Dr.

Uma Das
Email: uma@iiitkalyani.ac.in
CBSE Syllabus: Wave Optics
Wave optics: Wave front and Huygen’s principle, reflection
and refraction of plane wave at a plane surface using wave
fronts. Proof of laws of reflection and refraction using
Huygen’s principle. Interference, Young’s double slit
experiment and expression for fringe width, coherent
sources and sustained interference of light, diffraction due
to a single slit, width of central maximum, resolving power
of microscope and astronomical telescope, polarisation,
plane polarised light, Brewster’s law, uses of plane
polarised light and Polaroids.
Today’s class
 Chapter OPTICS
 Interference- Superposition of waves, conditions for
interference, coherence, fringe width, Interference by
division of wavefront and amplitude
 Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction, Fraunhofer
diffraction in single slit and double slit, theory of
diffraction grating.

 Reading Material:
 ‘Optics’, Ajoy Ghatak
 ‘Engineering Physics’, Dr. Amit Sarin & Anil Rewal
Superposition of waves
 The principle of superposition states that the
displacement of a particle at a point under the
influence of two waves is the algebraic sum of the
displacement caused by the individual waves.
 This principle is valid subject to the following
conditions:
 The displacement due to a wave is small relative to its
wavelength.
 The two waves must be monochromatic in nature.
 The phenomena of interference contains no more
Physics than embodied in the examples just discussed.
  2 
yi  a sin  ( x  vt)   
 
 2 
Without loss of yi  a sin  ( x  vt)
generality, =0  
 x 
 a sin 2 ( t ),   v /  , is the frequency.
  
 yi x 0
 a sin( 2t )
yr x 0
 a sin( 2t )
 x 
yr  a sin 2 ( t )
  
 x x 
y  yi  yr  a sin 2 ( t )  sin 2 ( t )
   
2
 2a sin x cos 2t

2 Then displacement is zero at all times, y=0. These
if sin x  0,
 points are called nodes.

 3 5
x  0, ,  , ,2 , ,3 ,... NODES
2 2 2
 3 5
ANTINODES x  , , ,... and y  2a cos 2t
4 4 4
Stationary Waves on a String with Fixed Ends

Standing Wave
 2
y  2a sin x cos 2t

If the other end is fixed, then y  0 at xL
2
2a sin L cos 2t  0

2
sin L  0  sin n

2L
Only certain well defined   n  , n  1,2,3,...
wavelengths and frequencies n
are allowed.
nv
=2L is fundamental mode   n  , n  1,2,3,...
2L
 Standing wave on a
circular membrane

Fundamental node and

first five harmonics

and a harmonic
An Atmospheric Example
Standing Electromagnetic Waves
 Coefficient of reflection: r
The ratio of energy of reflected beam to the energy of
the incident beam.
 x 
Eincident  a sin 2  t 
  
 x 
Ereflected  a r sin 2  t 
  
Eresultant  Eincident  Ereflected
 x   x 
 a sin 2  t   a r sin 2  t 
     
Stationary Light Waves
 Difficult

 Wavelengths are very small

 Stationary light waves are formed inside a LASER. The

standing waves are microscopic in size.

 Ives and Wieners Experiments

 

2


A Problem
 In a typical experimental arrangement of Weiner, the
angle between the film and the mirror was about 10-3
radians. For  = 5 x 10-5 cm what would be the distance
between two consecutive dark bands?
 Ives Experiment:
x = /2  2.5 x 10-5 cm
 Weiner’s Experiment:
y = /2 = 2.5 x 10-2 cm = 0.25 mm
 Consider , x1 (t )  a1 cos(t  1 )
and , x2 (t )  a2 cos(t   2 )
Resultant Displacement is, x(t )  x1 (t )  x2 (t )
 a1 cos(t  1 )  a2 cos(t   2 )
x(t )  a cos(t   )
where, a cos   a1 cos 1  a 2 cos  2
and a sin   a1 sin 1  a 2 sin  2
a  a  a  2a1a2 cos(1   )
2 2 1/ 2
Square and add to get , 1 2 2

a1 sin 1  a 2 sin  2
tan  
a1 cos 1  a 2 cos  2
We define 1-1 as phase difference and it corresponds to a
path difference y, where 
y (1   2 )
2
So, condition for constructive interference is when,
cos(1   2 )  1
(1   2 )  0, 2 , 4 , 6 ,...  2n

y 2n  n
2
then a  a1  a2
And, condition for destructive interference is when,
cos(1   2 )  1
1   2   , 3 , 5 ,...  (2n  1)
 
y (2n  1)  (2n  1)
2 2
then a  a1  a2
What happens to the energy in the dark regions/bands –

Principle of Conservation of Energy !!

Energy is neither lost nor generated.

Energy is only redistributed.

Next Class…
 We will Continue Optics
 Conditions for interference
 Coherence
 Interference by division of wavefront
 Young’s Double Slit Experiment
 Fresnel’s Biprism
 Llyod’s Mirror
 Phase Change on Reflection

Reading Material: Thank you !

 ‘Optics’, Ajoy Ghatak
Thank you all for your attention.

Come Prepared for next class !

A few problems.
 Standing waves are formed on a stretched string under
tension of 1 Newton. The length of the string is 30 cm
and it vibrates in 3 loops. If the mass per unit length of
the wire is 10 mg/cm, calculate the frequency of
vibrations.
 If the string is made to vibrate in its fundamental
mode, what will be the frequency of vibration?