Intensity Profiles for Newton's Rings

radius of curvature of lens R, cm

60

wavelength λ, cm

0.00005

plots

simulation of Newton's rings (reflected)

Newton's rings appear as a series of alternating bright and dark rings when monochromatic light is incident on a spherical lens in contact with a flat surface.

The intensity variation in the interference pattern for Newton's rings for transmitted light is given by the equation

I=

I

0

2

cos

2π

2

r

2Rλ

. The intensity of the rings for reflected light is given by the equation

I=

I

0

2

cos

2π

2

r

2Rλ

+

π

2

, since there is a phase change of

π

2

after reflection.

Here

λ

is the wavelength of light,

r

is the radius of the Newton's rings and

R

is the radius of curvature of the plano-convex lens.

References

[1] K. D. Möller, Optics: Learning by Computing with Examples Using MathCAD, New York: Springer, 2003.

[2] A. N. Mateev, Optics, Moscow: Mir Publishers, 1988.

Permanent Citation

Kallol Das

"Intensity Profiles for Newton's Rings"
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/IntensityProfilesForNewtonsRings/
Wolfram Demonstrations Project
Published: September 22, 2016