CBSE Test Paper-01

Class - 12 Physics (Wave Optics)

1. Referring to the Young’s double slit experiment, if D is the distance from two slit plane
to screen and d the distance between two coherent sources then fringe width is given
by
a.
b.
c.
d.
2. Monochromatic light of wavelength 589 nm is incident from air on a water surface.
What is the wavelength and speed of reflected light?
a. 589 nm, 3 m/s
b. 599 nm, m/s
c. 582 nm, m/s
d. 590 nm, 3 m/s
3. Referring to the Young’s double slit experiment, Phase difference corresponding to a
Path Difference of is
a.
b.
c.
d.
4. Light of wavelength 5000 Å falls on a plane reflecting surface. What are the
wavelength and frequency of the reflected light? For what angle of incidence is the
reflected ray normal to the incident ray?

a.

b.

c.

d.
5. In a double-slit experiment the angular width of a fringe is found to be 0.2° on a
screen placed 1 m away. The wavelength of light used is 600 nm. What will be the

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 angular width of the fringe if the entire experimental apparatus is immersed in
water? Take refractive index of water to be .
a. 0.12°
b. 0.15°
c. 0.14°
d. 0.13°

6. When light travels from a rarer to a denser medium, the speed decreases. Does this
decrease in speed imply a decrease in the energy carried by the light wave? Justify
your answer.

7. Two monochromatic waves emanating from two coherent sources have the
displacements represented by,

and ,
where, is the phase difference between the two waves. Show that the resultant
intensity at a point due to their superposition is given by
, where

8. Why are coherent sources required to create interference of light?

9. In Young's double slit experiment, monochromatic light of wavelength 600 nm

illuminates the pair of slits and produces an interference pattern in which two
consecutive bright fringes are separated by 10 mm. Another source of monochromatic
light produces the interference pattern in which the two consecutive bright fringes
are separated by 8 mm. Find the wavelength of light from the second source. What is
the effect on the interference fringes if the monochromatic source is replaced by a
source of white light?

10. Define the term linearly polarised light. When does the intensity of transmitted light
become maximum, if a polaroid sheet rotated between two crossed polaroids?

11. Two towers on top of two hills are 40 km apart.The line joining them passes 50 m
above a hill halfway between the towers. What is the longest wavelength of radio
waves, which can be sent between the towers without appreciable diffraction effects?

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12. When one of the slits in Young's experiment is covered with a transparent sheet of
thickness the central fringe shifts to a position originally occupied by

the 30th bright fringe. If , find the refractive index of the sheet.

13. Use Huygens' principle to show how a plane wavefront propagates from a denser to
rarer medium. Hence, verify Snell's law of refraction.

14. i. Unpolarised light of intensity I0 passes through two Polaroids P1 and P2 such that

pass axis of P2 makes an angle with the pass axis of P1. Plot a graph showing the

variation of intensity of light transmitted through P2 as the angle varies from 0°

to 180°.
ii. A third Polaroid P3 is placed between P1 and P2 with pass axis of P3 making an

angle with that of P1 and the angle between P1 and P2 is . If I1, I2 and I3

represent the intensities of light transmitted by P1, P2 and P3, then determine the

values of angle and I3 for which I1 = I2 = I3.

15. i. In a double slit experiment using the light of wavelength 600 nm, the angular
width of the fringe formed on a distant screen is 0.1°. Find the spacing between
the two slits.

ii. Light of wavelength 500 propagating in air gets partly reflected from the
surface of water. How will the wavelengths and frequencies of the reflected and
refracted light be affected?

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 CBSE Test Paper-01
Class - 12 Physics (Wave Optics)
Answers

1. c.
Explanation:
where lambda is the wavelength of light
Dis the distance of coherent sources from screen
d is the distance between the slits

2. a. 589 nm, 3 m/s

Explanation: There is no change in speed of light and wave length when a
wave gets reflected from a given surface.

3. d. 120o
Explanation: Phase difference = (path difference)

4. b.
Explanation: There is no change in wavelength of light in reflection.
use

5. b. 0.15°
Explanation: use

6. When light travels from a rarer to denser medium, its frequency remains unchanged.
It is because, frequency is an inherent property of light.
We know that ,
As the speed decreases wavelength also decreases . So the frequency remains same.
Hence, both are constant.
Energy remains unchanged.
Speed decreases due to decrease in wavelength of wave but energy carried by the
light wave depends on the amplitude of the wave.
7. Given,

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 The resultant displacement is given by

Put ...... (i)

....... (ii)
By squaring and adding Eqs. (i) and (ii), we get

8. To observe interference fringe pattern, there is need to have coherent sources of light
which can produce light of constant phase difference or a zero phase difference
(Which is a prior condition for creation of interference).

9. Here, we are given young's double slit experiment.

Wavelength of monochromatic light,
Fringe width,
Fringe width,
Wavelength of light from the second source=?
Fringe width due to first source ,
Fringe width due to second source ,

10. Linearly polarised light is the light wave in which the vibration of electric field
vectors are confined in one plane and parallel to one unique direction by passing an
unpolarised light through a polariser.

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 The intensity of transmitted light becomes maximum when the inserted polaroid and
analyser (the second polaroid which receives light that is transmitted by the first
polaroid and analyse whether the light is polarised or not) have their axes parallel to
each other. i.e. the angle of rotation when becomes zero degree or π radian between
the polariser and analyser.
11. Distance of aperture from tower ZF

Fresnel distance,

12. The position of the 30th bright fringe is given by

Hence the shift of the central fringe is

But

or
13. According to Huygens' principle, Every point on a wave-front may be considered a
source of secondary spherical wavelets which spread out in the forward direction at
the speed of light. The new wave-front is the tangential surface to all of these
secondary wavelets.
A surface touching these secondary wavelets, tangentially in the forward direction at
any instant gives the new wavefront at that instant. This is called secondary
wavefront.

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If v1, v2 are the speeds of light into two mediums 1 and 2 respectively and t is the time

taken by light to go from B to C or A to D or E to G through F, then from

In
Now total time taken by the light to move to the distance from E to G, t = t1 + t2 =

(As, FC = AC - AF)
For rays of light from the different parts on the incident wavefront, the values of AF
are different. But light from different points of the incident wavefront should take the
same time to reach the corresponding points on the refracted wavefront.
So, t should not depend on AF. This is possible only,
if sini/v1 -sinr/v2 = 0

or sini/sinr = v1/v2 = µ

Now, if c represents the speed of light in vacuum, then µ1 = c/v1 and µ2 = c/v2 are

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 known as the refractive index of medium 1 and medium 2 respectively.
Then, µ1 sin i = µ2sin r µ= [ = relative refractive index of the medium

2 with respect to medium 1]

This is known as Snell's law of refraction.
14. i. The required graph would have the form as shown in figure below:

Using
ii. Given
I1 = intensity of light transmitted by the polaroid P1

I2 = intensity of light transmitted by the polaroid P2

I3 = intensity of light transmitted by the polaroid P3

According to Malus law of polarisation,

..... (i)
...... (ii)
According to question
I2 = I3

Substituting the value of I2 and I3 from Eq. (i) and Eq. (ii) in the above condition,

we get
.....(iii)
Substituting the value of I3 from equation (i) into equation (iii)

....... (iv)
According to question I1 = I2

Substituting the value of I2 from Eq. (ii),

.....(v)

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 Substituting the value of I3 from Eq. (i) into eq. (v)

or [From Eq. (iv), ]

15. Angular width is given by

i. According to the question ,

ii. The frequency of a light depends on its source only.

So, the frequencies of reflected and refracted light will be same as that of incident
light.
Reflected light is in the same medium (air).

so its wavelength remains same as .

we know that

This is the required frequency of both refracted and reflected light.

we know that

speed of light in water =

Wavelength of refracted light is given by
So, wavelength of refracted wave will be decreased.

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