27-10

DATA ANALYSIS
Make sure you have accurately measured the etalon mirror separation, d, before
you leave the lab!
Go through all the various m settings you can achieve several times, recording the
associated magnetic field B. The set of B measurements for a particular m to determine
the uncertainty to assign to each of the measurements in that set (is there an uncertainty to
be assigned to the m?).
Create a text file with a single m B data value pair on each line (as in the CurveFit
sample data file Zeeman.dat), so that you have several lines for each m, each line with a
single measured B value. Load this file into CurveFit, and you may use the CurveFit
palette menu selection Modify data points: Basic data manipulations: Analyze Y data and
assign ys to calculate the uncertainties in your B measurements for each m value.
Fit the m v. B data to test the theoretical prediction of Zeeman for the spectral line you
used. Should the fit be linear (see prelab problem 1)? Why should you fit using a linear
relation y= a + b x rather than a strict proportion y = b x ? Should the intercept be
consistent with 0? What calibration issue in your experiment might cause a nonzero
intercept? Determine a value and uncertainty for e/m of the electron from your fit. What
are the major sources of systematic error? How does your value compare to the currently
accepted experimental estimate for e/m?
PRELAB PROBLEMS
1. Derive an equation relating m and B from equations (1) and (7), accurate to 1st order
in / (your result should be independent of ). How does the relation depend on
the etalon separation d and the electrons e/m?
2. Using your solution to problem 1, calculate B for d = 13.0 mm and m =
1.
3. Using equation (7), what is for = 626.6 nm , d = 13.0 mm and m =
1 ? For
comparison, the sodium D doublet in the Suns spectrum are two lines at 589.0 nm
and 589.6 nm . These lines are barely resolvable using a prism spectrometer.
4. The neon tube generates light by creating a hot plasma. When there is no magnetic
field applied, we should expect that the emitted light is unpolarized why? Since
light is a transverse wave, and the wavelengths of the individual spectral lines are
well-defined, what exactly does one mean by unpolarized light? Explain this to
your TA.