INTRODUCTION

"Newton's rings" is a phenomenon in which

an interference pattern is created by the
reflection of light between two surfaces
a spherical surface and an adjacent flat
surface. It is named after Isaac Newton,
who first studied them in 1717.

It is a special case of interference in a thin
film having variable thickness.

When viewed with monochromatic light,
Newton's rings appear as a series of
concentric, alternating bright and dark rings
centered at the point of contact between
the two surfaces.

The light rings are caused by constructive
interference between the light rays
reflected from both surfaces, while the dark
rings are caused by destructive
interference. Also, the outer rings are
spaced more closely than the inner ones.

APPARATUS DIAGRAM FOR
OBSERVING NEWTONS RINGS
GLASS PLATE (inclined at 45 degrees
with horizontal)
Lens having large focal length
Glass Plate
THIN FILM INTERFERENCE
Interference patterns can be observed whenever
waves from two or more coherent sources come
together. In Young's experiment the waves came
from two separate sources but in thin film
interference, the waves come from one source.
One wave front is split into two parts which are
recombined after traversing different paths.
Examples of thin film interference occur in oil
slicks,
soap bubbles and the thin layer of air trapped
between two glass slabs.
ANALYSIS OF THIN FILM
INTERFERENCE
FRINGE PATTERN IN
WEDGES
COLOURED FRINGES
If a thin film is illuminated with white light
the reflected light will contain a
continuous range of fringe patterns
corresponding to the spectrum of
wavelengths in the light. You do not,
however, see the same colours as the
pure spectrum like a rainbow. Instead the
colours are formed by subtraction from
the white light. For example, at a place
where the film thickness is just right for a
dark fringe in the green you will see white
light minus green, which leaves the red
end and the blue end of the spectrum;
the resulting visual sensation is purple.
MEASUREMENT OF THE
RINGS
PROCEDURE
The glass plate G in the Newtons
ring apparatus is set such that it
makes an angle of 45 with the
direction of incident light from the
source and reflects the light on the
lens.
The plane convex lens is placed
below the microscope with its plane
surface upwards. This can be judged
by gently striking the edge of the
plano-convex lens with the finger.
The microscope is moved in the
vertical direction by means of rack
and pinion arrangements till the the
rings are seen distinctly.
The centre of the fringes is brought
symmetrically below the cross wires
by adjusting the position of the lens
and the microscope.
The microscope is moved in
horizontal direction to one side of
the fringes such that one of the
cross wires becomes tangential to
the 18th ring. The reading on scale
is noted.
The microscope is moved and the
cross wire is successively made
tangential to the 16th , 14th ,and so
on till the 18th ring on the other
side is reached .The reading on the
scale for all these position is noted .
The observations are not taken on
the first two or three rings which
are wide enough.
The radius of the curvature of the
curved surface of the Plano
Convex lens is determined using
Spherometer .The observations
with the Spherometer are first
taken on the curved surface and
then on the plane surface.
The Spherometer is then placed
on the notebook and gently
pressed to obtain the impression
of the three legs of the
Spherometer. The three points are
joined and mean distance
between the legs is determined.
No. Of Rings Diameter Diameter dn+p-dn p
L.H.S. R.H.S. (L-R)
20 49.17 42.35 6.82 46.5124 12.0555 5
19 49.08 42.44 6.64 44.0896 11.4855 5
18 48.99 42.51 6.48 41.9904 11.7404 5
17 48.91 42.59 6.32 39.9424 11.8524 5
16 48.81 42.74 6.07 36.8449 11.2413 5
15 48.7 42.83 5.87 34.4569 11.128 5
14 48.61 42.9 5.71 32.6041 11.536 5
13 48.51 43.01 5.5 30.25 11.3275 5
12 48.42 43.12 5.3 28.09 11.1979 5
11 48.29 43.23 5.06 25.6036 11.2395 5
10 48.16 43.33 4.83 23.3289 11.4953 5
9 48.04 43.45 4.59 21.0681 11.7045 5
8 47.92 43.57 4.35 18.9225 11.8469 5
7 47.81 43.7 4.11 16.8921 11.9192 5
6 47.65 43.86 3.79 14.3641 12.2325 5
5 47.49 44.05 3.44 11.8336
4 47.29 44.23 3.06 9.3636
3 47.08 44.42 2.66 7.0756
2 46.88 44.65 2.23 4.9729
1 46.47 45.01 1.46 2.1316
Microscope Reading
OBSERVATION TABLE
PRECAUTIONS
The cross wire should be focused
tangentially on the bright rings.
The microscope must be moved in uni-
direction when taking readings.
Glass plates and lens should be cleaned
thoroughly
The lens used should be of large
curvature
Before measuring the diameters of the
rings, the range of the microscope
should be properly adjusted.
In order to avoid any error due to
backlash of the screw in the travelling
microscope, the micrometer screw
should be moved only in one direction
for the measurement of the rings.
APPLICATIONS
Use Of Interference Fringes to
Test the quality of Optical
Components

To Check That the Lens Surface Is
Spherical

To Measure the Thickness of a
Metal Foil

To make a rough estimate of the
separation of the Sodium D lines

FURTHER APPLICATIONS
1. Testing for flatness
Given a slab with a very accurately flat surface, thin film
interference can be used to test the flatness of the another
surface. (At least one of the two objects needs to be
transparent.)

Interference fringes formed by the thin film of air between the
surfaces gives a contour map of variations in the height of the
surface being tested. The contour interval is equal to half a
wavelength of the light in the gap.
TO FIND OUT THE
REFRACTIVE INDEX OF
FILM
This experiment can also be used to find out the
refractive index of an unknown fluid.
The diameter of the nth Newtons Ring is measured
first when the film is simply filled with air.
Then the unknown fluid is introduced in between the
lens and the microscope, so as to fill the space. Now
the diameter of the same Nth ring is measured.
Using the following formulae the refractive index of
the unknown fluid can be obtaine

(D(nth ring))^2 = 4nR/
(d(nth ring))^2= 4nR

(D(nth ring))^2
------------------- = 1/
(d(nth ring))^2
=refractive index of unknown film
= wavelenght of light
n=order of ring
R=radius of curvature of lens
d=diameter of ring in absence of fluid

THE END