Question

A scientist notices that an oil slick floating on water when viewed from above has many different colors reflecting off the surface, making it look rainbow-like (an effect known as iridescence). She aims a spectrometer at a particular spot and measures the wavelength to be 750 nm (in air). The index of refraction of water is 1.33.The index of refraction of the oil is 1.20. What is the minimum thickness t of the oil slick at that spot?

Answer 1

313nm

Step-by-step explanation:

Condition for constructive interference is

2nt= MX lambda

tmin= lambda/2n

= 750/2(1.2)

=313nm