Quantum light dimmer
Quantum light dimmer is an experiment to demonstrate the Zeeman effect. It features a shadow created by a Bunsen burner and a sodium-vapor lamp which can be controlled by a magnetic field.
Experiment
A Bunsen burner flame is placed in front of a sodium-vapour lamp. As flames typically don't cast shadows, the flame's shadow is not seen. But if the experimenter adds sodium chloride to the Bunsen burner, a shadow will be formed. If a magnetic field is introduced, the shadow will get brighter.[1]
Explanation
When salt is added to the Bunsen burner, it dissociates to give sodium and chloride. These sodium vapours get excited due to photons from the sodium vapour lamp. Their electrons get excited from 3s to 3p, absorbing energy or light in the process. As light is absorbed, a shadow is formed.[2] The light is absorbed because the sodium vapour lamp emits light at 589nm. This light is part of the emission spectrum of sodium atom. Because this wavelength has precisely the energy to excite an electron of a sodium atom, light is absorbed. If it was an atom of another element, like chlorine, a shadow will not be formed.[3] In other words, the sodium atoms in the sodium vapour lamp emit light that gets perfectly absorbed by the sodium vapours in the Bunsen burner.
When a magnetic field is applied, due to the Zeeman effect, the spectral line of sodium gets split into several components. This means the energy difference between the 3s and 3p atomic orbitals will change. As the sodium vapour lamp does not precisely deliver the right amount of energy any more, light does not get absorbed and passes right through, resulting in the shadow dimming. As the magnetic field strength is increased, the shift in the spectral lines increases. Thereby the shadow gets more brighter and less clear.[4]
References
- ↑ Candle flame is repelled by magnets (and Zeeman follow-up), retrieved 2024-02-27
- ↑ Zeeman effect-Control light with magnetic fields, retrieved 2024-02-27
- ↑ -Na-Cd-and-Hg. pdf "Lecture Note on Senior Laboratory Zeeman effect in Na, Cd, and Hg" Check
|url=value (help). www.researchgate.net. - ↑ "Quantum light dimming". 2024.gypt.org.
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