.

PHY 351: Modern Physics

Lab 2: Measuring The Speed of Light
Group members:

Introduction
In this experiment, we employ a modern rendition of a method used by Foucault in 1862 to
measure the speed of light in air. We send a beam of laser so that it bounces back and forth
between a rotating mirror and a fixed mirror. Due to the rotation of one of the mirrors, the
flight path of the laser beam will vary slightly between the two times of arrival. This small
rotation will deflect the laser beam through a small angle, which produces a measurable effect.
The amount by which the laser beam deflects is directly proportional to the angular speed of
the rotating mirror. Therefore, at very high angular speeds (~2000 rad/s), we are able to use
a microscope to accurately determine the deflection of the beam.

Equipment

High-speed rotating mirror assembly

Measuring microscope
He-Ne Laser
Laser Alignment and Optics Bench
Lenses: Focal Length- 48mm and 252mm
Calibrated Polarizers
Fixed Mirror

Figure 1: Diagram of the Foucault Method

Experiment Procedures:

The apparatus is aligned and the beam is brought to sharp focus into the fixed mirror.
The pertinent distances are measured: distance between lens 2 and the rotating mirror(B),
distance between rotating mirror and fixed mirror(D), distance between lens 2 and laser
source(A).
The angular speed of the rotating mirror is adjusted and the beam deflection is observed
through the microscope.
Deflection distances are measure using the micrometer for both clockwise and anti-clockwise
rotations.

Fig 2: Measurement Labels

Measurements

D = 3.9m
B= 0.416m
A= 0.3152m
Angular speed of Mirror, = = 2000 /
Deflection of beam:

(105 )
10.325
10.398
10.29
9.335

(105 )
10.405
10.29
10.205
9.242

Calculations
The following equation is used to calculate the speed of light:
=

4 2
( /)
( + )

After adjusting to fit the measured parameters, the equation becomes,

(1)

4 2
( /)

( + )(scw
sccw
)

(2)

Speed of Light, (108 /)

2.6622
2.6710
2.6962
2.9746

Trial#
1
2
3
4
Uncertainties
The percentage uncertainty in the speed of light is given by,
4 2

= ((+) +

4 2
(+)

4 2
(+)

4 2

(+)2 +

4 2
(+

(+) ) )

(3)

Substituting A = 0.3152 , B = 0.416 , D = 3.9 and = 2000 , we obtain:

= (8.8 108 2.7585 1012 6.43 107 + 7.79 107 )

Finally, we substitute the uncertainties in the meter rule and micrometer screw gauge,
= 5 106 , = = = 5 104

which gives the following uncertainty in our calculation of the speed of light,
= 1.423 107

Therefore the percentage uncertainty is,

% = 4.75
Note that, for our calculation of the uncertainty in the speed of light, we have used the average
deflection value (s).

Sources of experimental errors

The most significant source of error consists of the measurement of the deflection distance of the laser
beam. Since we have chosen a distance separation of 3.9m between the fixed and rotating mirrors, the

accuracy of the measured deflection value is likely to be lower. The greater the distance separation
between the mirrors, the more accurate the results.

Results & Conclusion

Our dataset contains four distinct trial attempts to measure the speed of light. The first three trials
yielded values that were in the range of ~2.66 2.69 108 / .
The final trial, however, yielded the value of 2.9746 108 / for the speed of light.
Note that the accepted value for the speed of light is: c = 2.99792458 108 / .
This indicates that the values that we have experimentally obtained are in good agreement with the
exact value for the speed of light. If we consider the value calculated during the fourth trial, the
percentage error is merely,
% =

2.99792458 2.9746
100 =
100 = 0.778%

2.99792458

Hence, we can conclude that the results of this experiment are accurate and reliable.