Chapter 10 Wave Optics

1. Briefly discuss the various theories about the nature of light

[Link] theory of light: Light consists of tiny particles called corpuscles
which are shot out at high speed by a luminous object.
2. Wave theory of light: Light travels in the form of longitudinal waves just as
sound propagates through air. Light waves propagate through an all-pervading
hypothetical medium called luminiferous ether. Fresnel and Young showed that
light propagates as a transverse wave.
3. Electromagnetic nature of light waves. Light propagates as electric and
magnetic field oscillations. These are called electromagnetic waves which
require no medium for their propagation. These waves are transverse in nature.
4. Planck's quantum theory of light: Light travels in the form of small packets
of energy called photons.
2. Define wavefront
The locus of all points oscillating in the same phase is called a wavefront. A
wavefront is a surface of constant phase. The speed with which the wavefront
moves outwards from the source is called the phase speed.
[Link] are spherical, cylindrical and plane wavefronts?
[Link] wavefront: In the case of waves travelling in all directions from a
point source the wavefronts are spherical in shape
[Link] wavefront: When the source of light is linear in shape, such as a
fine rectangular slit the wavefront is cylindrical in shape.
[Link] wavefront : a small portion of such a wavefront at a large distance
from the source will be a Plane wavefront.

4. Describe Huygens' principle of secondary wavelets

According to Huygens principle,
[Link] point on given wavefront (primary wavefront) acts as a fresh source of
new disturbance, called secondary wavelets.
[Link] secondary wavelets spread out in all the directions with the speed of light
in the medium.
3.A surface touching these secondary wavelets tangentially in the forward
direction at any instant gives the new (secondary) wavefront at that instant.
4. Huygens' geometrical construction for the propagation of (a) spherical, (b)
plane wavefront.

5, sketch wavefronts corresponding to parallel, converging and diverging

rays of light. Backward wavefront is not possible. Why?

There cannot be backward flow of energy during the propagation of a [Link]

backward wavefront is not possible
6. Derive the laws of reflection of light on the basis of Huygens' wave theory
of light.
[Link] a plane wavefront AB incident on the plane reflecting surface XY,
both the wavefront and the reflecting surface perpendicular to the plane of
paper.
2. The wavefront touches the reflecting surface at B and then at the successive
points towards C. During the time the disturbance from A reaches the point C.
Radius BD = AC = ct,
The tangent plane CD drawn from the point C over this hemisphere of radius cf
will be the new reflected wavefront.

The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. This proves the first
law of reflection.
7. Derive the laws of refraction of light on the basis of Huygens' wave
theory of light.
Case 1: Refraction of a plane wave incident on denser medium
1. Consider a plane wavefront AB incident on a plane surface XY, separating
two media 1 and 2,
2. Let v1 and v2 be the velocities of light in the two media, with V2< v1

3. Let the angles of incidence and refraction be i and r respectively.

From right ∆ABC, we have
From right ∆ADC, we have

This proves Snell's law of refraction. 1μ2 is called the refractive index of the
second medium with respect to first medium.
Case 2: Refraction of a plane wave incident on a rarer medium
Let v1 and v2 be the velocities of light in the two media, with V2 > v1

8. Discuss the effect on wavelength, frequency and speed of light as it passes

from one medium to another.
1. The source emits a wavefront after every time interval T and also each
wavefront takes time T to travel from the source to the [Link] frequency v
remains the same as light travels from one medium to another.
9. Discuss the action of a prism, a convex lens and a concave mirror, when a
plane wavefront is incident on each of them.
[Link] of light in glass is smaller than that in air,
2. Central part B of the plane wavefront travels through the greatest thickness of
the lens

10. State and explain the principle of superposition of waves .

When a number of waves travelling through a medium superpose on each other,
the resultant displacement at any point at a given instant is equal to the vector
sum of the displacements due to the individual at that point.

When the two superposing waves are in the same phase.

a) the crest of one falls over the crest of another
b) the trough of one falls over the trough of another
c) the crest of one falls over the trough of another
11. What is interference of light ?
When two light waves of the same frequency and having zero or constant phase
difference travelling in the same direction superpose each other, the intensity in
the region of superposition gets redistributed, becoming maximum at some
points and minimum at others. This phenomenon is called interference of light.
[Link] Young's double slit experiment for observing the interference
of light.
1. A source of monochromatic light(a sodium vapour lamp) a rectangular
narrow slit S, about 1 mm wide,
2. An observation screen is placed at a distance of nearly 2 m from the two slits.
[Link] bright and dark bands appear on the observation screen.
4. S1 and S2 act as two coherent sources of monochromatic light. Interference
takes place between the waves diverging from these sources.
5.P2 and P2’ the crest of one wave falls over the crest of other wave or the
trough of one wave falls over the trough of other wave, the amplitudes of the
two waves get added up and hence the intensity {I ∝ a 2) becomes maximum.
This is called constructive interference.
6.P1 and P1’ the crest of one wave falls over the trough of other or the trough of
one wave falls over the crest of other wave, the amplitudes of the two waves get
subtracted and hence the intensity becomes minimum. This is called destructive
interference.
13. Derive an expression for the intensity at any point on the screen in
Young’s double slit experiment .
1. Suppose the displacements of two light waves from two coherent sources s1
and s2 at point P on the observation screen at any time t .

where a1 and a2 are the amplitudes of the two waves, ɸ is the constant phase
difference between the two waves .
By the superposition principle,

To determine A, squaring and adding (1) and (2),

But intensity of a wave ∝ a 2

 is called interference term.
14. Write the conditions for constructive and destructive interference.
Constructive interference:
The resultant intensity at the point P will be maximum when

Since a phase difference of 2π corresponds to a path difference of λ

The path difference between the two superposing waves,

Destructive interference.
The resultant intensity at point P will be minimum when

15. What do you mean by coherent and incoherent sources of light ?

[Link] sources of light, which emit continuous light waves of the same
wavelength, same frequency and in same phase or having a constant phase
difference are known as coherent sources.
[Link] sources of light which do not emit light waves with a constant phase
difference are called incoherent sources.
[Link] an expression for fringe width in Young's double slit experiment.
1. suppose a narrow slit S is illuminated by monochromatic light of wavelength
λ. .S1 and $2 are two narrow slits at equal distance from S. S1 and $2 are act as
two coherent sources,

2. Consider a point P on the screen at distance x from the centre O. The nature
of the interference at the point P depends on path difference,
p=S2P-S1P
From right-angled ∆S2 BP and ∆S1AP,

17. Deduce an expression for Positions of bright fringes, Positions of dark

fringes, Fringe width.
[Link] constructive interference.
2. For destructive interference.

3. Fringe width.
It is the separation between two successive bright or dark fringes,
Width of a dark fringe = Separation between two consecutive bright fringes

Width of a bright fringe = Separation between two consecutive dark fringes

Β is independent of n (the order of fringe), all the fringes are of equal width.
λ is extremely small, D should be much larger than D
18. Draw and explain the graph showing the variation of intensity in the
interference pattern in Young's double slit experiment.
The intensity of a bright fringe will be

The intensity of a dark fringe will be

All bright fringes will have the same maximum intensity. All dark fringes will be
perfectly dark.
19. Derive an expression for the ratio of intensities at maxima and minima
in an interference pattern.
Intensity ∝ Amplitude2
Amplitude at a maximum in interference pattern a= a1+a2 Amplitude at a
minimum in interference pattern = a1 - a2
the ratio of intensities at maxima and minima is

20. Explain the effect on the interference fringes in a Young's double slit
experiment when the monochromatic source is replaced by a source of
white light.
[Link] light consists of colours from violet to red with wavelength range from
4000 A to 7000 A.
[Link] component colours of white light produce their own interference
pattern.
[Link] the centre of the screen, the path difference for all such components. So
bright fringes of different colours overlap at the centre. So, the central fringe is
white.
[Link] is diffraction of light ? Give some simple experiment illustrating
diffraction of light.
The phenomenon of bending of light around the corners of small obstacles or
apertures and its consequent spreading into the regions of geometrical shadow
Is called diffraction of light.

Diffraction of light round corners of (a) a small aperture (b) a small object.
A single slit formed by two blades.

22. Distinguish between Fresnel and Fraunhoffer diffraction.

[Link]'s diffraction. In Fresnel's diffraction, the source and screen are
placed close to the aperture or the obstacle and light after diffraction appears
converging towards the screen and hence no lens is required to observe it. The
incident wave fronts are either spherical or cylindrical.
[Link]'s diffraction. In Fraunhoffer's diffraction, the source and screen
are placed at large distances (effectively at infinity) from the aperture or the
obstacle and converging lens is used to observe the diffraction pattern. The
incident wavefront is planar one
23. Explain the phenomenon of diffraction of light at a single slit to show
the formation of diffraction fringes. Show graphically the variation of
intensity with angle in this diffraction pattern. Why secondary maxima are
less intense than the central maximum ?
Diffraction of light at a single slit:

1. Suppose a parallel beam of light from a monochromatic source is incident on

a narrow slit LN of width a.
2. The incident plane wavefront WW disturbs all parts of the slit LN
3. According to Huygens' theory, all parts of slit LN will become source of
secondary wavelets, which all start in the same phase.
4. These wavelets spread out in all directions, causing diffraction of light.
5. The diffraction pattern consists of a central bright band surrounded by
alternate dark and bright bands and is obtained on a distant screen.
Central maximum.
At the central point O, secondary wavelet have zero path difference they are in
same phase. They add up constructively to produce a central bright fringe.
Calculation of path difference.
The secondary wavelets start from different parts of the slit in same phases. but
they reach the point P in different phases.
Difference between the wavelets from Land N
p = NP-LP = NQ = a sinϴ
Positions of minima.
Suppose the point P is so located on the screen that p = λ and ϴ = ϴ1
asinϴ1 = λ
The path difference between any two corresponding points M1 and M2 of the
slit will be λ/2.
For first dark fringe : Asin ϴ1 = λ
For second dark fringe: asinϴ2 = 2λ
For nth dark fringe : asinϴn = nλ (n=1,2,3….)
The directions of various minima are
Sin ϴn = ϴn= nλ / a
Positions of secondary maxima.

For first secondary maximum :

For second secondary maximum :

condition for nth secondary maximum

The directions of secondary maxima

[Link] distribution curve.

If we plot a graph between intensity and diffraction angle
Maxima at positions

minima at positions,

the intensities of secondary maxima relating to the intensitv of central

maximum are in ratio,

25. Deduce expressions for (i) angular width of central maximum (ii) linear
width of central maximum and (Hi) linear width of a secondary maximum.
Angular width of central maximum. The angular width of the central maximum
is the angular separation between the directions of the first minima on the two
sides of the central maximum,

The directions of first minima on either side of central maximum are given by

this angle is called half angular width of central maximum.

Linear width of central maximum.

Angular width of nth secondary maximum

Thus the central maximum of a diffraction pattern twice as wide as any

secondary maximum.
26. Give some important points of difference between interference and
diffraction.
Interference:
1. Interference is the result of superposition of secondary waves starting from
two different wavefronts originating from two coherent sources.
2. All bright and dark fringes are of equal width.
3. All bright fringes are of same intensity.
4. Regions of dark fringes are perfectly dark. So there is a good contrast
between bright and dark fringes.
5. At an angle of λ / d, we get a bright fringe in the interference pattern of two
narrow slits separated by a distance d.
Diffraction
1. Diffraction is the result of superposition of secondary waves starting from
different parts of the same wavefront.
2. The width of central bright fringe is twice the width of any secondary
maximum.
3. Intensity of bright fringes decreases as we move away from central bright
fringe on either side.
4. Regions of dark fringes are not perfectly dark. So there is a poor contrast
between bright and dark fringes.
5. At an angle λ/ a, we get the first dark fringe in the diffraction pattern of a
single slit of width a.
27. Draw the actual double-slit interference pattern.

[Link] are unpolarised and polarised waves ?

A light which has vibrations in all directions in a plane perpendicular to the
direction of propagation is said to be unpolarised light.
If the Electric field vector of a light wave vibrates just in one direction
perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. then it is said to be linearly
polarised.

a) Regular variation of electric field vector of linearly polarised light,

b) Vibrations parallel to the plane of paper,
c) Vibrations perpendicular to the plane of paper.
[Link] longitudinal waves be polarised ?
No, Longitudinal waves cannot be polarised because these waves are
symmetrical about the direction of propagation.
30. What are polarisers ? Name some commonly used polariser.
A device that plane-polarises the unpolarised light passed through .
Eg: Tourmaline crystal, Nicol prism, Polaroid.
30. State and explain the law of Malus. Sketch a graph showing the dependence
of intensity of transmitted light on the angle between polariser and analyser.
Malus discovered that when a beam of completely plane polarised light is
passed through analyser, the intensity T of transmitted light varies directly as the
square of the cosine of the angle 'ϴ' between the transmission directions of
polariser and analyser.

I0 is the maximum intensity of transmitted light.