Chapter 35

Two small stereo speakers \(A\) and \(B\) that are 1.40 m apart are sending out sound of wavelength 34 cm in all directions and all in phase. A person at point \(P\) starts out equidistant from both speakers and walks so that he is always 1.50 m from speaker \(B\) (Fig. E35.1). For what values of x will the sound this person hears be (a) maximally reinforced, (b) cancelled? Limit your solution to the cases where x \(\leq\) 1.50 m.

A radio transmitting station operating at a frequency of 120 MHz has two identical antennas that radiate in phase. Antenna B is 9.00 m to the right of antenna A. Consider point P between the antennas and along the line connecting them, a horizontal distance x to the right of antenna A. For what values of x will constructive interference occur at point P?

Two speakers that are 15.0 m apart produce in-phase sound waves of frequency 250.0 Hz in a room where the speed of sound is 340.0 m/s. A woman starts out at the midpoint between the two speakers. The room's walls and ceiling are covered with absorbers to eliminate reflections, and she listens with only one ear for best precision. (a) What does she hear: constructive or destructive interference? Why? (b) She now walks slowly toward one of the speakers. How far from the center must she walk before she first hears the sound reach a minimum intensity? (c) How far from the center must she walk before she first hears the sound maximally enhanced?

Two radio antennas \(A\) and \(B\) radiate in phase. Antenna \(B\) is 120 m to the right of antenna \(A\). Consider point \(Q\) along the extension of the line connecting the antennas, a horizontal distance of 40 m to the right of antenna \(B\). The frequency, and hence the wavelength, of the emitted waves can be varied. (a) What is the longest wavelength for which there will be destructive interference at point \(Q\)? (b) What is the longest wavelength for which there will be constructive interference at point \(Q\)?

Two light sources can be adjusted to emit monochromatic light of any visible wavelength. The two sources are coherent, 2.04 \(\mu\)m apart, and in line with an observer, so that one source is 2.04 \(\mu\)m farther from the observer than the other. (a) For what visible wavelengths (380 to 750 nm) will the observer see the brightest light, owing to constructive interference? (b) How would your answers to part (a) be affected if the two sources were not in line with the observer, but were still arranged so that one source is 2.04 \(\mu\)m farther away from the observer than the other? (c) For what visible wavelengths will there be \(destructive\) interference at the location of the observer?

Young's experiment is performed with light from excited helium atoms (\(\lambda\) = 502 nm). Fringes are measured carefully on a screen 1.20 m away from the double slit, and the center of the 20th fringe (not counting the central bright fringe) is found to be 10.6 mm from the center of the central bright fringe. What is the separation of the two slits?

Coherent light with wavelength 450 nm falls on a pair of slits. On a screen 1.80 m away, the distance between dark fringes is 3.90 mm. What is the slit separation?

Two slits spaced 0.450 mm apart are placed 75.0 cm from a screen. What is the distance between the second and third dark lines of the interference pattern on the screen when the slits are illuminated with coherent light with a wavelength of 500 nm?

Two thin parallel slits that are 0.0116 mm apart are illuminated by a laser beam of wavelength 585 nm. (a) On a very large distant screen, what is the \(total\) number of bright fringes (those indicating complete constructive interference), including the central fringe and those on both sides of it? Solve this problem without calculating all the angles! (\(Hint\): What is the largest that sin u can be? What does this tell you is the largest value of \(m\)?) (b) At what angle, relative to the original direction of the beam, will the fringe that is most distant from the central bright fringe occur?

Coherent light with wavelength 400 nm passes through two very narrow slits that are separated by 0.200 mm, and the interference pattern is observed on a screen 4.00 m from the slits. (a) What is the width (in mm) of the central interference maximum? (b) What is the width of the first-order bright fringe?

Two very narrow slits are spaced 1.80 \(\mu\)m apart and are placed 35.0 cm from a screen. What is the distance between the first and second dark lines of the interference pattern when the slits are illuminated with coherent light with \(\lambda\) = 550 nm? (Hint: The angle \(\theta\) in Eq. (35.5) is \(not\) small.)

Coherent light that contains two wavelengths, 660 nm (red) and 470 nm (blue), passes through two narrow slits that are separated by 0.300 mm. Their interference pattern is observed on a screen 4.00 m from the slits. What is the distance on the screen between the first-order bright fringes for the two wavelengths?

Coherent light with wavelength 600 nm passes through two very narrow slits and the interference pattern is observed on a screen 3.00 m from the slits. The first-order bright fringe is at 4.84 mm from the center of the central bright fringe. For what wavelength of light will the first-order dark fringe be observed at this same point on the screen?

Coherent light of frequency \(6.32 \times10^{14}\) Hz passes through two thin slits and falls on a screen 85.0 cm away. You observe that the third bright fringe occurs at \(\pm\)3.11 cm on either side of the central bright fringe. (a) How far apart are the two slits? (b) At what distance from the central bright fringe will the third dark fringe occur?

In a two-slit interference pattern, the intensity at the peak of the central maximum is \(I_0\) . (a) At a point in the pattern where the phase difference between the waves from the two slits is 60.0\(^\circ\), what is the intensity? (b) What is the path difference for 480-nm light from the two slits at a point where the phase difference is 60.0\(^\circ\)?

Coherent sources \(A\) and \(B\) emit electromagnetic waves with wavelength 2.00 cm. Point \(P\) is 4.86 m from \(A\) and 5.24 m from \(B\). What is the phase difference at \(P\) between these two waves?

Coherent light with wavelength 500 nm passes through narrow slits separated by 0.340 mm. At a distance from the slits large compared to their separation, what is the phase difference (in radians) in the light from the two slits at an angle of 23.0\(^\circ\) from the centerline?

Two slits spaced 0.260 mm apart are 0.900 m from a screen and illuminated by coherent light of wavelength 660 nm. The intensity at the center of the central maximum (\(\theta\) = 0\(^\circ\)) is \(I_0\) . What is the distance on the screen from the center of the central maximum (a) to the first minimum; (b) to the point where the intensity has fallen to \(I_0\) /2?

Two slits spaced \(0.0720 \mathrm{~mm}\) apart are \(0.800 \mathrm{~m}\) from a screen. Coherent light of wavelength \(\lambda\) passes through the two slits. In their interference pattern on the screen, the distance from the center of the central maximum to the first minimum is \(3.00 \mathrm{~mm} .\) If the intensity at the peak of the central maximum is \(0.0600 \mathrm{~W} / \mathrm{m}^{2},\) what is the intensity at points on the screen that are (a) \(2.00 \mathrm{~mm}\) and (b) \(1.50 \mathrm{~mm}\) from the center of the central maximum?

What is the thinnest film of a coating with \(n\) = 1.42 on glass (\(n\) = 1.52) for which destructive interference of the red component (650 nm) of an incident white light beam in air can take place by reflection?

When viewing a piece of art that is behind glass, one often is affected by the light that is reflected off the front of the glass (called \(glare\)), which can make it difficult to see the art clearly. One solution is to coat the outer surface of the glass with a film to cancel part of the glare. (a) If the glass has a refractive index of 1.62 and you use Ti\(O^2\) , which has an index of refraction of 2.62, as the coating, what is the minimum film thickness that will cancel light of wavelength 505 nm? (b) If this coating is too thin to stand up to wear, what other thickness would also work? Find only the three thinnest ones.

Two rectangular pieces of plane glass are laid one upon the other on a table. A thin strip of paper is placed between them at one edge so that a very thin wedge of air is formed. The plates are illuminated at normal incidence by 546-nm light from a mercury-vapor lamp. Interference fringes are formed, with 15.0 fringes per centimeter. Find the angle of the wedge

A plate of glass 9.00 cm long is placed in contact with a second plate and is held at a small angle with it by a metal strip 0.0800 mm thick placed under one end. The space between the plates is filled with air. The glass is illuminated from above with light having a wavelength in air of 656 nm. How many interference fringes are observed per centimeter in the reflected light?

A uniform film of TiO\(_2\) , 1036 nm thick and having index of refraction 2.62, is spread uniformly over the surface of crown glass of refractive index 1.52. Light of wavelength 520.0 nm falls at normal incidence onto the film from air. You want to increase the thickness of this film so that the reflected light cancels. (a) What is the \(minimum\) thickness of TiO\(_2\) that you must \(add\) so the reflected light cancels as desired? (b) After you make the adjustment in part (a), what is the path difference between the light reflected off the top of the film and the light that cancels it after traveling through the film? Express your answer in (i) nanometers and (ii) wavelengths of the light in the TiO\(_2\) film.

A plastic film with index of refraction 1.70 is applied to the surface of a car window to increase the reflectivity and thus to keep the car's interior cooler. The window glass has index of refraction 1.52. (a) What minimum thickness is required if light of wavelength 550 nm in air reflected from the two sides of the film is to interfere constructively? (b) Coatings as thin as that calculated in part (a) are difficult to manufacture and install. What is the next greater thickness for which constructive interference will also occur?

A researcher measures the thickness of a layer of benzene (\(n\) = 1.50) floating on water by shining monochromatic light onto the film and varying the wavelength of the light. She finds that light of wavelength 575 nm is reflected most strongly from the film. What does she calculate for the minimum thickness of the film?

A compact disc (CD) is read from the bottom by a semiconductor laser with wavelength 790 nm passing through a plastic substrate of refractive index 1.8. When the beam encounters a pit, part of the beam is reflected from the pit and part from the flat region between the pits, so these two beams interfere with each other (Fig. E35.31). What must the minimum pit depth be so that the part of the beam reflected from a pit cancels the part of the beam reflected from the flat region? (It is this cancellation that allows the player to recognize the beginning and end of a pit.)

What is the thinnest soap film (excluding the case of zero thickness) that appears black when illuminated with light with wavelength 480 nm? The index of refraction of the film is 1.33, and there is air on both sides of the film.

Jan first uses a Michelson interferometer with the 606-nm light from a krypton-86 lamp. He displaces the movable mirror away from him, counting 818 fringes moving across a line in his field of view. Then Linda replaces the krypton lamp with filtered 502-nm light from a helium lamp and displaces the movable mirror toward her. She also counts 818 fringes, but they move across the line in her field of view opposite to the direction they moved for Jan. Assume that both Jan and Linda counted to 818 correctly. (a) What distance did each person move the mirror? (b) What is the resultant displacement of the mirror?

One round face of a 3.25-m, solid, cylindrical plastic pipe is covered with a thin black coating that completely blocks light. The opposite face is covered with a fluorescent coating that glows when it is struck by light. Two straight, thin, parallel scratches, 0.225 mm apart, are made in the center of the black face. When laser light of wavelength 632.8 nm shines through the slits perpendicular to the black face, you find that the central bright fringe on the opposite face is 5.82 mm wide, measured between the dark fringes that border it on either side. What is the index of refraction of the plastic?

Eyeglass lenses can be coated on the \(inner\) surfaces to reduce the reflection of stray light to the eye. If the lenses are medium flint glass of refractive index 1.62 and the coating is fluorite of refractive index 1.432, (a) what minimum thickness of film is needed on the lenses to cancel light of wavelength 550 nm reflected toward the eye at normal incidence? (b) Will any other wavelengths of visible light be cancelled or enhanced in the reflected light?

After an eye examination, you put some eyedrops on your sensitive eyes. The cornea (the front part of the eye) has an index of refraction of 1.38, while the eyedrops have a refractive index of 1.45. After you put in the drops, your friends notice that your eyes look red, because red light of wavelength 600 nm has been reinforced in the reflected light. (a) What is the minimum thickness of the film of eyedrops on your cornea? (b) Will any other wavelengths of visible light be reinforced in the reflected light? Will any be cancelled? (c) Suppose you had contact lenses, so that the eyedrops went on them instead of on your corneas. If the refractive index of the lens material is 1.50 and the layer of eyedrops has the same thickness as in part (a), what wavelengths of visible light will be reinforced? What wavelengths will be cancelled?

Two flat plates of glass with parallel faces are on a table, one plate on the other. Each plate is 11.0 cm long and has a refractive index of 1.55. A very thin sheet of metal foil is inserted under the end of the upper plate to raise it slightly at that end, in a manner similar to that discussed in Example 35.4. When you view the glass plates from above with reflected white light, you observe that, at 1.15 mm from the line where the sheets are in contact, the violet light of wavelength 400.0 nm is enhanced in this reflected light, but no visible light is enhanced closer to the line of contact. (a) How far from the line of contact will green light (of wavelength 550.0 nm) and orange light (of wavelength 600.0 nm) first be enhanced? (b) How far from the line of contact will the violet, green, and orange light again be enhanced in the reflected light? (c) How thick is the metal foil holding the ends of the plates apart?

Suppose you illuminate two thin slits by monochromatic coherent light in air and find that they produce their first interference \(minima\) at \(\pm35.20^\circ\) on either side of the central bright spot. You then immerse these slits in a transparent liquid and illuminate them with the same light. Now you find that the first minima occur at \(\pm19.46^\circ\) instead. What is the index of refraction of this liquid?

Two speakers \(A\) and \(B\) are 3.50 m apart, and each one is emitting a frequency of 444 Hz. However, because of signal delays in the cables, speaker \(A\) is one-fourth of a period ahead of speaker \(B\). For points far from the speakers, find all the angles relative to the centerline (Fig. P35.44) at which the sound from these speakers cancels. Include angles on both sides of the centerline. The speed of sound is 340 m/s.

A thin uniform film of refractive index 1.750 is placed on a sheet of glass of refractive index 1.50. At room temperature (20.0\(^\circ\)C), this film is just thick enough for light with wavelength 582.4 nm reflected off the top of the film to be cancelled by light reflected from the top of the glass. After the glass is placed in an oven and slowly heated to 170\(^\circ\)C, you find that the film cancels reflected light with wavelength 588.5 nm. What is the coefficient of linear expansion of the film? (Ignore any changes in the refractive index of the film due to the temperature change.)

White light reflects at normal incidence from the top and bottom surfaces of a glass plate (\(n\) = 1.52). There is air above and below the plate. Constructive interference is observed for light whose wavelength in air is 477.0 nm. What is the thickness of the plate if the next longer wavelength for which there is constructive interference is 540.6 nm?

Laser light of wavelength 510 nm is traveling in air and shines at normal incidence onto the flat end of a transparent plastic rod that has \(n\) = 1.30. The end of the rod has a thin coating of a transparent material that has refractive index 1.65. What is the minimum (nonzero) thickness of the coating (a) for which there is maximum transmission of the light into the rod; (b) for which transmission into the rod is minimized?

Red light with wavelength 700 nm is passed through a two-slit apparatus. At the same time, monochromatic visible light with another wavelength passes through the same apparatus. As a result, most of the pattern that appears on the screen is a mixture of two colors; however, the center of the third bright fringe (\(m\) = 32) of the red light appears pure red, with none of the other color. What are the possible wavelengths of the second type of visible light? Do you need to know the slit spacing to answer this question? Why or why not?

After a laser beam passes through two thin parallel slits, the first completely dark fringes occur at \(\pm\)19.0\(^\circ\) with the original direction of the beam, as viewed on a screen far from the slits. (a) What is the ratio of the distance between the slits to the wavelength of the light illuminating the slits? (b) What is the smallest angle, relative to the original direction of the laser beam, at which the intensity of the light is \(1 \over 10\) the maximum intensity on the screen?

In your research lab, a very thin, flat piece of glass with refractive index 1.40 and uniform thickness covers the opening of a chamber that holds a gas sample. The refractive indexes of the gases on either side of the glass are very close to unity. To determine the thickness of the glass, you shine coherent light of wavelength \(\lambda_0\) in vacuum at normal incidence onto the surface of the glass. When \(\lambda_0\) = 496 nm, constructive interference occurs for light that is reflected at the two surfaces of the glass. You find that the next shorter wavelength in vacuum for which there is constructive interference is 386 nm. (a) Use these measurements to calculate the thickness of the glass. (b) What is the longest wavelength in vacuum for which there is constructive interference for the reflected light?

The index of refraction of a glass rod is 1.48 at \(T\) =20.0\(^\circ\)C and varies linearly with temperature, with a coefficient of 2.50 \(\times\) 10\(^{-5}\)/C\(^\circ\). The coefficient of linear expansion of the glass is 5.00 \(\times\) 10\(^{-6}\)/C\(^\circ\). At 20.0\(^\circ\)C the length of the rod is 3.00 cm. A Michelson interferometer has this glass rod in one arm, and the rod is being heated so that its temperature increases at a rate of 5.00 C\(^\circ\)/min. The light source has wavelength \(\lambda\) = 589 nm, and the rod initially is at \(T\) = 20.0\(^\circ\)C. How many fringes cross the field of view each minute?