Lab09_LightIntensity A Fox

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Cincinnati State Technical and Community College *

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Course

110

Subject

Electrical Engineering

Date

Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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2

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Lab 9: Light intensity versus distance Note that for the online version of this lab exercise, data will be provided and students will NOT need to obtain the equipment listed. This equipment list and data collection instructions are provided so that students understand how the data was generated. Purpose To investigate how light intensity (brightness) depends on distance from the source of light. Equipment used A light source, an optics bench, a light sensor, and a computer with a PASCO interface. Background The strengths of both the force due to gravity and the electric force depend on how far apart the (centers of the) two object are. and The gravitational and electric forces both have what is called an inverse-square-law dependence on the distance r . That is, . This means that if you were to plot the measured force versus r , you’d find a curve shaped like in the graph below, left. But if you plot F versus 1/ r 2 , you’d find a line, the slope of which is equal to “value,” as in the graph below, right. There is a geometric argument that can explain the inverse-square-law dependence on the distance r , and it is not unreasonable to expect that it could apply for other physical quantities as well. In this lab, you will investigate how sound intensity (loudness) depends on distance from the source of sound and compare it to the verse-square-law dependence of the gravity and electric forces. Procedure You will use the PASCO light sensor with the computer and PASCO interface to measure light intensity. Simply plug the light source in to turn it on. The light source should already be adjusted so that it is located at the 0 cm position on the optics bench. The light sensor also should be on the optics bench. Make sure that the gain of the light sensor is set at 1. For each distance between the light and light sensor, r , record the relative light intensity I* displayed on the computer screen in the table below. Choose distances between about 10 cm and 80 cm in increments of 5 cm. Determine the position of the light sensor (and therefore also the distance from the light source) by measuring where the part of the light sensor assembly closest to the light is. Data trial r (cm) I* (% of max) 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Analysis An Excel spreadsheet is embedded in this document for you to plot both I* versus r and I* versus 1/ r 2 . To use it, double-click on the spreadsheet image. Once it is active, enter the data in the spreadsheet cells, and the graphs will be updated automatically. An equation of the best fit line through the data will appear in the I* versus 1/ r 2 graph. The value multiplying the “x” in the formula gives the slope. Clicking outside the Excel spreadsheet area will return control to the Word document. Does the data in the graph of I * versus r fall on a line? Does the data in the graph of I * versus 1/ r 2 fall on a line? Conclusions Using the graph of I * versus r , draw a qualitative conclusion about how light intensity (brightness) depends on how far the viewer is from the source of light. Explain. Using the graph of I * versus 1/ r 2 , compare the dependence of light intensity on distance from source with how the gravity and electric forces depend on distance. Explain.
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