Department of Physics National Institute of Technology, Trichy
7. WAVELENGTH OF MERCURY SPECTRUM – SPECTROMETER
Aim
To determine the wavelengths of mercury (Hg) spectrum by using plane transmission grating.
Apparatus required
Spectrometer, plane transmission grating, sodium vapour lamp, mercury vapour lamp and spirit
level.
Formula
Number of lines drawn on the grating per meter is given by
Sin
N lines/m.
n
Wavelength of prominent lines of the mercury spectrum is given by
Sin
m
nN
where
n – order of the spectrum
- wavelength of the sodium vapour lamp (A )
- angle of diffraction (deg).
Fig. 7.1: Spectrometer with grating
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Department of Physics National Institute of Technology, Trichy
Procedure
(1) Adjustment of grating for normal incidence
Preliminary adjustments of the spectrometer are made. The grating G is mounted on the grating
table with its ruled surface facing the collimator. The slit is illuminated by a source of light
(sodium vapour lamp) and is made to coincide with the vertical cross wire of the eye-piece. For
this directed ray, the vernier scales are adjusted to read 0 and 180. The telescope is rotated
through an angle 90 and is fixed. The grating table is adjusted such that the reflected image of
the slit coincides with the vertical cross wire. Now the grating table is fixed at this position,
wherein the normal to the grating makes an angle of 45º to both the incident and the reflected
rays as shown in Fig. 7.1(a).
Rotate the vernier table through 45 in the same direction in which the telescope has been
previously rotated, so that the grating will now be normal (perpendicular) to the incident ray
from the collimator. This is seen in Fig. 7.1(b). The telescope is released and is brought on line
with the direct image of the slit and now the grating is said to be in the normal incidence
position.
(2) Standardization of grating (to find the number of lines per meter)
The telescope is released to get the diffracted image of the first order on the left side of the
central direct image. The readings are tabulated from the two verniers. Similarly readings are
taken for the right side of the central direct image. The difference between the two readings
gives 2, where is the angle of first order diffraction. The number of lines per metre (N) of the
grating is calculated using the given formula. The experiment is repeated for the second order
and the readings are tabulated.
(3) Determination of wavelength of the mercury spectrum
The sodium vapour lamp is now replaced by mercury vapour lamp. The diffracted
images of the first order are seen on either side of the central direct image. As before the
readings are tabulated by coinciding the vertical cross wire with the prominent lines namely
violet, blue, bluish-green, green, yellow, orange and red of the mercury spectrum. The difference
between the readings gives 2θ, and from this is obtained. The wavelength of each spectral line
is calculated using the above formula.
Table 7.1: To find the number of lines per metre of the grating (N)
Least Count (LC) = …….., n = 1, = ……….. m
2 Sin
Diffracted Vernier A (deg) Vernier B (deg) Mean
(deg) N
Ray n
fringes MSR VSR TR MSR VSR TR Ver A Ver B (deg) (lines/m)
Left
Side
Right
Side
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Department of Physics National Institute of Technology, Trichy
Table 7.2: Determination of wavelength () of the mercury spectrum
Least Count (LC) = …….., n = 1, N = ………… lines/m
Spectral Diffracted ray reading (deg) Difference
lines of 2 Mean Sin
mercury Left Right (deg) nN
light (deg) (m)
Ver A Ver B Ver A Ver B Ver A Ver B
Violet I
Violet II
Blue
Bluish
Green
Green
Yellow
Red
Result
Number of lines in the grating , N = ……… lines/m
Wavelengths of the spectral lines are
Violet I = ………… m
Violet II = ………… m
Blue = ………… m
Bluish Green = ………… m
Green = ………… m
Yellow = ………… m
Orange = ………… m
Red = ………… m
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