Determination of Boltzmann constant by Using Johnson Noise Produced by Conductors as a Result of Thermal Agitation. Tesfay G.
Teamir Advance Physics (Phys 580) Lab. Report Bilkent University Physics Department (March 2012) OBJECTVES OF THE EXPERMENT 1. GENERAL OBJECTVES General objective of this experiment is to determine Boltzmann's constant by analyzing Johnson noise produced by resistors 2. SPECIFIC OBJECTVES To develop Lab view data acquisition skills for computer interfaced experimental methods especially for voltage measurements Determining resistance dependence of the noise spectra
THEORY 1. INTRODUCTION as we all know the role played by Boltzmann constant is tremendous and fundamental to the microscopic system which intern describes bulk property. According to Britannica Academic edition Boltzmann constant is defined as '' a fundamental constant of physics occurring in nearly every statistical formulation of both classical and quantum physics.'' The constant is named after Ludwig Boltzmann, a 19th-century Austrian physicist, who substantially contributed to the foundation and development of statistical mechanics, this constant has a standard value of 1.380650 1023 joule per kelvin (K). A lot of experiments had been undergone so far to determine Boltzmann constant, determining it by measuring the dielectric constant of a gas; black body radiation; laser spectroscopic method; by measuring sound velocity in quasi-spherical acoustic resonator (most accurate method so far); And most recently Johnson-noise thermometry (JNT) and Johnson-noise thermometry with a quantum voltage noise source (JNT-QVNS ) are researches undergoing world wide with different approaches.
2. JOHNSON NOSE In 1926, experimental physicist John Johnson working in the physics division at Bell Labs was researching noise in electronic circuits. He discovered that there is unavoidable low level of noise in resistors as a result of temperature. Harry Nyquist ables to explain the phenomenon and developed an elegant explanation based on fundamental physics. Which intern is used to determine Boltzmann constant. n this experiment we are using this approach to determine the value of Boltzmann constant. if we connect two resistors wth nondissipative line l as shown below, the electrical energy resulted from the current caused by thermal agitation in the resistors will begin to oscillate; at equilibrium the power flow in both directions is equal according to the second law of thermodynamics. f we remove the connecting line after the system reaches in equilibrium at absolute temperature T, it will begin to oscillate at its natural frequencies as a result of the energy which was on the line at the time of isolation. The voltage wave will have a node at each ends corresponds to a frequency of v/2l, the next higher natural frequency (2v/2l) will have a mode at each ends and in the middle and so on.
different time constants. V2rms and Boltzmann constant are computed by using orgin 8 software. RESULTS AND DSCUSSONS The number of modes (degree of freedom) between f and f+df is 2ldf/v . The total energy of vibration will be (2ldf/v)kBT since each mode is associated with energy equal to kBT (Equipartition theorem). And the average power transmitted in time interval (l/v) is 2kBTdf. The differential contribution to V 2 from a frequency band df with power dI2R = 2kBTdf is thus given by dV2 = (2R)2dI2 = 4RkBTdf .........(1) integrating the above expression over the accessible frequency range, one can arrive at the Nyquist theoretical expression of the thermal noise in resistors. V2=4RkBTf.....................(2) METHODS AND EQUPMENTS USED 1. EQUPMENTS USED Model SR830 DSP Lock-in Amplifier, resistors box, and PC 2. METHODS USED Data are taken for different resistors at Resistance(ohm) 403 16070 67480 268500 1000000 Boltzmann constant(kb) 0.78564 E -23 1.05527 E -23 1.03057 E -23 0.58706 E -23 1.88844 E -23 the following result and discussion is based up on Nyquist theorem. A. Determination of the Boltzmann constant by analysing the voltage spectrum of Johnson noise collected from the computer interfaced experimental set up i found Vrms for different resistors at time constant of 10ms. Using the Nyquist theorem (equation 2 above) Boltzmann constant is summarized in the table blow.
As we can see it from graphe below the slope gives us the value of boltzman constant which is kB= 1.65783 E -23 + (-) 6.10131E-24 JK1mol1.
B Linear Fit of B
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Vrms square (10E-15)
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Equation
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y = a + b*x No Weighting
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Weight
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Residual Sum of Squares Adj. R-Square
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10050,55245 0,61475
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Standard Error 31,85511 6,10131E-9
B B
Intercept Slope
47,51605 1,65783E-8
0,00E+000 2,00E+009 4,00E+009 6,00E+009 8,00E+009 1,00E+010 1,20E+010
(4*resistance *T*ENBW)
REFERENCES 1. By. Nyquist, physical review, 32, 110 ( july 1928 ) 2. L. Pitre*, F. Sparasci, D. Truong, A. Guillou, L. Risegari and M. E. Himbert ''Determination of boltzman's constant using quasi-spherical Acoustic Resonetor.'' 3. Physics world.com '' Electrical noise measures Boltzmann constant'',Jun 2008 4. Manual for Model SR830 DSP Lock-in Amplifier
