Scribd
Upload
85 views14 pages

End Game Notes: Ackert 120

The document provides information about an upcoming physics quiz, final exam, and review session. It also summarizes key concepts about double slit interference and diffraction, including how the spacing of interference maxima depends on variables like slit separation, wavelength of light, and position on the observation screen. Example problems assess understanding of how the diffraction pattern would change under different experimental conditions.

Uploaded by

Nathan King
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
85 views14 pages

End Game Notes: Ackert 120

The document provides information about an upcoming physics quiz, final exam, and review session. It also summarizes key concepts about double slit interference and diffraction, including how the spacing of interference maxima depends on variables like slit separation, wavelength of light, and position on the observation screen. Example problems assess understanding of how the diffraction pattern would change under different experimental conditions.

Uploaded by

Nathan King
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

End game notes

Quiz 5, this Friday, Dec. 2, at 4:30PM in CW101,102,103.


Review, this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 7:30 PM, ACKERT 120.
The Final Exam is FRIDAY, DEC 16 at 7:30 AM. I will
reserve up to one problem and up to five conceptual
questions on the final for topics in light and matter. The
remainder of the test will be drawn from small modifications
to problems and questions from Quizzes 1-5.

Double slit interference recap


The path difference between the top
slit and bottom slit will be
(corresponding to nearly parallel
rays) D=dsinq, where for small
angles, sinqtanqq=y/L, with y the
vertical position on the screen, d the
slit separation, and L the distance to
the screen.
Maxima will occur whenever D=nl,
where n is any integer, or for
sinqy/L=nl/d.
Corresponding minima will occur at
sinq y/L=(n+1/2)l/d.

Double slit

A.
B.
C.
D.

What would happen to the separation between maxima


if the intensity of green light increased by 10?
Nothing.
It would increase.
It would decrease.
The pattern would disappear.

Double slit 2

A.
B.
C.
D.

What would happen to the separation between maxima


if the light were switched from green to red?
Nothing.
It would increase.
It would decrease.
The pattern would disappear.

Double slit 3

A.
B.
C.
D.

What would happen to the separation between maxima


if the red light only came through the top slit and green
slight only through the bottom slit?
Nothing.
It would increase.
It would decrease.
The pattern would disappear.

Diffraction
Imagine passing light through a single
slit.If the slit has any width to it, the light
from on side can interfere with light from
the other.
This self-interference is called diffraction.
We will skip the derivations and just state
the main results:
Interference minima will occur when

a sin m

The brightest maximum occurs at q=0.


Secondary maxima occur approximately halfway between the minima.
The secondary maxima diminish in intensity
relative to the central maximum as q increases.

Diffraction 1

A.
B.
C.
D.

What would to the size of the forward diffraction bright


spot if you decreased the size of the slit?
Nothing.
It would increase.
It would decrease.
The pattern would disappear.

Diffraction 2

Suppose you observe a diffraction pattern through a


single slit using a green laser. What would happen to
the pattern if you switched to a red laser.
A. Nothing.
B. The dark spots would move closer to the central bright
spot.
C. The dark spots would move further from the central
bright spot.

Intensity Patterns
2-slit interference.

1-slit diffraction.

2-slit interference with


diffraction at each slit.

Diffraction and Resolution


Suppose we want to know where the beam of light is as
well as we can. To do this, we can make it go through a
small hole, a<<l. But this causes the width of the central
maximum to Dq=2sin-1(l/a)p. We lose information
about the direction of the light.
If we want to make a sharp forward peak in our beam,
establishing the direction well, we take a>>l, so Dq0.
But in doing so we obviously give up information on
where the light is.
We cannot know where light (or anything) is and which
way it is going to arbitrary precision. This is
Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle!

Shining light on a hair


We could think of a human hair as
the cut-out from a lit in a
screen.
When we shine light on the hair,
we find that it does not shadow
a second screen.
The brightest light is right behind
the hair!
The diffraction pattern is the same
as produced by a slit in a
screen.

Diffraction through a circular hole


Very similar interference effects happen as with passage
of light through a slit.
The mathematical details differ (a circle is not a slit), but
the essential physics stays the same: bright spot in the
middle, surrounded now by dark circles (not lines), and
secondary bright rings between the dark rings.
The central maximum is still (something)l/d, but for a
circle we interpret the d as diameter, and the
(something) is 1.22 (from math we will skip).

Diffraction limit of the eye--1


Whats the smallest angle an eye with pupil diameter 5
mm could resolve for l=410 nm light?
A. 100 mrad.
B. 10 mrad.
C. 1 mrad.
D. 0.1 mrad.

Diffraction limit of the eye--2


An object of size x located a distance D away will
subtend and angle x/D if D>>x. Given this, estimate the
farthest distance an oncoming vehicle could be away
from you at night that would let you tell whether it was a
car or a motorcycle.
A. 0.15 km.
B. 1.5 km.
C. 15 km.
D. 150 km.

You might also like