Light, Brightness and

Distance
May 22, 2014











Conclusion
The Polarization of Light lab examined the light intensity at a variety of distance from a
small source of light, and see how the intensity varied with distance. The purpose of the lab was
to determine the mathematical relationship between intensity and the distance from the light
source. There are several ways to measure the brightness of light. In the lab printout, a question
was proposed on what is the intensity of light on two spheres on with a radius R and the other
2R. Assuming that the power passes through the inner sphere with the same as the light source.
The power applied on each surface is equal, and intensity equals power/area, then the variable in
this case would be the surface area of sphere:

. The intensity of the larger sphere will

be smaller by a factor of 4, and the intensity varies by the distance squared. This is the result to
expect to get during the experiment. To study the relationship, a LabQuest with a light sensor is
used to record the intensity as well as graph the results. A small, clear light bulb was used as the
light point source and placed it 2 cm away from the light sensor. The intensity was measured and
recorded there as the initial intensity. Then moved the light source away from the sensor by
increments of 1 cm and continued collecting data points until 15 cm away from the sensor and
the decrease in intensity was minimal. The curve fit function on LabQuest was used to see that a
power function best fit are graph as expected. Also, from the curve fit an equation was acquired
for the graph that gives a power function; since area was squared, an equation was expected to
reflect that. As expected, a result of -1.929 for the exponent; it was negative because area is in
the denominator. The procedure was repeated with another light bulb that was not clear and
stronger. Since it was not clear, the filament could not be used as the point source; instead, the
closest part of the bulb to the light sensor was used. With the second light bulb being stronger,
the experiment began further than 2 cm from the sensor; it was started 36cm away, where the
intensity of the bulb would be in the range of the light sensor. After collecting the data points, the
graph was some-what similar to the previous graph; however, the intensity did not drop as
quickly as the first light bulb tested. Though, instead of the best curve fit being a power equation,
it was a quadratic function. The best explanation would be that the second light source was not a
point source, but instead an extended source, and would be expected to completely at as one. To
confirm the relationship between intensity and distance, a graph was plotted of using

.
As expected, the graph showed a straight line, which means the intensity is directly proportional
to the inverse of distance squared.
Sources of error:
Parallax while measuring the distance between the light bulb and the light sensor.
The reading of the light sensor would fluctuate, very sensitive.
The second bulb used was so bright that other teams conducting their experiment
could have affected the intensity reading of our light sensor
The precision of the ruler used to measure the distance we moved the bulb if not
measure accurately then it throws off our graph instead of the intensity at 5cm we plot
the intensity of 5.5cm for 5cm
Very difficult moving the light bulb back in straight. The light sensor would read the
light at an angle
The meter stick was been bent or and possibly affected the measurements
The first light bulb was not a point source.
The batteries in the first light bulb were possibly drained or close to die, which there
would be no constant power through the whole experiment
Aluminum foiled was placed on the second light bulb which could have altered our
results.
Light sources might of been moved accidentally during mid procedure.