Student Polarimeter (Laurent’s Half Shade)
Specially designed easy to use, moderately priced, for colleges and research laboratories.
Ideal for determining the specific rotation of optically active substances.
Our polarimeters are now extensively used in industrial laboratories as well.
A Borosilicate glass tube is enclosed in a circular aluminum tube with top door for access & exclusion of external light. The circular scale is attached near the analyzer and the range of measurement is 0-360º. A moveable vernier on the scale enables reading of optical rotation to 60 seconds. Worm and gears combine rough and fine adjustment, provided with half Wave mica plate, giving three parts field for easy setting, adjustable half shadow angles.
This instrument can be used on monochromatic light only. When light passes through a polarized sheet and then through the solution, the emerging light is observed through rotatable polarized lens analyzer which is used as eyepiece. The angle of light is rotated and read directly of the circular scale.
A Polarimeter is often abbreviated as “PM” or simply referred to as a “Polarimeter.” In a laboratory or analytical setting, it is used for:
- Measuring the optical rotation of substances
- Determining the concentration of optically active compounds
- Analyzing the purity of substances based on their optical activity
- Educational experiments on polarimetry and optical properties of materials
