| Student Manual |  This experiment extends the concept of optical activity of chiral solution to magnetically induced birefringence through the historically important Faraday Effect, which reveals the rich interplay between optics and magnetism. |
| Sample Results | Faraday rotation varies linearly with magnetic fieldMaximum rotation is observed when analyzer is oriented at 45 degree w.r.t polarizerSample lab report, Hassan Ahmed, Fall 2019 |
| Hardware Manual | Equipment used in this experimentLock-in Amplifier |
| Experiment Code | 2.6 |
| Version | 6 May 2014 |
Further Readings and References
- Determination of Verdet constant from combined ac and dc measurementsSci. Instruments, Turvey, K. Rev, 64(6), 1561, (1993).
- Faraday rotation in the undergraduate advanced laboratoryAmerican Journal of Physics, Pedrotti, F. L., and Bandettini, P, 58(6), 542, (1990).
- A Faraday rotation experiment for undergraduate laboratoryAmerican Journal of Physics, Loeffler, F. J, 51(7), 661, (1983).
- A simple experiment for determining Verdet constants using alternating current magnetic fieldsAmerican Journal of Physics, Jain, A., Kumar, J., Li, L., and Tripathy. S, 67(8), 714, (1999).
Pictorial Procedure
If you would like to see sample of the data that is acquired and processed to obtain the Verdet constant, see here. This experiment was conducted by Dr. Hamza Humayun and Dr. Sabieh Anwar in PhysLab on 20 February 2026.
