Important questions -Optics

1 A ray of light incident at an angle q on a refracting face of a prism emerges from the other face normally.
If the angle of the prism is 5° and the prism is made of a material of refractive index 1.5, the angle of
incidence is :

2 A short pulse of white light is incident from air to a glass slab at normal incidence. After travelling
through the slab, the first colour to emerge is

3 How does the fringe width of interference fringes change, when the whole apparatus of Young’s
experiment is kept in a liquid of refractive index 1.3? (Delhi 2008)

4 How does the angle of minimum deviation of a glass prism vary, if the incident violet light is
replaced by red light ? Give reason.

5 An object is placed in front of convex lens made of glass. How does the image distance vary if the
refractive index of the medium is increased in such a way that still it remains less than the glass?

focal length increases

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6 A concave lens of refractive index 1.5 is immersed in a medium of refractive index 1.65. What is the
nature of the lens ?

7 A ray of light, incident on an equilateral glass prism (µ = √3) moves parallel to the base line of the prism
inside it. Find the angle of incidence for this ray.
8 A symmetric biconvex lens of radius of curvature R and made of glass of refractive index 1.5, is placed
on a layer of liquid placed on top of a plane mirror as shown in the figure. An optical needle with its tip
on the principal axis of the lens is moved along the axis until its real, inverted image coincides with the
needle itself. The distance of the needle from the lens is measured to be x. On removing the liquid layer
and repeating the experiment, the distance is found to be y. Obtain the expression for the refractive index
of the liquid in terms of x and y.
[Delhi & OD 2018; Delhi Comptt. 2014]

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9 The figure shows a ray of light falling normally on on the face AB of an equilateral glass prism having
refractive index 3/2, placed in water of refractive index 4/3. Will this ray suffer total internal reflection on
striking the face AC ? Justify your answer.

10 In a Young’s double-slit experiment, the source is white light. One of the holes is covered by a red filter
and another by a blue filter. In this case,
(a) there shall be alternate interference patterns of red and blue.
(b) there shall be an interference pattern for red distinct from that for blue.
(c) there shall be no interference fringes.
(d) there shall be an interference pattern for red mixing with one for blue.
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12 State the reason, why two independent sources of light cannot be considered as coherent
sources. (Delhi 2008)
Answer:
Two independent sources of light cannot be coherent. This is because light is emitted by
individual atoms, when they return to ground state. Even the smallest source of light contains
billions of atoms which obviously cannot emit light waves in the same phase

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14 A narrow slit is illuminated by a parallel beam of monochromatic light of wavelength l equals to

6000 Å and the angular width of the central maxima in the resulting diffraction pattern is
measured. When the slit is next illuminated by light of wavelength 2λ’, the angular width decreases
by 30%. Calculate the value of the wavelength l’.

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15 How would the angular separation of interference fringes in Young’s double slit experiment change
when the distance between the slits and screen is doubled? (All India 2008)
Answer:
Angular separation θ=λd and is independent of slit-screen separation
∴ There will be no change
16 How does the power of a convex lens vary, if the incident red light is replaced by violet light? (Delhi
2008)
Answer:
According to Lens Maker’s formula

∴ power of the lens will be increased.

17 Write two points to distinguish between interference and diffraction fringes.
(ii) In a Young’s double slit experiment, fringes are obtained on a screen placed at a certain distance
away from the slits. If the screen is moved by 5 cm towards the slits, the fringe width changes by 30 μm.
Given that the slits are 1 mm apart, calculate the wavelength of the light used.

18 Question 1.
A glass lensof refractive index 1.5 is placed in a trough of liquid. What must be the refractive index of the
liquid in order to mark the lens disappear? (Delhi 2008)
Answer:
In order to make the lens disappear the refractive index of liquid must be equal to 1.5 i.e. equal to that of
glass lens.

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19 (a) Explain with reason, how the power of a diverging lens changes when
(i) it is kept in a medium of refractive index greater than that of the lens,
(ii) incident red light is replaced by violet light.
(b) Three lenses L1 L2, L3 each of focal length 30 cm are placed co-axially as shown in the figure. An
object is held at 60 cm from the optic centre of Lens L1. The final real image is formed at the focus
of L3. Calculate the separation between
(i) (L3 and L2) and
(ii) (L2 and L3). (Comptt. All India 2017)

20 a) Draw a ray diagram to show the image formation by a combination of two thin convex lenses in
contact. Obtain the expression for the power of this combination in terms of focal lengths of the lenses.
A ray of light passing from air through an equilateral glass prism undergoes minimum deviation when the
angle of incidence is 3/4th of the angle prism. Calculate the speed of light in the prism. (All India 2017)

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 Answer:

21 The focal lengths of the objective and eyepiece of a microscope are 1.25 cm and 5 cm respectively. Find
the position of the object relative to the objective in order to obtain an angular magnification of 30 in
normal adjustment. (Delhi 2012)

22 In the following diagram, an object ‘O’ is placed 15 cm in front of a convex lens L1 of focal length 20
cm and the final image is formed at ‘I’ at a distance of 80 cm from the second lens L2. Find the focal
length of the lens L2.

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 For L1

For L2,
23 A small telescope has an objective lens of focal length 150 cm and an eyepiece of focal length 5 cm. If
this telescope is used to view a 100 m high tower 3 km away, find the height of the final image when it is
formed 25 cm away from the eyepiece. (Delhi 2012)
Angle subtended by the 100 m tall tower at 3 km away is,

Let h be the height of the image of tower formed by the objective.

Then angle subtended by the image produced by the objective will also be equal to h and is given by ‘

Magnification produced by the eyepiece

24 In a compound microscope, an object is placed at a distance of 1.5 cm from the objective of focal length
1.25 cm. If the eye piece has a focal length of 5 cm and the final image is formed at the near point,
estimate the magnifying power of the microscope. (Delhi 2010)

25 Lenses of powers 10 D and – 5 D are placed in contact.

(a) Calculate the power of the new lens.
(b) Where should an object be held from the lens, so as to obtain a virtual image of magnification 2?

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27 Which two of the following L1, L2 and L3 will you select as objective and eyepiece for constructing best
possible
(i) telescope
(ii) microscope? Give reason to support your answer. (Comptt. Delhi 2015)

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28 A point source of monochromatic light ‘S’ is kept at the centre of the bottom of a cylinder of radius 15.0
cm. The cylinder contains water (refractive index 4/3) to a height of 7.0 cm. Draw the ray diagram and
calculate the area of water surface through which the light emerges in air.

29 1)A giant refracting telescope has an objective lens of focal length 15 m. If an eye piece of focal length
1.0 cm is used, what is the angular magnification of the telescope?
(ii) If this telescope is used to view the moon, what is the diameter of the image of the moon formed by
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the objective lens? The diameter of the moon is 3.48 × 10 m and the radius of lunar orbit is 3.8 × 10 m.
(Delhi 2015)
Let : f0 = focal length of objective lens = 15 cm
fe = focal length of eye lens = 1.0 cm
Angular magnification (m)

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30 A ray PQ is incident normally on the face AB of a triangular prism of refracting angle of 60°, made of a
transparent material of refractive index 2/√3, as shown in the figure. Trace the path of the ray as it
passes through the prism. Also calculate the angle of emergence and angle of deviation. (Comptt. Delhi
2014)

Angle of incidence at face AC of the prism = 60°

Hence, refracted ray grazes the surface AC as ic = i

∴ Angle of emergence = 90°
and Angle of deviation = 30°
31 Laser light of wavelength 640 nm incident on a pair of slits produces an interference pattern in which the
bright fringes are separated by 7.2 mm. Calculate the wavelength of another source of light which
produces interference fringes separated by 8.1 mm using same arrangement. Also find the minimum
value of the order ‘n’ of bright fringe of shorter wavelength which coincides with that of the longer
wavelength. (Comptt. All India 2012)
Answer:
Distance between two bright fringes = Fringe width

Calculation of minimum value of order: for n to be minimum

(n + 1)th maxima of shorter wavelength should coincide with nth maxima of longer wavelength

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32 A ray of light incident normally on one face of a right isosceles prism is totally reflected as shown in
figure. What must be the minimum value of refractive index of glass?

33 An equiconvex lens of refractive index µ1, focal length ‘f’ and radius of curvature ‘R’ is immersed in a
liquid of refractive index µ2. For
(i) µ2 µ1, and
(ii) µ2 < µ1, draw the ray diagrams in the two cases when a beam of light coming parallel to the principal
axis is incident on the lens. Also find the focal length of the lens in terms of the original focal length and
the refractive index of the glass of the lens and that of the medium.
(Comptt. All India 2013)

34 You are given three lenses L1 L2 and L3 each of focal length 15 cm. An object is kept at 20 cm in front of
L1, as shown. The final real image is formed at the focus ‘I’ of L3. Find the separations between L1,
L2 and L3.

Answer:
Let f1 f2 and f3 be the focal length of three lenses.
For lens L1 : u = 20 cm

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 It shows that lens infinite.
Hence for lens L1, image is formed at a distance of 15 cm from L2
∴ the focus of L2 i.e. u2 = 15 cm
Now, to calculate the distance between L1 and L2,
u1 + H2 = 60 + 15 = 75 cm
Distance between L2 and L3 = v2 + v3 = ∞ or can be any value.
35 Draw a labelled ray diagram of a refracting telescope. Define its magnifying power and write the
expression for it.
Write two important limitations of a refracting telescope over a reflecting type telescope. (All India 2013)
Answer:
36 Draw a ray diagram showing the image formation by a compound microscope when the final image is
formed at the near point.
Define the resolving power of a microscope. Write two factors by which resolving power can be
increased.
37 Two wavelengths of sodium light of 590 nm and 596 nm are used in turn to study the diffraction taking
place at a single slit of aperture 2 × 10-6 m. The distance between the slit and the screen is 1.5 m.
Calculate the separation between the positions of first maxima of the diffraction pattern obtained in the
two cases. (All India 2014)

38 A convex lens made up of glass of refractive index 1.5 is dipped, in turn, in

(i) a medium of refractive index 1.65,
(ii) a medium of refractive index 1.33.
(a) Will it behave as a converging or a diverging lens in the two cases?
(b) How will its focal length change in the two media? (All India 2011)
Answer:

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 Hence the lens will behave as a diverging lens.
(ii) When lens is dipped in medium B : aμB=1.33
39 A converging lens has a focal length of 20 cm in air. It is made of a material of refractive index 1.6. It is
immersed in a liquid of refractive index 1.3. Calculate its new focal length. (All India 2011)
Answer:
According to lens maker formula :

New focal length, fw = 52 cm

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40 Compound microscope uses an objective lens of focal length 4 cm and eyepiece lens of focal length 10
cm. An object is placed at 6 cm from the objective lens. Calculate the magnifying power of the
compound microscope. Also calculate the length of the microscope. (All India 2011)
Answer:
Given f0 = 4 cm, fe = 10 cm, u0 = -6 cm
Magnifying power of microscope

41 Three light rays red (R), green (G) and blue (B) are incident on a right B angled prism ‘abc’ Q at face
‘ab’. The R refractive indices of the material of the prism for red, green and blue wavelengths are 1.39,
1.44 and 1.47 respectively. Out of the three which colour ray will emerge out of face ‘ac’? Justify your
answer. Trace the path of these rays after passing through face ‘ab’. (Delhi 2009)

Answer:
Critical angle ic for total internal reflection is related to refractive index µ as

Critical angle for :

Incident angle in the surface ac is 45° for all the three colours. So red colour will undergo refraction while

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 the other two colours will undergo total internal reflection in a.c. It is indicated in the figure. All the three
colours will undergo total internal reflection if they are incident normally on one of the faces of an
equilateral prism as shown in Figure 3. This is due to the reason that the incident angle on the second
surface will be greater than critical angle for all the colours.

42 A small illuminated bulb is at the bottom of a tank, containing a liquid of refractive index upto a height H.
Find the expression for the diameter of an opaque disc, floating symmetrically on the liquid surface in
order to cut-off the light from the bulb. (Comptt. Delhi 2016)
Answer:
It is only the light coming out from a cone of

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43 How does the angle of minimum deviation of a glass prism of refractive index 1.5 changes, if it is
immersed in a liquid of refractive index 1.3? (All India 2008)
Answer:

44 A beam of light consisting of two wavelengths, 650 nm and 520 nm, is used to obtain interference
fringes in Young’s double-slit experiment.
(i) Find the distance of the third bright fringe on the screen from the central maximum for wavelength
650 nm?
(ii) What is the least distance from the central maximum where the bright fringes due to both the
wavelengths coincide?
Given : the separation between the slits is 4 mm and the distance between the screen and plane of the
slits is 1.2 m. (Comptt. Delhi 2016)
Answer:

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45 (i) “Two independent monochromatic sources of light cannot produce a sustained interference
pattern”. Give reason
(ii) In Young’s double slit experiment, using monochromatic light of wavelength λ, the intensity of
light at a point on the screen where path difference is λ, is K units. Find out the intensity of light
at a point where path difference is λ/3. (Delhi 2010)
Two independent monochromatic
sources of light cannot produce a sustained interference pattern. The phase difference between these
two sources will continuously vary; and the positions of maxima and minima will change with time.

46 Why coherent sources are necessary to produce interference in Young’s double slit experiment? Light
waves from two coherent sources have intensities in the ratio of 4 : 9. Find the ratio of intensities of
maxima and minima in the interference pattern. (Comptt. Delhi 2015)

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47 (a) The ratio of the widths of two slits in Young’s double slit experiment is 4 : 1. Evaluate the
ratio of intensities at maxima and minima in the interference pattern.
(b) Does the appearance of bright and dark fringes in the interference pattern violate, in any
way, conservation of energy? (Comptt. All India 2015)
Answer:

(b) The appearance of bright and dark fringes in the interference pattern does not violate the
principle of conservation of energy, because the light energy is distributed. If it reduces in one
region, producing a dark fringe, it increases in another region, producing a bright fringe. There
is no gain or loss of energy

48 (a) Why are coherent sources necessary to produce a sustained interference pattern?
(b) In Young’s double slit experiment using monochromatic light of wavelength λ, the intensity of light
at a point on the screen where path difference is λ, is K units. Find out the intensity of light at a point
where path difference is λ/3. (Delhi 2011)
Answer:
(a) Coherent sources are needed to ensure that the positions of maxima and minima do not change with
time. These have a constant phase difference and, therefore produce sustained interference pattern.

49 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.

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50 (a) In a single slit diffraction experiment, a slit of width ‘d’ is illuminated by red light of wavelength 650
nm. For what value of ‘d’ will
(i) the first minimum fall at an angle of diffraction of 30°, and
(ii) the first maximum fall at an angle of diffraction of 30°?
(b) Why does the intensity of the secondary maximum become less as compared to the central
maximum? (All India 2009)
Answer:

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 (b) As the order increases only 1/nth (where n is an odd number) of the slit, will contribute in producing
brightness at a point in diffraction. So the higher order maxima are not so bright as the central.
51 Draw a ray diagram showing the path of a ray of light entering through a triangular glass prism. Deduce
the expression for the refractive index of glass prism in terms of the angle of minimum deviation and
angle of the prism. (Comptt. All India 2012)
52 Draw a ray diagram showing the path of a ray of light entering through a triangular glass prism. Deduce
the expression for the refractive index of glass prism in terms of the angle of minimum deviation and
angle of the prism. (Comptt. All India 2012)
53 Draw a ray diagram to show the formation of image by an astronomical telescope when the final image is
formed at the near point. Answer the following, giving reasons:
(i) Why the objective has a larger focal length and a larger aperture than the eyepiece?
(ii) What would be the effect on the resolving power of the telescope if its objective lens is immersed in a
transparent medium of higher refractive index?(Comptt. All India 2012)
Answer:
54

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