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WAVE OPTICS REVISION QUESTIONS.

The document contains a series of questions and answers related to wave optics, specifically focusing on concepts such as Huygens's principle, wavefronts, reflection and refraction, interference, and diffraction. It includes explanations of various optical phenomena, mathematical derivations, and experimental setups like Young's double slit experiment. Additionally, it discusses the importance of coherent sources and the effects of changing mediums on light behavior.

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17 views6 pages

WAVE OPTICS REVISION QUESTIONS.

The document contains a series of questions and answers related to wave optics, specifically focusing on concepts such as Huygens's principle, wavefronts, reflection and refraction, interference, and diffraction. It includes explanations of various optical phenomena, mathematical derivations, and experimental setups like Young's double slit experiment. Additionally, it discusses the importance of coherent sources and the effects of changing mediums on light behavior.

Uploaded by

sahaana.23.k
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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WAVE OPTICS

MLL QUESTIONS
GRADE: XII

1. State Huygens’s principle.


2. Define a wavefront.
3. What type of wavefront will emerge from a
(i) point source,
(ii) distant light source and
(iii) line source?
(Delhi 2008)
Answer:
(i) Point source – Spherical wavefront
(ii) Distant light source – Plane wavefront.
(iii) Line source- Cylindrical wavefront.
4. Draw a diagram to show refraction of a plane wave front incident in a convex lens and hence
draw the refracted wave front. (Delhi 2008)
Answer:

concave mirror

5. A plane wavefront is incident at an angle of incidence i on a reflecting surface. Draw a


diagram showing incident wavefront, reflected wavefront and verify the laws of reflection.
(Comptt. Delhi 2015)
Answer:
Diagram of a plane wave front for Reflection :
6. Use Huygen’s principle to verify the laws of refraction.
7. Why is a back wave not possible?
During the propagation of the wave no backward flow of energy is possible. Amplitude of
second wave is proportional to the= 1+cos(angle between the ray at the point of consideration
and the direction of secondary wavelet)
A=1+cos(angle)
A=1+cos(180 degree) = 0 thus, the resultant amplitude and hence energy of all the waves in
the backward direction is zero.
8. a) When monochromatic light is incident on a surface separating two media, the reflected and
refracted ligth both have the same frequency as the incident frequency. Explain why ?
(b) When light travels from a rarer to a denser medium, it loses speed. Does the reduction in
speed imply a reduction in energy carried by the light wave ?
( c) In the wave picture of light, intensity of ligth is determined by the square of amplitude of
wave. What determines the intensity of light in teh photon picture of light ?
(a) The refelction and refraction of light occur on account of interaction of light with the
atoms of the surface of separation. These atoms can be regarded as oscillators.
Light incident on the interface forces the atomic oasillators to osillate with frequency of
incident light. As frequency of light emitted by these (charged) oscillators is equal to their
own frequency of osillation, therefore, relfected and refracted light have the same frequency
as that of incident light.

(b) No, energy carried by the wave does not depend on its speed. Instead, it depends on the
amplitude of wave.
( c) In the photon picture of light, the intensity of light at a point is determined by the number
of photons per unit area around the point.
The above equation implies that when a wave gets refracted into a denser medium (v1 > v2 )
the wavelength and the speed of propagation decrease but the frequency n (= v/λ) remains the
same.
9. Differentiate between coherent and incoherent sources of light.
10. Derive the expression for the intensity at a point where interference of light occurs. Arrive at
the conditions for the maximum and zero intensity.

11. Differentiate between interference and diffraction.


12. a) In Young’s double slit experiment a monochromatic source of light S is kept equidistant
from the slits S2 and S2. Explain the formation of dark and bright fringes on the screen.
(b) 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:
(a) Young’s double slit experiment. The path difference between two rays coming from holes
S1 and S2 is (S2P – S1P). If point P corresponds to a maximum,
If x, d << D, then negligible error will be introduced if (S2P + S1P) in the denominator is
replaced by 2D.

Thus, bright and dark bands appear on the screen. Such bands are called ‘fringes’.
These dark and bright fringes are equally spaced.
13. 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.

14. 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)
Answer:
If sources are not coherent, the superposition pattern (intensity pattern) is not stable. It keeps
on changing with time and hence it is necessary to have coherent sources to observe
interference in Young’s double slit experiment.
15. What happens when Youngs’ double slit is kept inside the water?
The fringe width is given by the formula
Fringe width=D×λ/d
Since on immersing the complete setup of water the wavelength decrease so the fringe is
decreases.
16. What changes occur, if the monochromatic light used in Young's double slit experiment is replaced by
white light?
If a white light is used in the double slit experiment, the different colours will be split up on the
viewing screen according to their wavelengths. The violet end of the spectrum (with the shortest
wavelengths) is closer to the central fringe, with the other colours being further away in order.
17. 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:

(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.

18. 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.
(a) Find the distance of the second
(i) bright fringe,
(ii) dark fringe from the central maximum.
(b) How will the fringe pattern change if the screen is moved away from the slits? (All India
2009)
Answer:

19. Write down the expression for linear width and angular width of central maxima of
diffraction pattern.

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