Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

Coherent monochromatic light of wavelength 632.8 nm passes through a pair of thi

ID: 1289159 • Letter: C

Question

Coherent monochromatic light of wavelength 632.8 nm passes through a pair of thin parallel slits. The figure shows the central portion of the pattern of bright fringes viewed on a screen 1.40 m beyond the slits. What is the distance between the two slits?

Coherent monochromatic light of wavelength 632.8 nm passes through a pair of thin parallel slits. The figure shows the central portion of the pattern of bright fringes viewed on a screen 1.40 m beyond the slits. What is the distance between the two slits?

Explanation / Answer

9 fringes cover 2.52 cm, so the distance between 2 successive fringes is, x = 2.52/8 = 0.315 cm

Condition for a bright fringe to occur in a double slit experiment is,

n.lambda/d = x/L

where n is the fringe order (the center being n = 0), d = distance between the slits, L = distance to the screen.

for n = 1

-> d = lambda.L/x = 632.8 x 10^-9*1.4/(3.15 x 10^-3) = 281 x 10^-6 m = 0.281 mm