Wave Optics

Huygen’s Principle

The locus of all points having the same phase of oscillation is called a wavefront.

An outward normal drawn at any point on the wavefront represents the direction of the
wave at that point.

The speed with which a wavefront travels is the speed of the wave.

A wavefront is a surface of constant phase.

According to the Huygens’ principle

• Each point of a wavefront is a source of a secondary disturbance and generates spherical

secondary wavelets, which spread out in all directions with the speed of the wave in that
medium.
• If a tangential surface common to all these secondary spherical wavefront is drawn, then it
gives the new position of the wavefront at a later instant. This surface envelops all the
secondary wavelets.

Refraction of a Plane Wave

Huygens’ principle can be used to derive the laws of refraction based on the wave nature
of light.

When light waves travel from medium one to medium two then,
 =

Where, λ1 is the wavelength of light in medium one,

λ2 is the wavelength of light in medium two.

Reflection of a Plane Wave

A plane wavefront refracted through a convex lens becomes a converging spherical

wavefront.

When a plane wavefront is refracted through a concave lens, we get a diverging spherical
wavefront.

If a plane wave is incident on a concave mirror, upon reflection it becomes a converging

spherical wave.

The change in the frequency of light due to the relative motion of the source and the
observer is called the Doppler Effect.

The expression for the Doppler Effect of light is predicted based on the theory of relativity
and it is

v = v0

For “v” is very less than “c”, the equation becomes, v= v0 (1 - )

The fractional change in the frequency =-

If a star is moving away from us, there is an apparent increase in the wavelengths due to
the Doppler Effect of light and hence the whole pattern of the spectrum gets shifted
towards the longer wavelengths. This is called the “REDSHIFT”.
When a star is moving towards the observer, there is an apparent decrease in the
wavelengths and the whole pattern of the spectrum gets shifted towards shorter
wavelengths. This is called the “BLUESHIFT”.

Interference of Light – Young’s Experiment

The distance of any bright fringe from the central bright fringe, x =

The distance of any dark fringe from the central bright fringe,

x= (n+ ) λD / 2

The fringe width, β = λ

Diffraction of Light

The phenomenon of bending of waves around an obstacle placed on its path is known as
“diffraction”.

For diffraction to occur, the size of the object or the slit must be of the order of the
wavelength of the incident waves.

The diffraction pattern consists of a central bright band, which may be much broader than
the width of the slit, with alternate dark and bright bands on both sides.

The general condition for diffraction minima can be written as

⍬= nλ/a

n= ±1, ±2….

The location of the secondary maxima can be found for values of

⍬≈ (n + )

The path difference of “Δx” in a medium of relative index “n” is equal to a path
difference of (n Δx) in vacuum. Optical path =n Δx

Resolving Power

The minimum separation of two objects or two points that can just be resolved by an
optical instrument is called the limit of resolution of the instrument.

The diffraction pattern formed by the circular aperture consists of a central bright
spot surrounded by alternate dark and bright rings. The central bright spot is called
the “Airy disk”.

The first dark circle occurs at an angle (theta) given by the condition,
.
sin⍬=

The radius of the first dark ring, R= 1.22λD/a

In case of a convex lens, the radius of the first dark ring, R= 1.22λf/a

Two images are said to be resolved if the first minimum of one pattern coincides with
the center of the other. This is known as Rayleigh criterion.

The minimum distance between two objects seen distinctly by a microscope,

 .
dm=

The resolving power of a microscope is defined as the reciprocal of the minimum

separation of the two objects seen distinctly.

Resolving power of a microscope =1/dm

Fresnel distance, zf ≈ a2/λ

Polarisation and Malus’ Law

Polarisation is a characteristic of all transverse waves.

If a wave has only y-displacement and each point on the string moves on a straight
line along the y-axis then the wave is said to be “linearly polarized” in the y-direction.

The propagation of the wave and the displacement of any element of the string
always lie in the xy-plane and hence it is called a plane polarized wave and is referred
to as a xy-polarised wave.

In case of light waves, the direction of the electric field “E” is the direction of
polarisation of the wave. If “E” is always along the y-axis, then the light wave is a y-
polarised wave.

If “E” field remains in a fixed direction, then the wave is said to be linearly polarized
or plane polarized.

When plane polarized light of intensity (I0) is incident on a polarized sheet, then the
intensity of the transmitted light,

Malus’ law I = I0 cos2⍬

Polarisation by Scattering and by Reflection

In case of transverse electromagnetic waves, an oscillating electron does not radiate

along the direction in which it oscillates.

If (IB) is the polarising angle, then the refractive index of the second medium with
respect to the first medium, (n two one) is equal to (tan IB). This is known as the
“Brewster’s law”.

Interference of Waves

When identical waves from two sources overlap at a point in space, the resultant
wave intensity at that point can be either greater or less than the intensity of either of
the two waves. This phenomenon is called “interference”.

According to the superposition principle of waves, at a particular point in the

medium, the resultant displacement produced by a number of waves is the vector
sum of the displacements produced by each of the waves.

If the waves produced by two sources have the same frequency and the phase
difference between them does not change with time, such waves are said to be
coherent and the two sources are called “coherent sources”.

General condition for constructive interference:

1. The path difference must be equal to nλ where ‘n’ is a positive integer OR

2. The phase difference φ = 0, ±2 , ±4 , ±6 …

General condition for destructive interference:

1. The path difference must be equal to (n+1/2)λ, where “n” is a positive integer OR

2. The phase difference # = ± , ±3 , ±5 …