allows us to treat the mass as though it were a
single point.

In a compound pendulum, the distance between the centre of gravity of the

swinging body and the axis of suspension is comparable to the dimensions of
the body.

7) Define time period of oscillations?

Ans. The amount of time it takes for a period to occur depends on the
object that is completing the motion. The size of the object has a direct
influence on the time it takes for a period to complete as well as the speed
of the oscillation. Frequency is then used to describe the rate at which the
object completes these oscillations. For example, the minute hand of a
clock completes one oscillation every sixty seconds, so it has a frequency of
one oscillation per minute

*Experiment 3 is not in Course

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 EXPERIMENT- 4
AIM: To find the wavelength of the prominent lines of mercury
spectrum using plane transmission grating.
1) What do you understand by the diffraction of light?

Ans. Diffraction is the slight bending of light as it passes around the edge of
an object. The amount of bending depends on the relative size of the
wavelength of light to the size of the opening. If the opening is much larger
than the light's wavelength, the bending will be almost unnoticeable.

2) What is a plane transmission grating?

Ans. When wavefront is incident on grating surface then light is

obstructed by opaque portion and is transmitted by slit,such a grating
is called plane transmission grating.

3) Define grating element? What is ‘a’ and ‘b’?

Ans. Diffraction grating element is an optical device made up of glass or

polished metal surface having a very large number of fine slits in it. It is
used for producing the optical spectra by diffraction.

4) Distinguish between fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction?

Ans. Fresnel Diffraction

Fresnel diffraction, or near-field diffraction, occurs when a wave passes via a

small hole and diffracts, creating a diffraction pattern. The size of the pattern
depends on the distance between a projection and an aperture.

This type of diffraction occurs when the distance of propagation of diffracted

waves is short, resulting in a Fresnel number greater than 1. Diffracted waves
become planar when the distance of propagation is increased.

Fraunhofer Diffraction

Fraunhofer diffraction, or far-field diffraction, is a type of wave diffraction

which occurs when field waves pass via a slit or an aperture, thereby changing

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the size of an observed aperture image with respect to the increasingly planar
nature of diffracted waves and far-field location of observation.

5) Difference between interference and diffraction?

Ans.

The combination of two or more electromagnetic waveforms to form a

resultant wave in which the displacement is either reinforced or cancelled is
called intereference.

Diffraction is the slight bending of light as it passes around the edge of an

object. The amount of bending depends on the relative size of the wavelength
of light to the size of the opening. If the opening is much larger than the light's
wavelength, the bending will be almost unnoticeable

6) Why the intensity of diffraction pattern decrease as we move the

telescope away from the central maxima?

Ans. At the center all the huygen sources from the slit opening interfere
constructively and give you the maxima.

But as you move away from the center, and move towards the first order
maxima, some huygen sources kill each other, and the remaining construct to
give light. So it wouldn't be as bright

Also if you go further out, the intensity becomes even smaller.

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 EXPERIMENT- 5
AIM: To find the energy band gap of semiconductor (Ge) crystal
using four-probe method.
1. What is a semiconductor? What are intrinsic and extrinsic
semiconductors? Which type of crystal we are using in the lab?

Ans. Semiconductors are crystalline or amorphous solids with distinct

electrical characteristics. They are of high electrical resistance — higher than
typical resistance materials, but still of much lower resistance than insulators.
Solid substances that have conductivity between that of an insulator and that
of most metals, either due to the addition of an impurity (doping) or because
of temperature effects.

An intrinsic semiconductor, also called an undoped semiconductor or i-type

semiconductor, is a pure semiconductor without any significant dopant
species present.

An extrinsic semiconductor is a semiconductor doped by a specific

impurity which is able to deeply modify its electrical properties, making it
suitable for electronic applications (diodes, transistors, etc.) or optoelectronic
applications (light emitters and detectors). They are of two types- n-type and
p-type.

We use Ge crystal in the lab.

2. What do you mean by bandgap of a semiconductor?

Ans. In semiconductors and insulators, electrons are confined to a number

of bands of energy, and forbidden from other regions. The term "band gap"
refers to the energy difference between the top of the valenceband and the
bottom of the conduction band. Electrons are able to jump from one band to
another.

3. What is the bandgap for Ge crystal? Which group it belongs to in

the periodic table?

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Ans. Ge bandgap = 0.67 (eV) at 302K. It belongs to group 14.

4. Why the bandgap for Silicon semiconductor is more than

Germanium?

Ans. Because they have more no. of free electron's which are always ready to
go to the conduction band.
5. What do you mean by Fermi level? What is its position in intrinsic
semiconductor?

Ans. Fermi level is the highest energy state occupied by electrons in a material
at absolute zero temperature. As the temperature is increased, electrons start
to exist in higher energy states too. Fermi level is also defined as the work
done to add an electron to the system.
In case of intrinsic semiconductors, the Fermi level lies exactly in between the
conduction band minimum and valence band maximum.

6. Why the experiment is called four probe method?

Ans. We use 4 probes instead of 2. Four-terminal sensing (4T sensing), 4-wire

sensing, or 4-point probes method is an electrical impedance measuring
technique that uses separate pairs of current-carrying and voltage-sensing
electrodes to make more accurate measurements than the simpler and more
usual two-terminal (2T) sensing.

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 EXPERIMENT- 6
AIM: To determine the frequency of A.C. the mains using a
sonometer and an electromagnet.

Q1)what is a sonometer?

Ans-A sonometer is an instrument used for measuring the density, frequency

and tension of vibrations (transverse and longitudinal waves). It is made out
of a hollow box, which contains two holes. A string ,or monchord, is attached
to the box so that the vibrations of the string can be measured.

Q2)why is a sonometer box hollow?what is the purpose of making holes

in the box?

Ans-It should have a hollow tube so that the string vibrations travel
unimpeded.
When the strings of a vibrating turning fork is gently pressed against the top
face of sonometer box, the air enclosed in the box also vibrates. this increases
the intensity of sound. The holes bring the inside air in contact with the
outside air and check the effect of elastic fatigue.

Q3)what types of waves are produced in the sonometer ?

Ans- stationary waves are produced in the sonometer.

Q4) what type of materialis required for sonometer wire ?

Ans- we use a non-magnetic i.e.like copper wire so that it does not get affected
by permanent shoe magnet.

Q5) define resonance? What do you mean by resonance length?

Ans- Resonance is a physical phenomenon in which an external force or a

vibrating system forces another system around it to vibrate with greater
amplitude at a specified frequency of operation. The frequency at which the
second body starts oscillating or vibrating at higher amplitude is called the
resonant frequency

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Q6) what do you mean by A.C.mains ? what is the frequency of A.C.mains
in the lab ?

Ans- A.C.mains refers to the alternating current supply.

The standard value of frequency of A.C.mains supply is 50 cylces/sec.

Q7)why is the frequency of the A.C.mains is half of the frequency of the

string ?

Ans- As the wire is pulled rhe electromagnet twice in each cycle,once when its
end facing the wire is a north pole and again when it is a south pole , hence the
frequency ‘f ’ of the A.C.mains is half the frequency ‘n’ of the vibrating string.

Q8)what types of vibrations are produced in this experiment ?

Ans-longitudinal vibrations are produced in this experiment.

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 EXPERIMENT- 7
AIM: To determine the thickness of given wire using wedge
method.

Q1). What do you mean by interference of light?

Ans: When two light waves superpose with each other in such away that
the crest of one wave falls on the crest of the second wave, and trough of
one wave falls on the trough of the second wave, then the resultant wave
has larger amplitude and it is called constructive interference.
Q2). What are coherent sources?
Ans: Two sources are said to be coherent if they have exactly same
frequency, and have zero or constant phase difference. Most of the light
sources around us - lamp, sun, candle etc are combination of multitude of
incoherent sources of light.
Q3). Type of fringes obtained in this experiment?
Ans: Straight
Q4). What are localized fringes?
Ans: When coherent light rays mix together they create fringes in some
areas and they are called localized fringes. If the fringes are seen in the
whole area of observation then it is called non-localized fringes. Coherence
is spatial and temporal symmetry.
Q5). Why extended source is required to observe the fringes ?
Ans: Extende source of light are required to get nearly parallel rays of
light.If we employ an extended source, the light reflected by every point of
the film reaches the eye. Hence the entire film can be viewed
simultaneously by keeping the eye at one place only.
Q6). Why the glass plate is placed at 45 with vertical?
Ans: 45 degrees gives you circles. Any other angle would give you ovals.

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 EXPERIMENT- 8
AIM: To study the V-I characterstics of a forward and reversed
biased PN junction

Q1) what is a semiconductors? What are intrinsic and extrinsic semi

conductors?

1. Ans- a solid substance that has a conductivity between that of an insulator and
that of most metals, either due to the addition of an impurity or because of
temperature effects. Devices made of semiconductors, notably silicon, are
essential components of most electronic circuits.

Intrinsic semiconductors:
These are pure semiconducting materials and no impurity atoms are added to
them.
For example: The crystals of pure elements like germanium and silicon are
considered as Intrinsic Semiconductors.
Properties:
1. In intrinsic semiconductor, the number density of electrons is equal to the
number density of holes. i.e. ne=nh
2. The electrical conductivity is low
3. The electrical conductivity of intrinsic semiconductors depends on their
temperatures
Extrinsic semiconductors:
When some impurity is added to an intrinsic semiconductor, extrinsic
semiconductors can be produced.
Properties:
1. In extrinsic semiconductor, the number density of electrons is not equal to the
number density of holes. i.e. ne≠nh
2. The electrical conductivity is high
3. The electrical conductivity depends on the temperature and the amount of
impurity added in them

Q2)Explain doping? How p and n type semiconductors are formed?

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Ans- Doping is the process of adding impurities to intrinsic semiconductors to
change their properties. As we know Silicon and Germanium are known as
intrinsic semiconductors. Mostly Trivalent and Pentavalent elements are used
to dope these elements.

Doping:
Doping is the process of adding impurities to intrinsic semiconductors to
change their properties. As we know Silicon and Germanium are known as
intrinsic semiconductors. Mostly Trivalent and Pentavalent elements are used
to dope these elements.
When an intrinsic semiconductor is doped with Trivalent impurity, it becomes
a P-Type semiconductor. The P stands for Positive, which means the
semiconductor is rich in holes or positively charged ions.

When we dope intrinsic materials with Pentavalent impurities we get N-Type

semiconductors, where N stands for Negative. N-type semiconductors have
negatively charged ions or, in other words, they have excess electrons.

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Q4)Explain The Flow Of Current In Forward And Reverse Bias?

Ans- Forward Current in P N Junction

When battery voltage is applied across the junction in the forward bias,
a current will flow continuously through this junction.

IS is Saturation Current (10-9 to 10-18 A) VT is Volt-equivalent temperature (=

26 mV at room temperature) n is Emission coefficient (1 ≤ n ≤ 2 for Si ICs)
Actually this expression is approximated.

Reverse Current in P N Junction

When a p-n junction is connected across a battery in such a manner that its n-
type region is connected to the positive potency of the battery and the p-type
region is connected to the negative potency of the battery the p n junction is
said to be in reverse biased condition and ideally there is no current flowing
through the junction. But practically there will be a tiny reverse bias current
iD which is expressed as. iD drops to zero value or very small value. iDcan be
written as i0.

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IS is Saturation Current (10-9 to 10-18 A) VT is Volt-equivalent temperature (=
26 mV at room temperature) n is Emission coefficient (1 ≤ n ≤ 2 for Si ICs)
Actually this expression is approximated.

Q5)What Reverse Saturation Current?

Ans- When the diode is reverse biased then the depletion region width
increases, majority carriers move away from the junction and there is no flow
of current due to majority carriers but there are thermally produced electron
hole pair also. If these electrons and holes are generated in the vicinity of
junction then there is a flow of current. The negative voltage applied to the
diode will tend to attract the holes thus generated and repel the electrons. At
the same time, the positive voltage will attract the electrons towards the
battery and repel the holes. This will cause current to flow in the circuit. This
current is usually very small (interms of micro amp to nano amp). Since this
current is due to minority carriers and these number of minority carriers are
fixed at a given temperature therefore, the current is almost constant known
as reverse saturation current ICO.

In actual diode, the current is not almost constant but increases slightly with
voltage. This is due to surface leakage current. The surface of diode follows
ohmic law (V=IR). The resistance under reverse bias condition is very high
100k to mega ohms. When the reverse voltage is increased, then at certain
voltage, then breakdown to diode takes place and it conducts heavily. This is
due to avalanche or zener breakdown.

Q6) What is a depletion layer ? how it is formed?

Ans- Depletion Region:

The thin layer region on both sides of a p-n junction which has immobile ions
and is devoid of any charge carrier is called depletion region or depletion
layer.

When a p-n junction is formed, some of the free electrons in

the n-region diffuse across the junction and combine with holes to form

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negative ions. In so doing they leave behind positive ions at the
donor impurity sites.

Q7) How does depletion layer changes in forward and reverse bias?

Forward Bias:
A p-n junction is said to be forward biased if the positive terminal of the
external battery is connected to p-side and the negative terminal to the n-side
of p-n junction.In forward biasing the voltage drop across p-side and n-side of
the p-n junction is negligibly small.
During forward biasing, the applied d.c voltage opposes the fictitious battery
developed across the p-n junction. Due to this the potential drop across the
junction decreases and as a result the diffusion of holes and electrons across
the junction increases.It makes the depletion layer thin and as such the
junction diode offers low resistance during forward bias.

Reverse Bias:
A p-n juction is said to be reverse biased if the positive terminal of the battery
is connected to n-side and the negative terminal to the p-side of the p-n
junction.
In reverse biasing the applied voltage of battery mostly drops across the
depletion region of the p-n junction and its direction of voltage is same as that
of the potential barrier.Due to it, the reverse bias voltage supports the
potential barrier.

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i..e during reverse biasing the applied dc voltage aids the fictitious battery
developed across the junction. Due to this the potential drop across the
junction increases and as a result the diffusion of holes and electrons across
the junction decreases. It makes the depletion layer thick and the juction
diode offers high resistance during reverse bias.

Q8) Why break down occurs in reverse biased pn junction?

Ans- When a diode is reverse biased the positive terminal is connected to the
n side of the junction and the negative terminal is connected the p junction.
This results in the drawing of electrons towards the n junction and holes
towards the p junction. Now there are some minority carriers which are
present in the diode which conduct electricity in the range of micro amperes.
Now if we increase the voltage the bonds near the junction starts breaking off
which produces large number number of electron hole pairs which suddenly
increases the current output. Hence the diode behaves like an ordinary
conductor. This is called as breakdown. Now there are two ways to
breakdown which are zener breakdown and avalanche breakout. Both of have
the same mechanism of breakdown but they occur in two different types of
diodes. Zener breakdown occurs in heavily doped diodes with small depletion
layer whereas avalanche breakdown occurs in moderately doped diodes with
larger depletion layer.

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 EXPERIMENT- 9
AIM: To study the characteristics of a solar cell and find the fill
factor .
Q1. What is a solar cell?

Ans- A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell , is an electrical device that converts the
energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a
physical and chemical phenomenon.

Q2. How a p-n junction can operate as photovoltaic cell?

Ans- Voltage is generated in a solar cell by a process known as the

“photovoltaic effect.” The collection of light-generated carriers by the p-n
junction causes a movement of electrons to the n-type side and holes to the p-
type side of the junction. Under short circuit conditions, the carriers exit the
device as light-generated current.

Q3. What are the different types of solar cells in use?

Ans- The following are the different types of solar cells.

 Silicon solar cell (a-Si)

 Biohybrid solar cell
 Buried contact solar cell
 Cadmium telluride solar cell (CdTe)
 Concentrated PV cell (CVP and HCVP)... ,etc.

Q4. Define fill factor of photovoltaic cell.

Ans- The fill factor is defined by FF= Pm/ (Voc* Isc), where Pm is the
maximum output power, Voc is the open circuit voltage and Isc is the
shortcircuit current. It is a measure of the squareness of the I-V characteristics
of the solar cell.

Q5. What is band gap energy of a p-n junction?

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Ans-In solid-state physics, a band gap, also called an energy gap or bandgap, is
an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist. The band gap
generally refers to the energy difference (in electron volts) between the top of
the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band in insulators and
semiconductors.

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 EXPERIMENT- 10
AIM: To study the characteristics of a photo-cell and verify the
inverse law of radiation.

Q1. What is a photoelectric cell?

Ans- a device using a photoelectric effect to generate current.

Q2. Explain the photoelectric effect.

Ans- The photoelectric effect refers to the emission, or ejection, of electrons

from the surface of, generally, a metal in response to incident light.

Q3.What are the different types of photos cells in use?

Ans-

Photovoltaic

Charge-Coupled Devices

Photoresistor

Golay Cell

Photomultiplier

Q4. .Define work function and threshold frequency

Ans- Work function is defined as the minimum amount of energy required by

an electron to escape from a metal surface.

Threshold frequency is defined as the minimum frequency of incident light

which can cause photo electric emission i.e. this frequency is just able to eject
electrons with out giving them additional energy.

Q5. Define inverse square law radiation.

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Ans-The Inverse square law is the law that tells about the intensity effect due
to the illumination of radiation over certain distance.The intensity of radiation
decreases as the distance from the source increases.Hence it states that the
light intensity is inversely proportional to the square of distance from the
object.

Q6. Give two applications of inverse square law.

Ans- Some of them are

 Use of Emr for communication - A signal transmitted from the space

craft is received on the earth after traveling distance of 94 AU.
 In photography and in lightning of stage - The inverse square law is
used in photography and stage lightning for proper focusing of light on
the subject as discussed below.
 In acoustics for determining sound pressure - The inverse square law
states the sound pressure is proportional to the amplitude of pressure.

Q7. If you increase the intensity of light, what will be effect on current?
Will the photoelectrons have more energy.

Ans- The current will increase.

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