Wave Optics

PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOSITION, PATH DIFFERENCE, WAVEFRONTS, AND COHERENCE

1. Two sources of intensity  & 4 are used in an interference experiment. Find the intensity at points
where the waves from the two sources superimpose with a phase difference of [REE 1991, 3]

(a) zero (b) & (c) They meet at phase difference of .
2
2. An electromagnetic wave travelling through a transparent medium is given by
 y 
E x (y,t)  Eox sin2  7
 3  1014 t  in S units. Then what is the refractive index of the medium?
 5  10 
YDSE
3. What is the effect on the fringe width of interference fringes in a Young's double slit experiment due to
each of the following operations :
(a) The screen is moved away from the plane of the slits.
(b) The (monochromatic) source is replaced by another (monochromatic) source of shorter wavelength.
(c) The separation between the two slits is increased.
(d) The width of two slits are slightly increased.
[In each operation, take all parameters, other than the one specified to remain unchanged]
4. Two slits separated by a distance of 1 mm, are illuminated with red light of wavelength 6.5 × 10 –7 m.
The interference fringes are observed on a screen placed 1 m from the slits. Find the distance between
the third dark fringe and the fifth bright fringe on the same side of the central maxima.
5. In a Young’s double slit experiment, the fringe width is found to be 0.4 mm. If the whole apparatus is
immersed in water of refractive index (4/3), without disturbing the geometrical arrangement, what is the
new fringe width?
6. Find the angular fringe width in a Young’s double slits experiment with blue-green light of wavelength
6000 Å. The separation between the slits is 3.0 × 10–3 m.

7. A source emitting two light waves of wavelengths 580 nm and 700 nm is used in a young's double slit
interference experiment. The separation between the slits is 0.20 mm and the interference is observed
on a screen placed at 150 cm from the slits. Find the linear separation between the first maximum (next
to the central maximum) corresponding to the two wavelengths.
8. A flint glass and a crown glass are fitted on the two slits of a double slit apparatus. The thickness of the strips
is 0.40 mm and the separation between the slits is 0.12 cm. The refractive index of flint glass and crown
glass are 1.62 and 1.52 respectively for the light of wavelength 480 nm which is used in the experiment. The
interference is observed on a screen a distance one meter away. (a) What would be the fringe-width? (b) At
what distance from the geometrical centre will the nearest maximum be located?
9. Find the thickness of a plate which will produce a change in optical path equal to one fourth of the
wavelength  of the light passing through it normally. The refractive index of the plate is µ.
10. A parallel beam of monochromatic light of wavelength  is used in a Young’s double slit experiment.
The siits are separated by a distance d and the screen is placed parallel to the plane of the slits. The
  
incident beam makes an angle  = sin–1   with the normal to the plane of the slits. A transparent
 2d 

sheet of refractive index. '' and thickness t = is introduced infront of one of the slit. Find the
2(  1)
intensity at the geometrical centre.
THIN FILM INTERFERENCE
11. A soap film of thickness 0.3 m appears dark when seen by the refracted light of wavelength 580 nm.
What is the index of refraction of the soap solution, if it is known to be between 1.3 and 1.5?
12. A parallel beam of light of wavelength 560 nm falls on a thin film of oil (refractive index = 1.4). What
should be the minimum thickness of the film so that it weakly transmits the light?

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 1
 Wave Optics

PART - I : ONLY ONE OPTION CORRECT TYPE

PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOSITION, PATH DIFFERENCE, WAVEFRONTS, AND COHERENCE

1. Ratio of intensities of two light waves is given by 4 : 1. The ratio of the amplitudes of the waves is :
(A) 2 : 1 (B) 1 : 2 (C) 4 : 1 (D) 1 : 4
2. Two coherent monochromatic light beams of intensities I and 4I are superimposed; the maximum and
minimum possible intensities in the resulting beam are :
(A) 5 and  (B) 5 and 3 (C) 9 and  (D) 9 and 3
YDSE

3. The contrast in the fringes in any interference pattern depends on :

(A) Fringe width (B) Wavelength
(C) Intensity ratio of the sources (D) Distance between the sources
4. Initially interference is observed with the entire experimental set up inside a chamber filled with air. Now
the chamber is evacuated. With the same source of light used, a careful observer will find that
(A) The interference pattern is almost absent as it is very much diffused
(B) There is no change in the interference pattern
(C) The fringe width is slightly decreased
(D) The fringe width is slightly increased
5. Yellow light emitted by sodium lamp in Young’s double slit experiment is replaced by monochromatic
blue light of the same intensity :
(A) fringe width will decrease. (B) fringe width will increase.
(C) fringe width will remain unchanged. (D) fringes will become less intense.
6. In a YDSE: D = 1 m, d = 1 mm and  = 500 nm. The distance of 1000th maxima from the central maxima is:
(A) 0.5 m (B) 0.577 m (C) 0.495 m (D) does not exist
7. In a Young's double slit experiment, d = 1 mm,  = 6000 Å & D = 1 m. The slits produce same intensity
on the screen. The minimum distance between two points on the screen having 75 % intensity of the
maximum intensity is:
(A) 0.45 mm (B) 0.40 mm (C) 0.30 mm (D) 0.20mm
8. Two coherent light sources each of wavelength  are separated by a distance 3 . The total number of
minima formed on line AB which runs from –  to + is:

(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 6 (D) 8

9. In a Young’s double slit experiment the intensity at a point  where the corresponding path difference is

one sixth of the wavelength of light used. If 0 denotes the maximum intensity, the ratio is equal to
0
[Olympiad 2015 (stage-1)]
1 1 3 3
(A) (B) (C) (D)
4 2 2 4

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 2
 Wave Optics
10. In the figure shown if a parallel beam of white light is incident on the plane of the slits then the distance
of the nearest white spot on the screen from O is: [assume d << D,  << d ]

(A) 0 (B) d/2 (C) d/3 (D) d/6

11. The Young’s double slit experiment is performed with blue and with green light of wavelengths 4360 Å
and 5460 Å respectively. If X is the distance of 4th maximum from the central one, then :
X(blue) 5460
(A) X(blue) = X(green) (B) X(blue) > X(green) (C) X(blue) < X(green) (D) 
X(green) 4360
12. A two slit Young’s interference experiment is done with monochromatic light of wavelength 6000 Å. The
slits are 2 mm apart. The fringes are observed on a screen placed 10 cm away from the slits. Now a
transparent plate of thickness 0.5 mm is placed in front of one of the slits and it is found that the
interference pattern shifts by 5 mm. The refractive index of the transparent plate is : [REE 1985]
(A)1.2 (B) 0.6 (C) 2.4 (D) 1.5
13. In a YDSE both slits produce equal intensities on the screen. A 100 % transparent thin film is placed in
front of one of the slits. Now the intensity of the geometrical centre of system on the screen becomes
75 % of the previous intensity. The wavelength of the light is 6000Å and glass = 1.5. The thickness of
the film cannot be:
(A) 0.2  m (B) 1.0  m (C) 1.4  m (D) 1.6  m
14. In a YDSE experiment, thin films of thickness t 1 and t2 are placed infront of slits S1 and S2 as shown in
figure-1 and figure-2. It is observed that first minima and second maxima are produced at point 'O' in
first and second experiment respectively. Point 'O' and 'S' are symmetrical with respect to S 1 and S2.
t x
Both the films have same refractive index if 2 = , then calculate 'x' :
t1 25

(A) 3 (B) 9 (C) 12 (D) 15

15. In Youngs double slit experiment, distance between the slits is d and that between the slits and screen
is D. Angle between principle axis of lens and perpendicular bisector of S1 and S2 is 45°. The point
source S is placed at the focus of lens and aperture of lens is much larger than d. Assuming only the
reflected light from plane mirror M is incident on slits, distance of central maxima from O will be :

D D
(A) D (B) (C) D 3 (D)
3 4

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 3
 Wave Optics
THIN FILM INTERFERENCE
16. White light is incident normally on a glass plate (in air) of thickness 500 nm and refractive index of 1.5.
The wavelength (in nm) in the visible region (400 nm - 700nm) that is strongly reflected by the plate is:
(A) 450 (B) 600 (C) 400 (D) 500

PART - II : ONE OR MORE THAN ONE OPTIONS CORRECT TYPE

1. In Young’s double slit experiment, the interference pattern is found to have an intensity ratio between
bright and dark fringes as 9. This implies : [JEE 1982]
(A) the intensities at the screen due to the two slits are 5 and 4 units
(B) the intensities at the screen due to the two slits are 4 and 1 units
(C) the amplitude ratio of the individual waves is 3
(D) the amplitude ratio of the individual waves is 2
2. A parallel beam of light (= 5000Åis incident at an angle = 30° with
the normal to the slit plane in a young’s double slit experiment. Assume
that the intensity due to each slit at any point on the screen is 0. Point
O is equidistant from S1 & S2.The distance between slits is 1mm.
(A) the intensity at O is 40
(B) the intensity at O is zero
(C) the intensity at a point on the screen 4m from O is 40
(D) the intensity at a point on the screen 4m from O is zero
3. A Young's double slit experiment is performed with white light:
(A) The maxima next to the central will be red. (B) The central maxima will be white
(C) The maxima next to the central will be violet (D) There will not be a completely dark fringe.
4. In an interfrence arrangement similar to Young's double-slit experiment,
the slits S1 & S2 are illuminated with coherent microwave sources, each
of frequency 106 Hz. The sources are synchronized to have zero phase
difference. The slits are separated by a distance d = 150.0 m and
screen is at very large distance from slits. The intensity I() is measured
as a function of , where  is defined as shown. Screen is at a large
distance. If I0 is the maximum intensity then I () for 0  90º is given
by: [JEE 1995, 1 + 2]

I0 I0
(A) I() = for  = 30º (B) I() = for  = 90º
2 4
(C) I() = I0 for  = 0º (D) I() is constant for all values of .

5. White light is used to illuminate the two silts in a Young’s double slit experiment. The separation
between the slits is b and the screen is at a distance d (>> b) from the slits. At a point on the screen
directly in front of one of the slits, certain wavelengths are missing. Some of these missing wavelengths
are : [JEE 1984]
b2 2b2 b2 2b2
(A)  = (B)  = (C)  = (D)  =
d d 3d 3d

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 4
 Wave Optics
PART - III : COMPREHENSION
Comprehension-1
Huygen was the first scientist who proposed the idea of wave theory of light. He said that the light
propagates in form of wavefronts. A wavefront is an imaginary surface at every point of which waves
are in the same phase. For example the wavefronts for a point source of light is collection of concentric
spheres which have centre at the origin. w1 is a wavefront. w2 is another wavefront.

The radius of the wavefront at time ‘t’ is ‘ct’ in this case where ‘c’ is the speed of light. The direction of
propagation of light is perpendicular to the surface of the wavefront. The wavefronts are plane
wavefronts in case of a parallel beam of light.

Huygen also said that every point of the wavefront acts as the source of secondary wavelets. The
tangent drawn to all secondary wavelets at a time is the new wavefront at that time. The wavelets are to
be considered only in the forward direction (i.e. the direction of propagation of light) and not in the
reverse direction. If a wavefront w1 at time t is given, then to draw the wavefront at time t + t take
some points on the wavefront w1 and draw spheres of radius ‘ct’. They are called secondary wavelets.

Draw a surface w2 which is tangential to all these secondary wavelets. w2 is the wavefront at time
‘t + t’. Huygen proved the laws of reflection and laws of refraction using concept of wavefronts.

1. A point source of light is placed at origin, in air. The equation of wave front of the wave at time t, emitted
by source at t = 0, is (take refractive index of air as 1)
(A) x + y + z = ct (B) x2 + y2 + z2 = t2 (C) xy + yz + zx = c2 t2 (D) x2+ y2 + z2 = c2 t2

2. Spherical wave fronts shown in figure, strike a plane mirror. Reflected wave fronts will be as shown in

(A) (B) (C) (D)

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 5
 Wave Optics
3. Wavefronts incident on an interface between the media are shown in the figure. The refracted
wavefronts will be as shown in

(A) (B) (C) (D)

4. Plane wavefronts are incident on a spherical mirror as shown. The reflected wavefronts will be

(A) (B) (C) (D)

5. Certain plane wavefronts are shown in figure. The refractive index of medium is

(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 1.5 (D) Cannot be determined

Comprehension-2
In the figure an arrangement of young's double slit experiment is y
shown. A parallel beam of light of wavelength '' (in medium n1) n1 n2
is incident at an angle '' as shown. Distance S1O = S2O. Point S1
'O' is the origin of the coordinate system. The medium on the left
and right side of the plane of slits has refractive index n1 and n2 
respectively. Distance between the slits is d. The distance O x
between the screen and the plane of slits is D. Using D = 1m,
4 10 S2
d = 1mm,  = 30°,  = 0.3mm, n1 = , n2 = , answer the
3 9 D Screen
following
6. The y-coordinate of the point where the total phase difference between the interefering waves is zero, is
3 3 1
(A) y = 0 (B) y = + m (C) y = – m (D) – m
4 4 3
7. If the intensity due to each light wave at point 'O' is 0 then the resultant intensity at point 'O' will be -
 40 
(A) Zero (B) 20  1  cos (C) 30 (D) 0
 9 

8. y-coordinate of the nearest maxima above 'O' will be -

150 100
(A) cm (B) 24 cm (C) cm (D) None of these
154 99

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 6
 Wave Optics
PART - III : MATCH THE COLUMN
1. A monochromatic parallel beam of light of wavelength  is incident
normally on the plane containing slits S1 and S2. The slits are of
unequal width such that intensity only due to one slit on screen is four
times that only due to the other slit. The screen is placed perpendicular
to x-axis as shown. The distance between slits is d and that between
screen and slit is D. Match the statements in column- with results in
column-. (S1S2 << D and  << S1S2)
Column-I Column-II
D
(A) The distance between two points on screen (p)
3d
having equal intensities, such that intensity
1
at those points is th of maximum intensity.
9
D
(B) The distance between two points on screen (q)
d
having equal intensities, such that intensity
3
at those points is th of maximum intensity.
9
2D
(C) The distance between two points on screen (r)
d
having equal intensities, such that intensity
5
at those points is th of maximum intensity.
9
3D
(D) The distance between two points on screen (s)
d
having equal intensities, such that intensity
7
at those points is th of maximum intensity.
9
2. In a typical Young's double slit experiment, S1 and S2 are identical
slits and equidistant from a point monochromatic source S of light
having wavelength . The distance between slits is represented by
d and that between slits and screen is represented by D. P is a
 Do
fixed point on the screen at a distance y = from central order
2do
bright on the screen: where Do, do are initial values of D and d
respectively. In each statement of column-I some changes are
made to above mentioned situation.
The distance between the slits and the source is very large. The effect of corresponding changes is
given in column-II. Match the statements in column-I with resulting changes in column-II.
Column-I Column-II
(A) The distance d between the slits is doubled (p) fringe width increases.
keeping distance between slits and screen fixed
(B) The distance D between slit and screen is doubled (q) Magnitude of optical path difference
by shifting screen to right between interfering waves at
P will decrease.
(C) The width of slit S1 is decreased (such that (r) Magnitude of optical path difference
intensity of light due to slit S1 on screen between interfering waves at P
decreases) and the distance D between slit will increase.
and screen is doubled by shifting screen to right
(D) The whole setup is submerged in water (s) The intensity at P will increase
of refractive index 4/3. (Neglecting absorption in medium)

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 7
 Wave Optics

* Marked Questions may have more than one correct option.

PART - I : JEE (ADVANCED) / IIT-JEE PROBLEMS (PREVIOUS YEARS)
Paragraph of question no. 1 to 3
The figure shows surface XY separating two transparent media, medium–1 and medium–2. The lines
ab and cd represent wavefronts of a light wave travelling in medium–1 and incident on XY. The lines ef
and gh represent wavefronts of the light wave in medium–2 after refraction. [JEE 2007, 4+4+4/162]

1. Light travels as a
(A) parallel beam in each medium
(B) convergent beam in each medium
(C) divergent beam in each medium
(D) divergent beam in one medium and convergent beam in the other medium

2. The phases of the light wave at c, d, e and f are c, d, e and f respectively. It is given that c  f :
(A) c cannot be equal to d (B) d can be equal to e
(C) (d – f) is equal to (c – e) (D) (d – c) is not equal to (f – e)

3. Speed of light is
(A) the same in medium–1 and medium–2 (B) larger in medium–1 than in medium–2
(C) larger in medium–2 than in medium–1 (D) different at b and d

4*. In a Young's double slit experiment, the separation between the two slits is d and the wavelength of the
light is . The intensity of light falling on slit 1 is four times the intensity of light falling on slit 2. Choose
the correct choice(s). [JEE 2008, 3/163]
(A) If d = , the screen will contain only one maximum
(B) If  < d < 2, at least one more maximum (besides the central maximum) will be observed on the
screen
(C) If the intensity of light falling on slit 1 is reduced so that it becomes equal to that of slit 2, the
intensities of the observed dark and bright fringes will increase
(D) If the intensity of light falling on slit 2 is increased so that it becomes equal to that of slit 1, the
intensities of the observed dark and bright fringes will increase

5. Column I shows four situations of standard Young’s double slit arrangement with the screen placed far
away from the slits S1 and S2. In each of these cases S1P0 = S2P0, S1P1 – S2P1 =/4 and S1P2 – S2P2 = /3,
where  is the wavelength of the light used. In the cases B, C and D, a transparent sheet of refractive index
 and thickness t is pasted on slit S2. The thicknesses of the sheets are different in different cases. The
phase difference between the light waves reaching a point P on the screen from the two slits is denoted by
(P) and the intensity by (P). Match each situation given in Column-I with the statement(s) in Column-II
valid for that situation. [JEE 2009, 8/240]
Column–I Column–II

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 8
 Wave Optics

(A) (p) (P0) = 0

(B) ( – 1)t = /4 (q) (P1) = 0

(C) ( – 1)t = /2 (r) (P1) = 0

(D) ( – 1)t = 3/4 (s) (P0) > (P1)

(t) (P2) > (P1)

 

6. Young’s double slit experiment is carried out by using green, red and blue light, one color at time. The
fringe widths recorded are G, R and B, respectively. Then [IIT-JEE-2012, Paper-1; 3/70, –1]
(A) G > B > R (B)B > G > R (C)R > B > G (D)R > G > B
 

7. In the Young's double slit experiment using a monochromatic light of wavelength , the path difference
(in terms of an integer n) corresponding to any point having half the peak intensity is :
[JEE (Advanced) 2013 ; P-1, 2/60]
   
(A) (2n  1) (B) (2n  1) (C) (2n  1) (D) (2n  1)
2 4 8 16
 

8. Using the expression 2d sin  = , one calculates the values of d by measuring the corresponding
angles  in the range 0 to 90º. The wavelength  is exactly knowns and the error in  is constant for all
values of . As  increases from 0º : [JEE (Advanced) 2013 ; P-2, 3/60, –1]
(A) the absolute error in d remains constant. (B) the absolute error in d increases.
(C) the fractional error in d remains constant. (D) the fractional error in d decreases.
 

9*. A light source, which emits two wavelengths 1 = 400 nm and 2 = 600 nm, is used in a Young's double
slit experiment. If recorded fringe widths for 1 and 2 are 1 and 2 and the number of fringes for them
within a distance y on one side of the central maximum are m 1 and m2, respectively, then
[JEE (Advanced) 2014, P-1, 3/60]
(A) 2 > 1
(B) m1 > m2
(C) From the central maximum, 3rd maximum of 2 overlaps with 5th minimum of 1
(D) The angular separation of fringes for 1 is greater than 2
 

10. A young's double slit interference arrangement with slits S1 and S2 is immersed in water (refractive
index = 4/3) as shown in the figure. The positions of maxima on the surface of water are given by
x2 = p2m22 – d2, where  is the wavelength of light in air (refractive index = 1), 2d is the separation
between the slits and m is an integer. The value of p is [JEE (Advanced) 2015 ; P-1, 4/88]

S1

d x Air

S2 Water

 

11*. While conducting the Young's double slit experiment, a student replaced to two slits with a large
opaque plate in the x-y plane containing two small holes that act as two coherent point sources (S1, S2)
emitting light of wavelength 600 nm. The student mistakenly placed the screen parallel to the x-z plane
(for z > 0) at a distance D = 3 m from the mid-point of S1S2, as shown schematically in the figure. The
ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 9
 Wave Optics
distance between the sources d = 0.6003 mm. The origin O is at the intersection of the screen and the
line joining S1S2. Which of the following is(are) true of the intensity pattern on the screen ?
[JEE (Advanced) 2016, P-2, 4/62, –2]

Screen
z

O
y
S1 S2
d x
D
(A) Semi circular bright and dark bands centered at point O
(B) Hyperbolic bright and dark bands with foci symmetrically placed about O in the x-direction
(C) The region very close to the point O will be dark
(D) Straight bright and dark bands parallel to the x-axis
 

12.* Two coherent monochromatic point sources S1 and S2 of wavelength  = 600 nm are placed
symmetrically on either side of the center of the circle as shown. The sources are separated by a
distance d = 1.8 mm. This arrangement produces interference fringes visible as alternate bright and
dark spots on the circumference of the circle. The angular separation between two consecutive bright
spots is . Which of the following options is/are correct ? [JEE (Advanced) 2017, P-2, 4/61, –2]
P1



P2
S1 S2
d

(A) The total number of fringes produced between P1 and P2 in the first quadrant is close to 3000
(B) A dark spot will be formed at the point P2
(C) At P2 the order of the fringe will be maximum
(D) The angular separation between two consecutive bright spots decreases as we move from P1 to P2
along the first quadrant

PART - II : JEE (MAIN) / AIEEE PROBLEMS (PREVIOUS YEARS)


1. In a Young's double slit experiment the intensity at a point where the path difference is ( being the
6
wavelength of the light used) is I. If 0 denotes the maximum intensity, I/0 is equal to:
[AIEEE 2007 ; 3/120, –1]
1 3 1 3
(1) (2) 2 (3) 2 (4) 4
2
Direction : Questions number 2 – 4 are based on the following paragraph.
An initially parallel cylindrical beam travels in a medium of refractive index () = 0 + 2, where 0 and
2 are positive constants and  is the intensity of the light beam. The intensity of the beam is decreasing
with increasing radius. [AIEEE-2010, 4/144, – 1]
2. How does beam travell after entering in medium ?
(1) diverge
(2) converge
(3) diverge near the axis and converge near the periphery
(4) travel as a cylindrical beam
3. The initial shape of the wavefront of the beam is :
(1) convex
(2) concave
(3) convex near the axis and concave near the periphery
(4) planar
4. The speed of light in the medium is
ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 10
 Wave Optics
(1) minimum on the axis of the beam (2) the same everywhere in the beam
(3) directly proportional to the intensity  (4) maximum on the axis of the beam
5. At two points P and Q on a screen in Young’s double slit experiment, waves from slits S 1 and S2 have a
path difference of 0 and /4 respectively. The ratio of intensities at P and Q will be :
[AIEEE 2011, 11 May; 4/120, –1]
(1) 2 : 1 (2) 2:1 (3) 4 : 1 (4) 3 : 2

6. In a Young’s double slit experiment, the two slits act as coherent sources of waves of equal amplitude A
and wavelength . In another experiment with the same arrangement the two slits are made to act as
incoherent sources of waves of same amplitude and wavelength. If the intensity at the middle point of

the screen in the first case is 1 and in the second case is 2, then the ratio 1 is :
2
[AIEEE 2011, 11 May ; 4/120, –1]
(1) 2 (2) 1 (3) 0.5 (4) 4

7. Statement-1 : On viewing the clear blue portion of the sky through a Calcite Crystal, the intensity of
transmitted light varies as the crystal is rotated.
Statement-2 :The light coming from the sky is polarized due to scattering of sun light by particles in the
atmosphere. The scattering is largest for blue light [AIEEE 2011, 11 May; 4/120, –1]
(1) Statement-1 is true, statement-2 is false.
(2) Statement-1 is true, statement-2 is true, statement-2 is the correct explanation of statment-1
(3) Statement-1 is true, statement-2 is true, statement-2 is not the correct explanation of statement-1
(4) Statement-1 is false, statement-2 is true.
8. Direction : The question has a paragraph followed by two statements, Statement-1 and Statement-2.
Of the given four alternatives after the statements, choose the one that describes the statements.
A thin air film is formed by putting the convex surface of a plane-convex lens over a plane glass plate.
With monochromatic light, this film gives an interference pattern due to light reflected from the top
(convex) surface and the bottom (glass plate) surface of the film. [AIEEE - 2011, 4/120, –1]
Statement-1 : When light reflects from the air-glass plate interface, the reflected wave suffers a phase
change of 
Statement-2 : The centre of the interference pattern is dark.
(1) Statement-1 is true, statement-2 is false.
(2) Statement-1 is true, Statement-2 is true, Statement-2 is the correct explanation of Statement-1
(3) Statement-1 is true, Statement-2 is true, Statement-2 is not the correct explanation of Statement-1
(4) Statement-1 is false, Statement-2 is true
9. Two coherent point sources S1 and S2 are separated by a small distance 'd' as shown. The fringes
obtained on the screen will be : [JEE (Main) 2013, 4/120, –1]

(1) points (2) straight lines (3) semi-circles (4) concentric circles
10. Tow beams, A and B, of plane polarized light with mutually perpendicular planes of polarization are seen
through a polaroid. From the position when the beam A has maximum intensity (and beam B has zero
intensity), a rotation of polaroid through 30º makes the two beams appear equally bright. If the initial

intensities of the two beams are IA and IB respectively, then A equals [JEE (Main) 2014; 4/120, –1]
B
3 1
(1) 3 (2) (3) 1 (4)
2 3
11. On a hot summer night, the refractive index of air is smallest near the ground and increases with height
ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 11
 Wave Optics
from the ground. When a light beam is directed horizontally, the Huygens' principle leads us to
conclude that as it travels, the light beam : [JEE (Main) 2015; 4/120, –1]
(1) becomes narrower (2) goes horizontally without any deflection
(3) bends downwards (4) bends upwards
12. Assuming human pupil to have a radius of 0.25 cm and a comfortable viewing distance of 25 cm, the
minimum separation between two objects that human eye can resolve at 500 nm wavelength is :
[JEE (Main) 2015; 4/120, –1]
(1) 1 m (2) 30 m (3) 100 m (4) 300 m
13. The box of a pin hole camera, of length L, has hole of radius a. it is assumed that when the hole is
illuminated by a parallel beam of light of wavelength  the spread of the spot (obtained on the opposite
wall of the camera) is the sum of its geometrical spread and the spread due to diffraction. The spot
would then have its minimum size (say bmin) when : [JEE (Main) 2016; 4/120, –1]
 22 
(1) a  L and bmin    (2) a  L and 4L
 L 
 
2 2  22 
(3) a  and bmin  4L (4) a  and bmin   
L L  L 
 
14. In a Young's double slit experiment, slits are separated by 0.5 mm, and the screen is placed 150 cm
away. A beam of light consisting of two wavelengths, 650 nm and 520 nm, is used to obtain
interference fringes on the screen. The least distance from the common central maximum to the point
where the bright fringes due to both the wavelengths coincide is : [JEE (Main) 2017 ; 4/120, –1]
(1) 15.6 mm (2) 1.56 mm (3) 7.8 mm (4) 9.75 mm
15. Unpolarized light of intensity I passes through an ideal polarizer A. Another identical polarizer B is
I
placed behind A. The intensity of light beyond B is found to be . Now another identical polarizer C is
2
I
placed between A and B. The intensity beyond B is now found to be . The angle between polarizer A
8
and C is : [JEE (Main) 2018 ; 4/120, –1]
(1) 45° (2) 60° (3) 0° (4) 30°

16. The angular width of the central maximum in a single slit diffraction pattern is 60°. The width of the slit
is 1 m. The slit is illuminated by monochromatic plane waves. If another slit of same width is made
near it, Young's fringes can be observed on a screen placed at a distance 50 cm from the slits. If the
observed fringe width is 1 cm, what is slit separation distance? (i.e. distance between the centres of
each slit.) [JEE (Main) 2018; 4/120, –1]
 (1) 75 m (2) 100 m (3) 25 m (4) 50 m

ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 12
 Wave Optics

1. (A) 2. (C) 3. (B)

EXERCISE-1 4. (AB)
1. (a) 9 (b) 5 (c)  5. (A) p, s; (B) q; (C) t ; (D) r, s,
2. 2 t
3. (a) Angular separation of the fringes 6. (D) 7. (B) 8. (D)
remains constant (= / d).The actual 9. (ABC) 10. (3) 11. (AC)
separation of the fringe increases in 12. (AC)
proportion to the distance of the screen PART-II
from the plane of the two slits. 1. (4) 2. (2) 3. (4)
(b) The separation of the fringes (and also 4. (1) 5. (1) 6. (1)
angular separation) decrease. 7. (2) 8. (3) 9. (4)
(c) The separation of the fringe (and also 10. (4) 11. (4) 12. (2)
angular separation) decreases. 13. (2) 14. (3) 15. (1)
(d) By slightly increasing the width of the 16. (3)
slits, we are only increasing the intensity of
incident beam. Again no change in , D, d.
so  unchanged but sharpness of the fringe
increase.
4. 1.625 mm 5. 0.30 mm
180
6. × 2 × 10–4 degree = 0.011º

7. 0.9 mm
 2
8. (a)  = 4.0 × 10–4 m (b) and
3 3

9.
4(  1)
10. Maximum
11. 1.45 12. 100 nm

EXERCISE-2
PART-I
1. (A) 2. (C)
3. (C) 4. (D) 5. (A)
6. (B) 7. (D) 8. (C)
9. (D)
10. (D) 11. (C) 12. (A)
13. (D) 14. (D) 15. (A)
16. (B)
PART-II
1. (BD) 2. (AC) 3. (BCD)
4. (AC) 5. (AC)

PART-III
1. (D) 2. (C) 3. (B)
4. (A) 5. (A) 6. (C)
7. (D) 8. (A)
PART-IV
1. (A)–q,r,s ; (B)–p,q,r,s ; (C)–q,r,s ; (D) – p,q,r,s
2. (A) – r, s;(B)–p, q, s; (C) – p, q, s ; (D) – r, s

EXERCISE-3
PART-I
ISA

ISAC LEARNING
B-17(A), Road No. 2, IPIA Near Mahindra Showroom, Jhalawar Road, Kota page 13