PASCO AP-8586 Laser Speed of Light Apparatus - Manual (Page 5)

Laser Speed of Light System Model No. AP-8586
4 ®
Equipment List (Continued)
About the Equipment:
Diode Laser - The diode laser emits an intense, narrowly-focused beam of light. In this
experiment, the diode laser is powered by a function generator, which modulates the light
intensity at approximately 3 MHz. The laser is equipped with adjustment screws for
precisely aiming the light at the mirror.
Concave mirror - The concave surface of the mirror helps to focus the light as it is
reflected. The mirror is also equipped with adjustment screws for aiming the light back to the
receiver.
Light Receiver - The receiver is designed for receiving audio and video signals transmitted
via modulated light. Since the light receiver is sensitive to very high-frequency modulation,
it is ideally suited to the experiment in this manual. There are two sensitive elements on the
receiver; in this experiment, you will use only the one labeled “Video.”
+127 mm Lens - The lens is used to focus the light onto the sensitive element of the
receiver.
Additional Equipment Required (for experiments) Replacement
Model Number*
Function Generator, wide range SB-9549A
Oscilloscope, 60 MHz NA
Tripod NA
Tape measure SE-8172A
Tape (for marking floor) NA
Plumb bob (for indicating mirror position) NA
Laser Safety Goggles or protective shields (recommended, but
not required)
**
NA
NA = not available from PASCO scientific
** See Appendix C: Laser Safety for more information about safety goggles.