Observation of unknown spectrum

Introduction:
In principle, a spectrometer is a simple scientific instrument used to bend a beam of
light with a prism or diffraction grating. If the light is composed of more than one
wavelength, a spectrum is formed, as different colors are refracted or diffracted with
different angles. The importance of the spectrometer as a scientific instrument is based
on a simple but crucial fact, light is emitted or absorbed when an electron changes its
orbit within an individual atom. Because of this, the spectrometer is a powerful tool for
investigating the structure of atoms. It is also a powerful tool for determining which
atoms are present in a substance. Chemists use it to determine the constituents of
molecules, and astronomers use it to determine the constituents of stars that are
millions of light years away.

Aim of the experiment:

Using a simple spectrometer to determine the wavelength of a light source and measure
the properties of light over a specific portion of electromagnetic spectrum.

Theory:
A diffraction grating is made by ruling many finely, closely spaced lines on a sheet of
glass or metal with a diamond point cutter. Diffraction gratings with a high line density
resolve interference maxima into very sharp and widely spaced fringes. Moreover, the
fringes are so narrow and so widely spaced that the different wavelengths of light
passing through the grating produce fringes at angles sufficiently different that they can
be distinguished from one another. That is, the deviation angle at which a bright fringe
is produced depends upon the wavelength of the light. The angles at which these bright
fringes occur can be measured with a device called a spectrometer. These angles, along
with the diffraction grating line spacing can then be used to calculate the wavelength of
the light passing through the grating via the grating equation
 𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽 = 𝒎𝝀
Where d is the grating spacing and m is the order of the maximum.

Apparatus:
1- Ballast 7- Fuse holder
2- Lamp socket 8- Power cable
3- Power switch 9- Lamp hood
4- Start switch 10- Fixing screw
5- Frequency selector switch 11- Sodium lamp
6- Fuse(2A) 12- Cadmium lamp

Experimental steps

1- Connect current source to down voltage transformer.

2- Torn on the lamp using start button.
3- Fix the light source window (slit) to the lamp.
 4- After fixing the slit to the lamp, you will observe different color on the ruler inside
the spectrometer.
5- Depending on the position of the colored light on the ruler, you can determine the
distance between the slit and first fringe of the colored light as shown in the Fig.
below:

6- Determine 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽 for at least 3 different colors then use the equation to find the
wavelength of each one.

References:
Shimadzu Rika instruments CO., LTD