GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. How does varying locations of the light sources with respect to the photometer affect
the results of the experiment?

Changing the distances of the light sources affects the experiment by

increasing the intensity of the light going in the photometer. If the light
source are closer to the photometer the intensity increases. On the other
hand, the intensity is weaker as the light source is farther away from the
photometer.

2. What is the purpose of using the neutral density filters in the experiment?

The neutral density filters decreases the intensity of the light by

limiting the light amount of light that passes through it. By changing the light
intensity we can find the ratio of the intensity between the filtered and
unfiltered light.

3. What about the polarizers? What are they for? Do you really need two
polarizers?
Polarizer, just like the neutral filters, limits the amount of light that
passes through with respect to a certain angle. By limiting the amount of the
light passes through, we can find the ratio and intensity of the light that
going in the photometer. We need to use two polarizers because the first
polarizer set the incoming light to a zero degree angle the second polarizer is
the one that sets the desired angle.

4. Enumerate and discuss possible sources of error in the experiment.

The interference of the other lights in the room.
The different consensus about the equity of the indicator
inside the photometer.
The light coming from the window is also a factor because it
still serves as a light source

EXPERIMENT 406: PHOTOMETRY

Name

Program/Year
Subject/Section

POLICIOUS,
Mark Angelo
F.
CE/2
PHY13/A2

Group No.

Seat No.

23

Date

09/01/1
5

DATA and OBSERVATIONS

TABLE 1. INVERSE SQUARE LAW

TRANSMITTANCE

r 1=30 cm

r 1=45 cm

EXPERIMENTAL,
r2

100% (I1 = I2)

75% (0.75I1 = I2)
50% (0.5I1 = I2)
25% (0.25I1 = I2)
100% (I1 = I2)
75% (0.75I1 = I2)
50% (0.5I1 = I2)
25% (0.25I1 = I2)

30
25
22
14.5
44.6
37
30.5
21.7

I 1 r 12
r 2=
I2

cm
cm
cm
cm
cm
cm
cm
cm

% ERROR
30
25.98
21.21
15
45
38.97
31.82
22.5

cm
cm
cm
cm
cm
cm
cm
cm

0
3.92
3.72
3.33
0.88
5.06
4.15
3.56

%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%

TABLE 2. POLARIZATION

Transmittance

Observation at 0

100 %

Equal intensity
Experimental

Observation as
the
Observation at 90
Polarizers are
rotated.
Dimmer as it nears
No light passes through
90

=cos1

I1
I2

% ERROR

75% (0.75I1 = I2)

31

30

3.33 %

50% (0.5I1 = I2)

46

45

2.22%

25% (0.25I1 = I2)

60

60

SAMPLE COMPUTATION
Table 1.

Inverse Square law

I 1 r 12
( 0.25 I 2 ) ( 30 )
r2 =
=
=15 cm
I2
I2

%error=

|AV-EV|

x 100%
AV
|15-14.5|
%error=
x100%
15
%error=3.33%

Table 2. Polarization
Actual

= cos -1

%error=

I1
0.50I 2
=cos -1
=45
I2
I2

|AV-EV|

x 100%
AV
|45-46|
%error=
x 100%
45
%error=2.22 %

ANALYSIS
Our final experiment is all about the photometry of light waves. For this experiment our
main objectives are to explore the phenomenon of inverse square law and to explore the
phenomenon of polarization.
To start the experiment, we first investigate the inverse square law. In order for us to have
the proper introduction of the concept of the inverse square law we have four different set
ups by adjusting the neutral density filter from one hundred percent, to seventy five percent,
to fifty percent, and lastly twenty five percent. The set up of the first part of the experiment is
to set the light source 1 and light source 2 on the 20 cm and 90 cm mark on the optics bench
respectively. Then we put the photometer on the 50 cm mark on the optics table. To make the
light indicator on the photometer to be equal by moving light source 2 closer or away from
the photometer. Then we adjust the filter to 75%, 50%, and 25%. We observed that the
distance between light source 2 and the photometer decreases as we change the neutral
filter from 100% to 25%. We can say that the distance of light source 2 from the photometer
is inversely proportional to the transmittance of the neutral density filter. So we can conclude
that the distance of light source 1 from the photometer is directly proportional with the
transmittance of the neutral density filter.The inverse square law is given mathematically by
the equation

r 2=

I 2 r1
I1

where

r2

is defined as the photometers distance from light

source 2, r 1 is defined as the photometers distance from light source 1, I 1 and I 2 are
the transmittance of the neutral filter on the side of light source 1 and light source 2
respectively, we can say that as I 2 decreases r 2 also decreases. So we can conclude
that r 2 is directly proportional with I 2 .
The second part of the experiment, we studied the polarization of light. The set up of the
second part is to set the light source 1 at the 20cm mark, place the photometer on the 50cm
mark. Then we place the polarizer between light source 1 and photometer. The light source 2
is varies to make the light indicator on the photometer be equal. The procedure of the second
part is the same as the first part of the experiment the only difference is we dont move the
light source 2 from its position but we change the angle on the polarizer. We observed that as
the angle on the polarizer goes near 90 the lesser the light that passes through. Polarization
I 2 =I 1 cos , where
I 1 and I 2 are the
is given mathematically by the equation
transmittance of the neutral filter on the side of light source 1 and light source 2 respectively

and is the angle on the polarizer. We can say that I 2 is decrease as angle goes
near 90.
As a whole, we can conclude that r 2 is directly proportional with I 2 . We can say that

I2

is decrease as angle

goes near 90.

CONCLUSION
I therefore conclude that inverse square law is the intensity or luminance of light or
other linear waves radiating from a point source is inversely proportional to the square of the
distance from the source; so an object twice as far away, receives only the energy. More
generally, the irradiance, i.e., the intensity of a spherical wave front varies inversely with the
square of the distance from the source. The inverse square law is given mathematically by
the equation

r 2=

I 2 r1
.
I1

I can also say that the polarization of light refers to the confinement of the vibrations of
electric vector to just on direction. We can polarize light by using a polarizer but only half of
the light that went through will be transmitted.