Problem Set - 9
Physics of Waves - PH11003 (Autumn 2025-26)
Interference
1. While performing the Young’s Double slit experiment, one uses a point source placed suffi-
ciently far away from the wall containing the slits. Let us think that we modify this setup by
taking two coherent point sources as shown in Figure 4. Assuming the distance between the
slits to be very less than the distance between the slit and the screen (D >> d) and the dis-
tance between the source and the wall (containing the slits) to be greater than the distance
between the slits (S >> d) as well as between the sources (S >> l), find the following:
Figure 1:
(a) The Intensity as a function of the distance from the central maxima i.e I = I(y).
(b) The visibility which is defined as:
Imax − Imin
V = (1)
Imax + Imin
2. Figure 2 illustrates the interference experiment with Fresnel’s mirrors. The angle between
the mirrors is α = 12’; and the distances from the mirrors’ intersection line to the narrow slit
S and the screen Sc are equal to r = 10.0cm and b = 130cm respectively. The wavelength
of light is λ = 0.55µm. Find:
(a) the width of a fringe on the screen and the number of possible maxima;
(b) the shift of the interference pattern on the screen when the slit is displaced by δl=1 mm
along the arc of radius r with centre at the point O;
(c) the maximum width δmax of the slit at which the interference fringes on the screen are
still observed sufficiently sharp.
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Figure 2:
3. A plane wave of light with wavelength λ = 0.70 µm falls normally on the base of the biprism
made of glass (n=1.520) with a refracting angle θ = 5◦ . Behind the biprism (see Figure 3),
there is a plane parallel plate, with the space between them filled with benzene (n’=1.500).
Find the fringe width on a screen placed behind this system.
Figure 3:
4. In one arm of a Michelson interferometer, a glass chamber is placed with attachments for
evacuating the inside and putting gases in it (Figure 4). The space inside the container is
2 cm wide. Initially, the container is empty. As gas is slowly let into the chamber, you
observe that dark fringes move past a reference line in the field of observation. By the time
the chamber is filled to the desired pressure, you have counted 122 fringes move past the
reference line. The wavelength of the light used is 632.8 nm. What is the refractive index of
this gas?
Figure 4:
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5. In Michelson’s interferometer the yellow sodium light composed of two wavelengths λ1 =
589.0 nm and λ2 = 589.6 nm was used. In the process of translational displacement of one
of the mirrors the interference pattern vanished periodically. Find the displacement of the
mirror between two successive appearances of the sharpest pattern.
6. A plane monochromatic light wave with wavelength λ falls on the surface of a glass wedge
whose faces form an angle α << 1◦ . The plane of incidence is perpendicular to the edge,
and the angle of incidence is θ1 . Find the distance between the neighbouring fringe maxima
on the screen placed at right angles to the reflected light.
7. The spherical surface of a plano-convex lens comes into contact with a glass plate. The space
between the lens and the plate is filled up with carbon dioxide. The refractive indices of
the lens, carbon dioxide, and the plate are equal to n1 = 1.50, n2 = 1.63, and n3 = 1.70,
respectively. The curvature radius of the spherical surface of the lens is equal to R = 100
cm. Determine the radius of the fifth dark Newton’s ring in reflected light with wavelength
λ = 0.50 µm.
8. Two thin symmetric glass lenses, one biconvex and the other biconcave, are brought into
contact to make a system with optical power Φ = 0.50 D. Newton’s rings are observed in
reflected light with wavelength λ = 0.61 µm. Determine:
(a) the radius of the tenth dark ring;
(b) how the radius of that ring will change when the space between the lenses is filled with
water. (Given nglass = 1.50 and nwater = 1.33)
9. The convex surface of a plano-convex glass lens with curvature radius R = 40 cm comes into
contact with a glass plate. A certain ring observed in reflected light has a radius r = 2.5
mm. Watching the given ring, the lens was gradually removed from the plate by a distance
∆h = 5.0 µm. What has the radius of that ring become equal to?
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