I'm always amazed by the beauty of the atomic spectra and can imagine the excitement of the early spectroscopists when they realized that the line spectra uniquely identify the elements. I would like physics students to share that excitement, but find that the tedious nature of reading a Vernier scale in a darkened room, reading fractional angles in minutes of degrees, and converting angles in degrees and minutes to decimal notation soon make the exercise so tedious that students lose sight of the intended task of identifying and characterizing the spectral lines. At Acadia University, we have adapted a PASCO rotary motion sensor1 and voltage probe, both interfaced to a computer using a Vernier LabPro,2 to semi-automate our spectrometer3 measurements.

Topics
Spectroscopy, Atomic and molecular spectra, Education, Spectroscopists
1.
PASCO scientific rotary motion sensor, CI-6625; http://www.pasco.com.
2.
LabPro and Logger Pro are manufactured by Vernier Software and Technology; http://www.vernier.com.
3.
Manufactured by PTI, LISS, Hampshire, England. Catalog number 2301.
4.
To ensure that a linear calibration is appropriate, three calibrations were performed: one over the entire range of the spectrometer in 5° steps, one over a ± 20° range in 2° steps, and one over a ± 15° range in 1° steps. The respective calibration factors were: (2.7106 ± 0.0008), (2.711 ± 0.002), and (2.709 ± 0.004) °/rad.
5.
Thanks to Robin Stuart and Red Deer College, Red Deer, AB, Canada for the loan of the grating described in this note.
6.
Chemical Rubber Company, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, edited by David R. Linde (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1995).
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© 2006 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2006
American Association of Physics Teachers
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