WAVE OPTICS

PREVIOUS YEAR BOARD EXAM QUESTIONS

1 MARK QUESTIONS
1. If a monochromatic source of light is replaced by
white light, what change would you observe in the
diffraction pattern obtained?
2. In Young’s Double Slit Experiment (YDSE) , how would
the angular separation of interference fringes change,
when distance between screen and slits are doubled?
3. In YDSE, if s is the size of source and d is its distance
from plane of two slits, what should be the criterion for
interference fringes to be seen?
4. Justify the statement- “Brewster angle for a
transparent medium is different for lights of different
colours”.
5. What does a polaroid consists of? How it produces a
linearly polarized light?
6. When a partially polarized light beam is passed
through a Polaroid, show graphically the variation of
transmitted light intensity with angle of rotation of
Polaroid.
7. Give reason- “When a tiny circular obstacle is placed
on the path of light from a distant source, a bright spot
is seen at centre of shadow of obstacle.”
8. In what way, is diffraction from each slit related to
interference pattern in YDSE?
9. Draw the wavefront coming out of a convex lens
when a plane wave is incident on it.
10. How will intensity of maxima and minima in YDSE
change, if one of the two slits is covered by a
transparent paper which transmits only half of the light
intensity?
11. When unpolarised light passes from air to
transparent medium, under what condition does the
refracted light gets polarized?
12. Using Huygens principle to show how a plane
wavefront propagates from denser to rarer medium.
13. Write the expression for resultant intensity at a
point due to super position of two monochromatic
waves y1= acos(ωt) and y2= acos(ωt+φ).
14. Draw sketches to differentiate between plane
wavefront and spherical wavefront.
15. What is the value of refractive index of a medium of
polarizing angle 600?
2 MARK QUESTIONS
1. Draw the intensity distribution curve, obtained on
screen on YDSE,
(a). when width of each slit is comparable to the
wavelength used.
(b). when the width of each light is relatively larger
compared to wavelength of light.
2. Justify the statement- “Diffraction defines the limit
of ray optics”.
3. The intensity at the central maxima in YDSE id I0. If a
point P is located at a distance of one-third of fringe
width of pattern, show that the net intensity at point P
would be quarter of I0.
4. A third Polaroid P3 is placed between P1 and P2 with
its pass axis making an angle with P1. If I1,I2,I3 represent
intensities of light emitted by P1,P2 and P3, determine
the angle between P2 and P1 and also determine angle
for which all the three intensities emitted are equal.
5. Light of wavelength 550 nm is incident as parallel
beam on a slit of width 0.1 mm. Find angular width and
linear width of principal maxima in resulting diffraction
pattern on a screen kept at distance 1.1 m apart from
slit. Which of these widths would no change, if screen
were moved to a distance of 2.2 m from slit?
6. A parallel beam of light of wavelength 500 nm falls on
a narrow slit and resulting diffraction pattern is
observed on a screen 1 m away. It is observed that first
minimum is at a distance of 2.5 mm away from the
centre. Find the width of the slit.
7. If a light beam shows no intensity variation when
transmitted through a Polaroid which is rotated, does it
mean that light is unpolarised? Justify your answer.
8. Name the phenomenon which proves the transverse
wave nature of light. Give two uses of devices that
functions on this phenomenon.
9. Two polaroids are placed perpendicular to each other
and the transmitted intensity is zero.
(a). What happens when one more Polaroid is placed
between these two, bisecting the angle between
them?
(b). How will intensity of transmitted light vary on
further rotating the third Polaroid?
10. Name the phenomenon which is responsible for
bending of corners around sharp corners of obstacle.
Under what conditions does the phenomenon take
place? Give one application of this phenomenon in daily
life.
11. Show with a diagram of how an unpolarized light
gets polarized, due to scattering.
12. Show that when a linearly polarized light is viewed
through a second Polaroid, which is rotated through
3600, two maxima and minima can be seen.
13. “For a single slit of width ‘a’, the first maximum of
interference pattern of monochromatic light of
wavelength λ, occurs at an angle λ/2. At the same angle
of λ/2, we get a maximum for two narrow slits
separated by distance ‘a’.”- Explain the statement.
14. Show, using suitable diagram how unpolarized light
can be polarized by reflection phenomenon.
15. Sketch the pattern of fringes formed due to
diffraction at a single slit showing variation of intensity
with an angle θ.
16. (a). When a wave propagates from a rarer to denser
medium, which characteristic of wave does not
change? Why?
(b). What is the ratio of velocity of wave in two
media of refractive indices n1 and n2?
17. Unpolarized light of intensity I0 is incident on a
poloroid P1 which is kept near another poloroid P2
whose pass axis is parallel to that of P1. How will
intensities of light I1 and O2 transmitted respectively by
P1 and P2, change on rotating P1 without disturbing P2?
Write the relation between intensities I1 and I2.
18. Draw a graph showing dependence of intensity of
transmitted light and angle between analyser and
polarizer. Explain clearly, how one understands this
from Malus Law.
19. Using Huygens principle, draw the diagrams to show
the nature of wavefronts when an incident plane
wavefront gets reflected from convex mirror and when
refracted from concave lens.
20. In YDSE, what would be the width of each slit to
obtain 10 maxima of double slit pattern within central
maximum of single slit pattern, for green light of
wavelength 500 nm, if separation between two slits is 1
mm.
21. (a). Write the necessary conditions to obtain
substained interference fringes.
(b). What is the effect on fringe width, if distance
between slit is reduced keeping other parameters
same?
22. A beam of light consisting of two wavelengths 800
nm and 600 nm is used to obtain the interference
fringes in YDSE, on a screen, placed 1.4 m away. If the
two slits are separated by 0.28 mm, calculate least
distance from central bright fringes of two wavelengths
coincide.
23. Does the intensity of polarized light emitted by a
poloroid depend on its orientation? How? The
vibrations in a beam of polarized light make an angle of
600 with axis of poloroid sheet. What percentage of
light is transmitted through sheet?

24. Figure shows a system of two polarizing sheets in

the path of initially unpolarized light. The polarizing
direction of first sheet is parallel to x-axis and that of
second sheet is 600 clockwise from x-axis. Calculate
what fraction of intensity of light emerges from the
system.
25. (a). “In the wave picture of light, intensity of light is
determined by the square of amplitude of wave”-
What determines the intensity in photon nature of
light?

(b). In YDSE, two slits are 1 mm apart and screen is

placed 1 m away from slits. Calculate the fringe width
when light of 500 nm is used.

3 MARK QUESTIONS
1. (a). Using phenomenon of polarization, show how the
transverse nature of light is demonstrable.
(b).Two polaroids P1 and P2 are placed with their pass
axes perpendicular to each other. Unpolarised light of
intensity I0 is incident on P1. A third Polaroid P3 is kept
in between P1 and P2 such that its pass axis makes an
angle of 300 with that of P1. Find the intensity of light
transmitted through all three polaroids.
2. Light from monochromatic source falls on a single slit
of width 0.2 mm to produce a diffraction pattern on a
screen kept at a distance of 1 m from plane of slit. If
total linear width of principal maxima is 4.8 mm,
calculate the wavelength of light. Using this value of
wavelength, find the linear width of second dark fringe.
Also, explain, how does intensity of fringes in a
diffraction pattern vary?
3. (a). “Two monochromatic sources of light cannot
produce a substained interference pattern”- Why?
(b). In double slit experiment, using monochromatic
light of wavelength λ, th intensity of light at a point
on screen where path difference is λ, is k units. Find
out the intensity of light at point where path
difference is λ/3.
4. A beam of unpolarised light is incident on a glass air
interface. Show, using suitable diagram, that light
reflected from interface is totally polarized, when the
refractive index of glass with respect to air is tan value
of Brewster’s angle.
5. State Huygen’s principles. How did he explain the
absence of backwave?
6. State any three differences between the
phenomenon of interference and diffraction of waves.
7. Define a wavefront. Draw the wavefront and
corresponding rays in following cases:
(a). Plane wave
(b). Diverging spherical wave
8. Light waves, each of amplitude ‘a’ and frequency ‘ω’
emanating from two coherent light sources
superimpose at a point. If displacements due to these
waves is given by y1= acos(ωt) and y2=acos(ωt+φ),
where φ is the phase difference between two, find the
expression for resultant intensity at that point.
9. Draw the slope of refracted wavefront when a plane
wavefront is incident on a glass prism and on a convex
mirror. Briefly explain construction also.
10. Give reasons:
(a). The intensity of light transmitted by a poloroid is
half the intensity of light incident on it.
(b). The resultant intensity at any point on screen
varies between zero and four times than intensity, due
to single slit in YDSE.
 (c).When white light is taken as source in a YDSE, few
coloured fringes are seen around the central white
region.
11. Distinguish between polarized and unpolarized light.
An unpolarised light is incident on boundary between
two transparent media. State the condition when the
reflected wave is totally polarized. Find out the
expression for angle of incidence in this case.
12. Light from an ordinary source is passed through a
Polaroid sheet P1. The transmitted light is then made to
pass through a second poloroid sheet P2 which can be
rotated, so that angle between both polaroids vary
between 0 and 90. Show graphically the variation of
intensity of light, transmitted by both poloroids as a
function of angle between them.
13. In YDSE, the two coherent sources have slightly
different intensities, I and dI+I, where dI << I. Show that
the resultant intensity at maxima is nearly 4I, whil at
minima is nearly (dI)2/4I.
14. Use Huygens laws to verify the laws of reflection
and refraction.
15. Why does light from a clear blue portion of sky show
a rise and fall of intensity when viewed through a
poloroid which is rotated? Explain, by drawing a
necessary diagram.
16. In YDSE, the two slits are separated by a distance of
1.5 mm and screen is placed 1 m away from plane of
slits. A beam of light consisting of two wavelengths 650
nm and 520 nm is used to obtain interference fringes.
Find:
(a). The distance of third bright fringe for wavelength
520 nm on screen from central maximum.
(b). The least distance from central maximum where
the bright fringes due to both wavelengths coincide.
17. (a). “Good quality sun glasses made out of polaroids
are preferred over ordinary colored glasses.”- Justify.
(b). Using Huygen’s Principle, depict the shape of
wavefront in following cases:
(i). Light diverging from a point source.
(ii). Light emerging out of convex lens when point
source is placed at its focus.
18. (a). Explain by drawing a suitable diagram that the
interference pattern in double slit is actually a
super position of single slit diffraction from each
slit.
(b). Does the appearance of bright and dark fringes,
in interference pattern, in anyway violate the
conservation of energy law? Explain.
19. (a). Find the expression for intensity of transmitted
light when a poloroid sheet is rotated between two
crossed poloroids. In which position of poloroid
sheet, will be the transmitted intensity be
maximum.
(b). In a YDSE, using light of wavelength 600 nm,
angular width of fringe formed on distant screen is
0.10. Find the spacing between the slits.
20. (a). “ When a light wave travels from rarer to denser
medium, the speed decreases but energy does
not”- Justify.
(b). A plane wavefront approaches a plane surface
separating two media. If medium “1” is optically
denser and medium “2” is optically rarer, show a
 refracted wavefront is constructed, using Huygens
principle.
21. (a). Use Huygens geometrical construction to show
how a plane wavefront at t=0 propagates and
produces a wavefront at later time.
(b). “When monochromatic light is incident on a
surface separating two media, the reflected and
refracted light, both have same frequency” –How?
22. (a). Light passes through two poloroids P1 and P2
with pass axis of P2 making an angle with pass axis
of P1. For what value of that angle, is intensity of
emergent light zero?
(b). A third poloroid is placed between P1 and P2 with
its pass axis making an angle α with pass axis of P1.
Find a value of α for which the intensity of light
emerging from P2 is I0/8, where I0 is the intensity of
light on poloroid P1.
23. State the conditions for diffraction of light. Explain
the diffraction of light due to a narrow single slit and
formation of patterns of fringes.
24. Consider a two slit interference arrangement
(shown in figure) such that the distance of the screen
from the slits is half the distance between the slits.
Obtain the value of D in terms of λ such that the first
minima on the screen fall at a distance D from the
centre O.

5 MARK QUESTIONS
1. (a). In YDSE, describe briefly how bright and dark
fringes are obtained on a screen kept in front of
double slit. Hence, obtain expression for fringe
width.
(b). The ratio of the intensities at minima to maxima
in YDSE is 9 : 25. Find the ratio of widths of two slits.
2. (a). Describe briefly, how a diffraction pattern is
obtained in a screen due to a single narrow slit
 illuminated by a monochromatic source of light.
Hence, obtain the conditions for angular width of
secondary maxima and secondary minima.
(b). Two wavelengths of Na light, of 590 nm and 560
nm are used in turn to study the diffraction taking
place at a single slit of aperture 2 x 10-6 m. The
distance between the slit and screen is 1.5 m.
Calculate the separation between the positions of first
maxima of diffraction pattern obtained in two cases.
3. State Huygen’s principle. Using this, explain how a
diffraction pattern is obtained on a screen due to a
narrow slit on which a beam coming from a
monochromatic source of light is incident normally.
Show that the angular width of first diffraction image is
half that of central fringe.
4. State the importance of coherent sources in
phenomenon of interference.
In a YDSE, to produce interference, obtain the
conditions for constructive and destructive
interference, and hence deduce the expression for
fringe width. How does the fringe width get affected, if
the entire YDSE apparatus is immersed in water?
5. State the condition under which phenomenon of
diffraction of light takes place. Derive an expression for
the width of central maximum, due to diffraction of
light at a single slit.
A slit of width “a” is illuminated by a monochromatic
source of light of wavelength 200 nm at normal
incidence. Calculate the value “a” for position of:
(a). first maximum at an angle of diffraction of 300.
(b). First minimum at an angle of diffraction of 300.
6. (a). What are coherent sources? Why are coherent
sources required to produce interference of light?
Give an example of interference of light in daily life.
(b). In YDSE, the slits are 0.03 cm apart and screen is
placed at a distance of 1.5 m away from slits. The
distance between the central bright fringe and fourth
bright fringe is 1 cm. Calculate the wavelength of light
used.
7. (a). Explain- “Intensity of light coming out of a
poloroid does not change irrespective of orientation
of pass axis of poloroid”.
(b). Show that when a wave gets refracted into a
denser medium, the wavelength and speed of
propagation decreases, while frequency remains the
same.
(c). Two slits are made 1 mm apart and a screen is
placed 1 m away. What should be the width of each
slit to obtain 10 maxima of double slit pattern within
central maximum of single slit pattern?
8. (a). Using Huygen’s construction of secondary
wavelets, explain how a diffraction pattern is
obtained on a screen due to narrow slit on which
monochromatic beam of light is incident normally.
(b). Show that the angular width of first diffraction
fringe is half that of central fringe.

(c).Explain why the maxima at θ= (n+1/2)

becomes weaker and weaker with increasing value of
n.
9. Consider two coherent sources S1 and S2 producing
monochromatic waves to produce interference pattern.
Let the displacement of wave produced by S1 be given
by y1= a cos ωt and of S2 be given by y2= a cos(ωt+φ).
Find out the expression for amplitude of resultant
displacement at a point, and show that the intensity at
that point will be

I= 4a2cos2

Hence, establish conditions for constructive and

destructive interference.

10. (a). Define a wavefront. Given the shape of a

wavefront as a plane wave at time t = 0, show using
Huygens’ construction, (i.) how the envelopes of
secondary wavelets produce the plane wave at a
later time t and (ii). how the emergent wavefront
becomes spherical and converges to the focus after
passing through a convex lens ?

(b). Verify using Huygens’ principle, Snell’s law of

refraction of a plane wave propagating from a denser
to a rarer medium.