 TABAHIII ON INTERFERENCE OF LIGHT

HIMANSHU MAHAJAN ( PHYSICS EDUCATOR) 9891574257,7042574657

1) Two plane monochromatic waves propagating in the same direction with amplitudes A and 2 A and differing in phase
by π/3 superpose. Calculate the amplitude of the resultant wave.
2) Two sources of intensity I and 4 I are used in an interference experiment. Find the intensity at points where the waves
from two sources superimpose with a phase difference (i) zero (ii) π/2 and (iii) π.
3) In a Young’s double slit experiment, the intensity of light at a point on the screen where the path difference is λ is k
units. Find the intensity at a point where the path difference is (i) λ (ii) λ (iii) λ .
4 3 2
4) Laser light of wavelength 630 nm incident on a pair of slits produces an interference pattern in which the bright
fringes are separated by 8.1 mm. A second light produces an interference pattern in which the fringes are separated
by 7.2 mm. Calculate the wavelength of the second light.
5) Yellow light of wavelength 6000 Å produces fringes of width 0.8 mm in Young’s double slit experiment. What will be
the fringe width if the light source is replaced by another monochromatic source of wavelength 7500 Å and the
separation between the slits is doubled?
6) The fringe width in a Young’s double slit interference pattern is 2.4 × 10−4 m , when red light of wavelength 6400 Å is
used. By how much will it change, if blue light of wavelength 4000 Å is used.
7) In a two slit experiment with monochromatic light, fringes are obtained on a screen placed at some distance D from
the slits. If the screen is moved 5 × 10−2 m towards the slits, the change in fringe width is 3 × 10−5 m. If the distance
between the slits is 10−3 m, calculate the wavelength of the light used.
8) In Young’s double slit experiment , using light of wavelength 400 nm, interference fringes of width ‘X’ are obtained.
The wavelength of light is increased to 600 nm and the separation between the slits is halved. If one wants the
observed fringe width on the screen to be the same in the two cases, find the ratio of the distance between the screen
and the phase of the interfering sources in the two arrangements.
9) In Young’s experiment, the width of the fringes obtained with light of wavelength 6000 Å is 2.0 mm. Calculate the
fringe width if the entire apparatus is immersed in a liquid medium of refractive index 1.33.
10) A beam of light consisting of two wavelengths, 800 nm and 600 nm is used to obtain the interference fringes in a
Young’s double slit experiment on a screen placed 1.4 m away. If the two slits are separated by 0.28 mm, calculate the
least distance from the central bright maximum where the bright fringes of the two wavelengths coincide.
11) In Young’s double slit experiment, the two slits 0.15 mm apart are illuminated by monochromatic light of wavelength
450 nm. The screen is 1.0 m away from the slits. Find the distance of the second (i) bright fringe, (ii) dark fringe from
the maximum.
12) In a Young’s double slit experiment, the two slits are 2 mm apart and the screen is positioned 140 cm away from the
plane of the slits. The slits are illuminated with light of wavelength 600 nm. Find the distance of the third bright fringe,
from the central maximum, in the interference. Pattern obtained on the screen.
If the wavelength of the incident light were changed to 480 nm, find the shift in the position of third bright fringe from
the central maximum.
13) In Young’s double slit experiment, two slits are separated by 3 mm distance and illuminated by light of wavelength
480 nm. The screen is 2 m from the plane of the slits. Calculate the separation between the 8th bright fringe and the 3rd
dark fringe observed with respect to the central bright fringe.
14) Two coherent sources have intensities in the ratio 25 ∶ 16. Find the ratio of the intensities of maxima to minima, after
interference of light occurs.
15) The ratio of the intensities at minima to the maxima in the Young’s double slit experiment is 9:25. Find the ratio of the
widths of the two slits.
16) The intensity, at the central maximum (O) in a Young’s double slit setup shown in Fig. is Io. If the distance OP equals
one third of the fringe width of the pattern, show that the intensity, at point P, would equal Io/4.
17) Figure shows a modified Young’s double slit experiment set up. Here SS2 − SS1 = 𝜆/4.

(a) State the condition for constructive and destructive interference.

(b) Obtain an expression for the fringe width.
(c) Locate the position of the central fringe.
18) In a double slit interference experiment, the two coherent beams have slightly different intensities I and I + δI (δI << I).
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Show that the resultant intensity at the maxima is nearly 4I while that at the minima is nearly |δI| .
4I
19) In a Young’s double-slit experiment, the slits are separated by 0.28 mm and the screen is placed 1.4 m away. The
distance between the central bright fringe and the fourth bright fringe is measured to be 1.2 cm. Determine the
wavelength of light used in the experiment.
20) In Young’s double-slit experiment using mono-chromatic light of wavelength λ, the intensity of light at a point on the
screen where path difference is λ is k units. What is the intensity of light at a point where path difference is λ/3 ?
21) How will the intensity of maxima and minima, in the Young’s double slit experiment change, if one of the two slits is
covered by a transparent paper which transmits only half of the light intensity?
22) The arrangement used by Thomas Young to produce an interference pattern is shown in the figure below. Justify why
there would be no change in the fringe width when the main illuminated slit S is shifted to the position S’ as shown.

Diffraction & Miscelleneous

23) A slit of width ‘d’ illuminated by a red light of λ = 6500 Ȧ . For what value of d :
(i) First minima falls at an angle of diffraction 30ᵒ
(ii) First maxima falls at an angle of diffraction 30ᵒ
24) Light of wavelength 550 nm is incident as a parallel beam on a slit of width 0.1 mm. find the angular and
linear width of the principle maxima in the resulting diffraction pattern on a screen kept at a distance of 1.1
m from the slit. Which of these will not change if screen was to be moved from a distance of 2.2 m from the
slit.
25) Two wavelengths of sodium 590 nm & 596 nm and used inturn to study diffraction. Taking place at a single
slit of aperture 2 × 10−4 m ( D = 1.5m). Calculate the separation between the position of first maxima in
diffraction pattern in two cases.
26) A parallel beam of light λ = 600 nm is incident normally on a slit of width ‘d’ if distance between slit &
screen is 0.8 m & distance of second order maxima from centre of screen is 15 mm. Calculate the value of
‘d’.
27) A slit of width ‘d’ is illuminated by white light for what value of ‘d’ is the first minima for red light of
wavelength 650 nm located at point P. For what value of wavelength of light will the first diffraction maxim

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also fall at P.
28) The following data is due to diffraction due to single slit. Find the ratio of the width of the slit used in the
cases. Would the ratio of the half angular width of first secondary maxima equal to ‘q’.
Wavelength Half angular width of
c.m
λ θ
pλ qθ
29) What is the effect on the interference fringes in a Young’s double-slit experiment due to each of the
following operations:
a. The screen is moved away from the plane of the slits;
b. The (monochromatic) source is replaced by another (monochromatic) source of shorter wavelength;
c. The separation between the two slits is increased;
d. The source slit is moved closer to the double-slit plane;
e. The width of the source slit is increased;
Solution

a. Angular separation of the fringes remains constant ( =λ/d). The actual separation of the fringes increases in
proportion to the distance of the screen from the plane of the two slits.
b. The separation of the fringes (and also angular separation) decreases. See, however, the condition
mentioned in (d) below.
c. The separation of the fringes (and also angular separation) decreases. See, however, the condition
mentioned in (d) below .
d. Let s be the size of the source and S its distance from the plane of the two slits. For interference fringes to be
seen, the condition s/S < λ/d should be satisfied; otherwise, interference patterns produced by different
parts of the source overlap and no fringes are seen. Thus, as S decreases (i.e., the source slit is brought
closer), the interference pattern gets less and less sharp, and when the source is brought too close for this
condition to be valid, the fringes disappear. Till this happens, the fringe separation remains fixed.
e. Same as in (d). As the source slit width increases, fringe pattern gets less and sharp. When the source slit is
so wide that the condition s/S ≤ λ/d is not satisfied, the interference pattern disappears.

30) Answer the following questions

a. In a single slit diffraction experiment, the width of the slit is made double the original width. How does this
affect the size and intensity of the central diffraction band?
b. In what way is diffraction from each slit related to the interference pattern in a double-slit experiment?
c. When a tiny circular obstacle is placed in the path of light from a distant source, a bright spot is seen at the
centre of the shadow of the obstacle. Explain why?
d. Two students are separated by a 7 m partition wall in a room 10 m high. If both light and sound waves can
bend around obstacles, how is it that the students are unable to see each other even though they can
converse easily.
e. Ray optics is based on the assumption that light travels in a straight line. Diffraction effects (observed when
light propagates through small apertures/slits or around small obstacles) disprove this assumption. Yet the
ray optics assumption is so commonly used in understanding location an several other properties of images
in optical instruments. What is the justification?
 Solutions
a. The size reduces by half according to the relation: size ~ λ/d. Intensity increases four fold.
b. The intensity of interference fringes in a double-slit arrangement is modulated by the diffraction pattern of
each slit.
c. Waves diffracted form the edge of the circular obstacle interferes constructively at the centre of the shadow
producing a bright spot.
d. For diffraction or bending of waves by obstacles/ apertures by a large angle, the size of the latter should be
comparable to wavelength. If the size of the obstacle/ aperture is much too large compared to wavelength,
diffraction is by a small angle. Here the size is of the order of a few metres. The wavelength of light is about
5 × 10−7 m, while sound waves of, say, 1 kHz frequency have wavelength of about 0.3m. Thus, sound waves
can bend around the partition while light waves cannot.
e. Justification based on what is explained in (d). Typical sizes of apertures involved in ordinary optical
instruments are much larger than the wavelength of light.

31) When a low flying aircraft passes overhead, we sometimes notice a slight shaking of the picture on our TV
screen. Suggest a possible explanation.
Ans. Interference of the direct signal received by the antenna with the (weak) signal reflected by the passing
aircraft.
32) Consider a two slit interference arrangement (shown in figure) such that the distance of the screen from the slits is
half the distance between the slits. Obtain the value of D in terms of λ such that the first minima on the screen fall
at a distance D from the centre O.

33) (a) There are two sets of apparatus of Young’s double slit experiment. In set A, the phase difference between the
two waves emanating from the slits does not change with time, whereas in set B, the phase difference

between the two waves from the slits changes rapidly with time. What difference will be observed in the
pattern obtained on the screen in the two set ups?

(b) Deduce the expression for the resultant intensity in both the above mentioned set ups ( A and B), assuming that
the waves emanating from the two slits have the same amplitude A and same wavelength λ.