Question

"A thin film with an index of refraction of 1.50 is placed in one of the beams of a Michelson interferometer. If this causes a shift of 8 bright fringes in the pattern produced by light of wavelength 540 nm, what is the thickness of the film?"

Answer 1

The film thickness is 4.32 * 10^-6 m

Step-by-step explanation:

Here in this question, we are interested in calculating the thickness of the film.

Mathematically;

The number of fringes shifted when we insert a film of refractive index n and thickness L in the Michelson Interferometer is given as;

ΔN = (2L/λ) (n-1)

where λ is the wavelength of the light used

Let’s make L the subject of the formula

(λ * ΔN)/2(n-1) = L

From the question ΔN = 8 , λ = 540 nm, n = 1.5

Plugging these values, we have

L = ((540 * 10^-9 * 8)/2(1.5-1) = (4320 * 10^-9)/1 = 4.32 * 10^-6 m