Introduction

Today we are going to experiment with the effect of color filters on the energy of a laser beam. To perform this experiment, we hypothesized two things

1. As the wavelength of the color filter increases, the value of laser beam energy decreases.

2. That the similar wavelength of the laser beam and color filter blocks most of the energy.

Aim

To determine how the color filter and energy of a beam are related to each other.

Theory

A thin transparent sheet that modifies the light beam passing through it by absorbing some colors is called a color filter.

Laser Beam

Requirements

1. Test Fixture

2. 12 different Color Filter

3. Solar Cell

4. 645 nm Red Laser

5. 535 nm Green Laser

Procedure

Step 1: Build a test fixture for holding solar cells, color filters, and the laser.

Step 2: Measure the energy of a laser for 3 seconds in millivolts without using color filters.

Step 3: Place this color filter in a test fixture.

Step 4:Now, measure the energy of the laser with the color filter for three seconds in a mini volt.

Step 5: Repeat the same process with each of the twelve different color filters.

Step 6: Test two lasers of 532 nm green laser and the 645 nm red laser using the same procedure.

Step 7: Record your observations.

Observation

1. We observed that the energy that passed through the red laser of wavelength 645 nm in percentage was 100%.

2. The energy that passed through the green laser of wavelength 532 nm in percentage was 80%.

3. The 490 nm blue color filter blocked the most energy with each of the two lasers.

4. The reaction of green and red color lasers toward the color filter produced an unexpected result.

Result

1. Both hypotheses are incorrect.

2. Our first hypothesis that said the laser beam and color light of the same wavelength block the most energy was incorrect. The laser beam and color light of the same wavelength do not block most of the energy.

3. The second hypothesis that said the energy decreases with the increasing wavelength of the color filter was also incorrect as the energy does not decrease with increasing wavelength.

4. The production of energy depends more on the optical density of the color filter. It is partially dependent on the wavelength of the color filter.

Precautions

1. Record your observation carefully.

2. Take help from the lab assistant.

Conclusion

We have successfully determined the effect of color filters on the energy of a laser beam.

VIVA Questions With Answers

Q.1 What was the aim of your experiment?

ANS. We aimed to determine how the energy of the laser beam gets affected by the color filter.

Q.2 The energy of the laser beam depends on which quantity of color filter?

ANS. The energy of a laser beam depends mostly on the optical density of the color filter and partially on the wavelength of the color filter.

Q.3 What was the result of your experiment?

ANS. We find that the same wavelength of the laser beam and color filter does not block most energy.

Saquib Siddiqui

Saquib Siddiqui is a Mechanical Engineer and a content creator. He has special interest in science experiments and teaches the same to school and college students. He is also a technical lead at RUDE LABS PVT. LTD.