Newton's Rings
Title
Newton's Rings
Subject
Optics
Description
This device demonstrates “Newton’s Rings,” colorful interference fringes caused by a thin air layer first discussed by Isaac Newton in a communication to the Royal Society in December 1675, and presented an expanded account in his book "Optics" (1705). The original observation was first made with a wedge-shaped air-gap between the surfaces of two prisms, but later used the now-standard technique of pressing the convex surface of a lens against a flat glass plate.
Source
Property of the W&L Physics & Engineering Department
- Date Added
- November 16, 2011
- Tags
- Optics
- Citation
- “Newton's Rings,” Antique Scientific Instruments at Washington and Lee University, accessed April 24, 2024, https://physicsapparatus.omeka.net/items/show/22.