SJK 17:11, 18 December 2009 (EST)SJK Incomplete Feedback Notice
Purpose and Brief Description of Electron Spin Resonance
The purpose of this lab is to measure the g-factor, [math]\displaystyle{ g_s\,\! }[/math], of the electron using Electron Spin Resonance (a.k.a. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance). To do this we look for the spin-flip transition of an unpaired, free electron under the influence of a magnetic field by placing a sample of DPPH (Diphenyl-Picryl-Hydrazyl) whose total angular momentum is zero and has only one unpaired electron in this magnetic field. The electron itself has a magnetic dipole moment [math]\displaystyle{ \mu_s\,\! }[/math] due to it's angular momentum/spin, which interacts with the uniform magnetic field, and orients itself in one of two ways, spin up or spin down. The equation of this relation is:
Before we begin, some points of safety must be noted:
First and foremost your safety comes first and then the equipments'
Check the cords, cables, and machinery in use for any damage or possible electrocution points on fuses of machinery by making sure the power cords' protective grounding conductor must be connected to ground
Be careful to ground all power supplies properly before use
Make sure the areas containing and around the experiment are clear of obstacles
Keep in mind that we do not want to blow the capacitors in this lab, which requires careful monitoring of the passing current
Electrocution and/or being shocked are the two largest risks in this lab, this can be minimized by care in handling and making sure that all equipment is turned off before adjustments are made
The following connections were made to make the experiment functional:
Variac Autotransformer to the secondary side of the Caltronics transformer
Secondary positive side of the Caltronics transformer to the positive side of the capacitors (2 capacitors connected in parallel)
Negative side of the capacitors to the negative output port of the DC power Supply
Negative side of Secondary Caltronics transformer to the COM port of the Digital Voltmeter
Helmholtz Rings (placed appropriately parallel to one another) were connected in parallel (Z to Z port and A to A port)
Port A on the front helmholts coil to the negative (black) port of the Phase Shifter
Port Z on the front helmholts coil to positive (red) port of Phase Shifter
Negative (black) port of the Phase Shifter to the negative output port of the DC Power Supply
Positive (red) port of the Phase Shifter to the mA port on the Digital Voltmeter
ESR Basic Unit to ESR Adapter input
CH 1 of the Oscilloscope to Phase Shifter
+12 V port on the ESR Adapter to the +20 V on the Triple Output Power Supply
0 port on ESR Adapter to COM port on on the Triple Output Power Supply
-12 V port on the ESR Adapter to the -20 V on the Triple Output Power Supply
Y port on the ESR Adapter to the CH 2 port of the Oscilloscope
f/1000 port to the FLUKE Dual Display Multimeter using a special dual adapter for both left-most ports
Here are two circuit diagrams we used to help make all of our connections. They can be found inProfessor Gold's manual
To actually perform the lab we turned our entire set up on (making sure that the Variac Autotransformer was never left on by itself, to insure that we did not blow our capacitors). Once everything had the chance to warm up we were able to modify the frequency using the ESR Basic Unit, and adjust the current so that our two wave patterns on the oscilloscope met up to have the same frequency (the resonance frequency). We then made a table, and repeated this process fifteen times for each coil size.
[math]\displaystyle{ x=R/2\,\! }[/math], [math]\displaystyle{ N=320\,\! }[/math] (according to Chad McCoy's lab notebook [1], after a few calculations), and [math]\displaystyle{ R=0.0675 m\,\! }[/math]
According to our results, any one of our calculated values is less than one half of the accepted value. We believe that this may be due to the fact that there are two coils as the current is split between them. Also we believe that there might have been a high amount of systematic error.
Notes about Our Uncertainty
The oscilloscope lacks a zoom function, and our data was taken based on the human visual alignment of the two waves on the screen.
We saw a lot of "noise" in our wave pattern for the large coil trails, though the noise was located at the peaks and not the troughs this could still have caused some error due to the lack of precision that the oscilloscope provides.
Systematic Error:
The connecting wire between the ESR Basic unit and the ESR adapter seemed to be extremely finicky, if it was jarred or even touched slightly the wave pattern on the oscilloscope would go crazy and take at least a full minute to stabilize again. This caused some problems in taking data because it was hard to not disturb the wire.
The setup for this lab was very complex and called for a lot of attention to detail. There could have been any amount of systematic error that was overlooked. For example, our connections to our Digital Voltmeter required a tricky clamp to BCN cable connection that was very loose and a few times during our experiment, had to be readjusted.
Summary
If you wish to see Alex Andrego's informal summary of this lab follow this link
If you wish to see Anastasia Ierides's informal summary of this lab follow this link
Acknowledgments
Prof. Gold's Lab Manual served as a loose guideline for our lab procedure and our "Brief Description of Electron Diffraction" above as well as the source of the accepted values of the separation of the carbon atoms corresponding to the inner and outer ring diameters
Professor Koch and Pranav for always being of great help to us!