Question

Two plane glass plates are placed on top of one another and on side a paper is introduced to form a thin wedge of air. assuming that a beam of wavelength 600 nm is incident normally, and that there are 100 interference fringes per cm, calculate the wedge angle.

Answer 1

In this physics question, the wedge angle of a thin air wedge between two glass plates is calculated using the given wavelength of light and the number of interference fringes per centimeter.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of this question is Physics, and it concerns the concept of interference patterns in the context of light waves. When analyzing the interference fringes created by a thin wedge of air between two glass plates, the number of fringes can relate to the angle of the wedge formed by the plates. Considering there are 100 interference fringes per cm, and the light has a wavelength of 600 nm, we can calculate the wedge angle.

To calculate the wedge angle, first examine the relationship between the wavelength (λ), the path difference (Δd), and the wedge angle (θ). When light is incident normally on the wedge, the path difference is equal to λ/2 for consecutive dark fringes. Given ΔN fringes per unit length, we can write the path difference as θL = ΔNλ/2, where L is the length over which the fringes are counted. To find the wedge angle, θ can be calculated with the formula:

θ = (ΔNλ)/(2L)

By substituting the known values (ΔN = 100 fringes/cm and λ = 600 nm), and converting units appropriately, the angle θ can be found.