Nathanael A. Fortune edited Our_setup_consisted_of_a__.tex  over 8 years ago

Commit id: e10625d4f6c9a3c913f5c0617cb8457cbe4cd799

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Our setup consisted of a HeNe laser with a wavelength of XXX nm, a solenoid with a coil constant of XXX V/A, a rotatable polarizer, and a photodiode. The current [THROUGH THROUGH  THE SOLENOID} SOLENOID  was controlled by a [PROGRAMABLE] bipolar operational power supply [to produce either a dc current, ac current, or ac current with a dc offset. THIS ALLOWED US TO APPLY EITHER A DC MAGNETIC FIELD $B_0$ OR A TIME VARYING MAGNETIC FIELD $B = B_0 + B_1 \cos(\omega t)$ AS NEEDED.  INSERT DRAWING HERE!  Linearly polarized light was sent through the solenoid containing a glass tube but without any current flowing through it, passed through the polarizer, and detected by the photodiode. We rotated the polarizer around 360 degrees, using 15 degree steps, and recorded the voltage read by the photodetector. We then repeated the previous procedure, but with a current of -3.0 amps running through the solenoid, therefore producing a magnetic field of ?????????? XXXXXX  mT. We then fit our data to a function of the form $V=V_{0}sin(\phi)^2$. We could find $\frac{\Delta V}{\delta \phi}$ by taking the derivative and using φ=45 degrees, and we could find ΔV by taking the difference of the voltage read by the photodetector when the laser is on (at maximum voltage read) and off. We could then find Δφ by calculating how much the angle of maximum transmission through the polarizer shifter. With all of this information, we could find dB/dφand use the equation $\frac{\Delta B}{\Delta \phi}=\frac{1}{L}\times\frac{1}{C_{v}}$ to find the Verdet constant of the glass tube.