Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Light: Made at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis — John Shaqi
Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Light: Made at the U.S. Naval Academy, AnnapolisMichelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham)
Science
Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Light: Made at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis
Michelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham)
Light -- Speed
The calculated probable error of the rate is .000016. If this rate should
be questioned, the fork can be again rated and a simple correction
applied. The fork is carefully kept at the Stevens Institute, Hoboken, and
comparisons were made with two other forks, in case it was lost or
injured.
In counting the sound beats, experiments were tried to find if the
vibrations of the standard were affected by the other fork, but no such
effect could be detected. In each case the number of beats was counted
correctly to .02, or less than .0001 part, and in the great number of
comparisons made this source of error could be neglected.
The error due to an incorrect estimate of the exact time when the images
of the revolving mirror came to rest was eliminated by making the
measurement sometimes when the speed was slowly increasing, and sometimes
when slowly decreasing. Further, this error would form part of the
probable error deduced from the results of observations.
We may then conclude that the error, in the measurement of _n_, was less
than .00002.
The Deflection.
The angle of deflection φ was measured by its tangent, tan φ = d/r; d was
measured by the steel screw and brass scale, and r by the steel tape.
The value of one turn of the screw was found by comparison with the
standard meter for all parts of the screw. This measurement, including the
possible error of the copy of the standard meter, I estimate to be correct
to .00005 part. The instrument is at the Stevens Institute, where it is to
be compared with a millimeter scale made by Professor Rogers, of
Cambridge.
The deflection was read to within three or four hundredths of a turn at
each observation, and this error appears in the probable error of the
result.
The deflection is also affected by the inclination of the plane of
rotation to the horizon. This inclination was small, and its secant varies
slowly, so that any slight error in this angle would not appreciably
affect the result.
The measurement of r is affected in the same way as D, so that we may
call the greatest error of this measurement .00004. It would probably be
less than this, as the mistakes in the individual measurements would also
appear in the probable error of the result.
The measurement of φ was not corrected for temperature. As the corrections
would be small they may be applied to the final result. For an increase of
1° F. the correction to be applied to the screw for unit length would
be -.0000066. The correction for the brass scale would be +.0000105, or
the whole correction for the micrometer would be +.000004. The correction
for the steel tape used to measure r would be +.0000066. Hence the
correction for tan. φ would be -.000003 t. The average temperature of the
experiments is 75°.6 F. 75.6-62.5 = 13.1. -.000003×13.1 = -.00004
Hence φ should be divided by 1.00004, or the final result should be
multiplied by 1.00004. This would correspond to a correction of +12
kilometers.
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