Objective
To determine a value for h, Plancks constant, using light emitting diodes and a diffraction grading
Procedure
Equipment
Voltage Source
Aligator Clips
Variable Resistance
LED's
Diffraction Grading
Meter Sticks
Diffraction Gratimg |
Circuit |
Spectra |
LED |
First each different color LED is hooked up in the circuit and the resistance is adjusted until the light can barely be seen, at this point the voltage across the Light Emitting Diode is recorded. This is the minimum voltage to excite an the electrons in the diode.Two meter sticks are set up at a right angle with a diffraction grading is placed on one meter stick. An Led is then shined towards the diffraction grading and one student looks through it while another writes down the position of the spectral lines based on what the other see.
Figure 1 |
using the formula and calculations shown in figure 1. Plancks Constant is measured.
The error with each is as follows:
Green 12.6%
Blue 18.4%
Yellow 22.2%
Red 20.6%
These values are all of the right magnitude however there is a large systematic error for this procedure, mostly likely due to the accuracy of the measurements taken in performing this experiment.
However when considering the equipment used and the time spent on the procedure it is quite remarkable to come so close to the value of a constant whose value controls much of what we see everyday.