Physics Department

Faculty of Science
Assiut University

Physics 271P – Physical optics & optical fibers

DURATION OF TEST: THREE HOUR
Date: 29th DECEMBER 2017.
Examiner: Dr. Ahmed Mostafa Amry

Answer ONLY 30 question from Part I.

Answer All questions from Part II.
Part I: Multiple Choice (30 Points)
Circle the one best answer to each question
1. Optical active crystals rotates the
a. vibrating plane b. polarization plane
c. diffraction plane d. interference plane
2. Which is not optically active?
a. Sugar b. tartaric acid
c. water d. sodium chlorate
3. In double slit experiment we observe
a. interference fringes only b. diffraction fringes only
c. both interference and d. polarized fringes
diffraction fringes
4. When light incident normally on thin film the path difference depends upon
a. thickness of the film only b. nature of the film only
c angle of incidences only. d. all thickness nature and angle of incidence
5. Which one of the following properties of light does not change with the nature of
the medium?
a. Velocity b. wavelength
c. amplitude d. frequency
1 Please turn over
6. A diffraction grating has 500 lines per mm. Its slit spacing or grating element will
be equal to
a. 500 mm b. 5 x 10-3 mm
c. 2 x 10-5 mm d. 2 x 10-3 mm
7. Units of “optical path length” are:
a. m−1 b. m
c. m2 d. m/Hz
8. Interference of light is evidence that:
a. the speed of light is very large. b. light is a transverse wave.
c. light is a wave phenomenon. d. none of the above.
9. In a Young’s double-slit experiment the center of a bright fringe occurs wher-
ever waves from the slits differ in the distance they travel by a multiple of:
a. a fourth of a wavelength. b. a half a wavelength.
c. a wavelength. d. none of the above.
10. In the equation sin θ = λ/a for single-slit diffraction, θ is:
a. the angle to the first minimum .
b. the angle to the second maximum.
c. the phase angle between the extreme rays D.
d. Nπ where N is an integer.
11. No fringes are seen in a single-slit diffraction pattern if:
a. the screen is far away.
b. the wavelength is less than the slit width.
c. the wavelength is greater than the slit width.
d. the wavelength is less than the distance to the screen.
12. In a plane polarized light
a. vibration in all direction.
b. vibration in two mutually perpendicular directions.
c. vibration take place in a direction ⊥ the direction of propagation of light.
d. no vibration at all.

2 Please turn over

 13. Light of wavelength is normally
incident on some plane optical device. The
intensity pattern shown is observed on a
distant screen (θ is the angle measured
from the normal of the device). The device
could be:
a. single slit of width W
b. a single slit of width 2W
c. two narrow slits with separation W
d. two narrow slits with separation 2W
14. In the equation d sin θ = m λ for the lines of a diffraction grating m is:
a. the number of slits. b. the slit width.
c. the slit separation. d. the order of the line.
15. 600-nm light is incident on a diffraction grating with a ruling separation of
1.7 × 10−6 m. The second order line occurs at a diffraction angle of:
a. 0 b. 10o
c. 21o d. 45o
16. Monochromatic light is normally incident on a diffraction grating that is 1 cm
wide and has 10, 000 slits. The first order line is deviated at a 30◦ angle. What is the
wavelength, in nm, of the incident light?
a. 300 nm b. 400 nm
c. 500 nm d. 600 nm
17. Basic principle of an optical fiber is:

a. Reflection b. Polarization
c. Scattering d. Total internal reflection
18. A light beam incident on a diffraction grating consists of waves with two
different wavelengths. The separation of the two first order lines is great if:
a. the dispersion is great b. the resolution is great
c. the dispersion is small d. the resolution is small

3 Please turn over

19. A diffraction grating just resolves the wavelengths 400.0 nm and 400.1nm in first
order. The number of slits in the grating is:
a. 400 b. 40
c. 4000 d. 40000
20. X rays are:
a. electromagnetic waves b. negatively charged ions
c. rapidly moving electrons d. rapidly moving protons
21. Bragg’s law for X-ray diffraction is 2d sin θ = mλ , where θ is the angle
between the incident beam and:
a. a reflecting plane of atoms b. the refracted beam
c. the scattered beam d. the normal to the scattered beam
22. The longest X-ray wavelength that can be diffracted by crystal planes with a
separation of 0.316 nm is:
a. 0.158nm b. 0.316nm
c. 0.474nm d. 0.632nm
23. A beam of X rays of wavelength 0.20 nm is diffracted by a set of planes in a
crystal whose separation is 3.1 × 10−8 cm. The smallest angle between the beam and
the crystal planes for which a reflection occurs is:
a. 0.70 rad b. 0.33 rad
c. 0.033 rad d. 0.066 rad
24. A beam of x rays of wavelength 0.10nm is found to diffract in second order from
the face of a LiF crystal at a Bragg angle of 30o. The distance between adjacent crystal
planes, in nm, is about:
a. 0.15 b. 0.20
c. 0.25 d. 0.30
25. A surface on which all the points have the same state of vibration is known as
a. Wave-length b. Wave-let
c. Wave-packet d. Wave-front

4 Please turn over

26. In Young's experiment, two coherent sources are placed 0.90 mm apart and the
fringes are observed one meter away. If it produces the dark fringe at a distance of 1
mm from the central fringe the wavelength of monochromatic light used would be:
a. 60 x 10-4 cm b. 10 x10-4 cm
c. 10 x 10-5 cm d. 6 x 10-5 cm
27. A Young's double-slit experiment uses a monochromatic source. The shape of the
interference frings formed on a screen is:
a. circle b. hyperbola
c. parabola d. straight line
28. Electromagnetic waves
a. always travel at the same speed.
b. need a medium to travel through.
c. can travel through a vacuum.
d. cannot travel through the vacuum of outer space.
29. Destructive interference in waves occurs when a crest and a trough overlap.
a. 2×wavelength b. 1/2 wavelength
c. 4×wavelength d. 1/4 wavelength
30. Polarization refers to the
a. prevention of electricity flowing in electrolyte solution
b. rapid dissolving of magnesium in dilute acid
c. slow dissolving of magnesium in conc. Acid
d. electricity flowing in electrolyte solution.
31. Light of wavelength 5200 angstroms is incident normally on a transmission
diffraction grating with 2000 lines per centimeter. The first-order diffraction maximum
is at an angle, with respect to the incident beam, that is most nearly
1. 3O b. 6 O
c. 9O d. 12 O

5 Please turn over

32. In a double-slit interference
experiment, d is the distance between the
centers of the slits and w is the width of
each slit, as shown in the figure above.
For incident plane waves, an interference
maximum on a distant screen will be
“missing” when
a. d = √2 w b. d = √3 w
c. 2d = w d. 2d = 3w
33. Central spot of Newton's rings

a. Bright b. dark for large wavelength

c. dark d. bright for large wavelength
34. Thin film constructive interference occurs when the wavelength of a wave is in
multiples of
a. 2×wavelength b. 1/2 wavelength
c. 4×wavelength d. 1/4 wavelength

6 Please turn over

Part II: Work Problems (20 Points)

Show all your work and explain each major step to receive full credit.

1. A double-slit source with slit separation 0.2 mm is located 1.2 m from a screen.
The distance between successive bright fringes on the screen is measured to be 3.30
mm. What is the wavelength of the light?

7 Please turn over

2. Prove that the secondary maxima of a single-slit diffraction pattern occur
when β = tan β .

Solution:
When monochromatic light of wavelength leaves a small source and arrives as a plane
wave at a slit of width a , the diffracted light leaving the slit forms a pattern in space.
As a function of angle the intensity is given by:

8 Please turn over

 3. In a Newton’s-rings experiment, a plano-
convex glass (n=1.52) lens having diameter
10.0 cm is placed on a flat plate as shown in
Figure. When 650-nm light is incident
normally, 55 bright rings are observed with the
last one right on the edge of the lens. (a) What
is the radius R of curvature of the convex
surface of the lens? (b) What is the focal length
of the lens?

Solution:

For constructive interference

1
𝑟 2 = 𝑅(𝑚 + )𝜆 (𝑚 = 0, 1, 2, … … . . )
2

2r=10 cm then r=5 cm=5×10-2m, R=????, λ=650-nm, m=55

1
𝑟 2 = 𝑅(𝑚 + )𝜆
2

1 111
(5 × 10−2 )2 = 𝑅 (55 + ) × 650 × 10−9 = 𝑅 ( ) × 650 × 10−9
2 2

2 1
𝑅 = 25 × 10−4 × × × 109 = 69.3 𝑚
111 650

9 Please turn over

4. Un polarized light of intensity Io is incident on a series of three polarizing filters.
The axis of the second filter is oriented at 45o to that of the first filter, while the axis
of the third filter is oriented at 90o to that of the first filter. What is the intensity of
the light transmitted through the third filter?

Solution:

Polarizer:
The first filter always reduces the intensity of the light to half, I1=½ I0
The next filter reduces the intensity by In = I(n-1) cos2 θ
θ is the angle with respect to the nth filter.
Thus,

I1 =½ I0
I2 = I1 (cos45)2 = I1 (½√2)2 = ½ I1 = ¼ I0
I3=I2 (cos 45)2 = ½ I2 = I0/8

10 Please turn over

 5. What is Brewster's angle for reflection from air off a glass(n=1.52)
surface?

Solution:
We have:
𝑛𝑡
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃𝑝 =
𝑛𝑖

Thus
−1
𝑛𝑡
𝜃𝑝 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ( )
𝑛𝑖

But nt(glass)=1.52 and ni(air)=1

Then
𝑛𝑡 1.52
𝜃𝑝 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( ) = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( ) = 56. 7𝑜
𝑛𝑖 1

6.

END OF EXAM
11 Please turn over