Faraday Rotation in Nematic Liquids

-The magnetic rotation of MBBA has been determined in the nematic and isotropic phase at a fixed wavelength (546 nm). The rotation is difficult to measure in the nematic phase because of birefringence effects due to incomplete alignment. The effects of birefringence were minimized by averaging rotations measured in forward and reverse magnetic fields. The Verdet constant increases with increasing temperature in the nematic phase up to the clearing point where it rises abruptly to a constant value in the isotropic phase. The Verdet constants of seven alkyl homologs of MBBA have been determined at a fixed temperature in the isotropic phase.