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Images produced by structures within the eye (like lens fibers or cell fragments

ID: 2055797 • Letter: I

Question

Images produced by structures within the eye (like lens fibers or cell fragments) are referred to as entoptic images. These images can sometimes take the form of "halos" around a bright light seen against a dark background. The halo in such a case is actually the bright outer rings of a circular diffraction pattern, with the central bright spot not visible because it overlaps the direct image of the light. Find the diameter of the eye structure that causes a circular diffraction pattern with the first dark ring at an angle of 3.7 when viewed with monochromatic light of wavelength 610 . (Typical eye structures of this type have diameters on the order of 10 . Also, the index of refraction of the vitreous humor is 1.336.)

Explanation / Answer

?n = ?/n = 570 nm/1.336 = 426.6467 nm


sin? = ?n/a

>>> a = ?n/sin? = 0.4266467*10^-6/0.0645 = 6.61 * 10^-6 m = 6.61 ?m