Roll No.

: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore
Int M.Sc Degree Examinations – April/May 2018
Fourth Semester
Chemistry
15PHY214 Waves and Optics
[Time: Three hours Maximum: 100 Marks]
Answer all questions
PART A (10 x 3 =30 Marks)

1. A He-Ne laser of wavelength 633 nm is used to illuminate a single slit of width 0.3 mm. The
distance between screen and slit is 1 m. Find the width of central maximum of Fraunhofer
diffraction pattern observed on screen.

2. A friend of yours is wearing a contact lens. The refractive index of the lens material is 1.5. The
outer and inner radii of curvature of the lens are 1.5 cm and 2 cm respectively. What is the focal
length of lens?

3. A particle is executing simple harmonic motion. The position of the particle at any instant is given
as:
where x is in meters and t in seconds. What are the period, frequency, and
amplitude of motion? Determine the phase constant and position of particle at 0.32 s.

4. Is there any gain or loss in the energy of system, when two waves interfere constructively or
destructively? Explain.

5. Two flash lights are kept adjacent to each other do not produce interference pattern. Explain.

6. Sunlight can be readily blocked by holding your hand at arm’s length from reaching your eyes. Will
it be possible to block sound by the same way from reaching your ears? Explain.

7. The refractive indices of core and cladding of a step index fiber are 1.45 and 1.4 respectively.
Determine numerical aperture and acceptance angle.

8. The diameter of the 5th and 20th dark rings in Newton’s ring experiment is 0.0045 m and 0.0095 m
respectively. Determine the diameter of the 30th dark ring.

9. Distinguish between unpolarized and plane polarized light. A light beam strikes a reflecting surface
at an incident angle of 52o. The reflected ray in air is completely polarized. Find the refractive index
of the reflecting material.

10. In Michelson Interferometer, while mirror in one of the arms is moved through a distance of
0.3 mm a shift of 850 bright fringes is observed. What is the wavelength of light used in the
experiment?
Page 1 of 2
R
PART B (6 x 5 =30 Marks)

11. State Fermat’s principle. Obtain law of refraction using the Fermat’s principle. Derive the law of
reflection to minimize transit time as required by Fermat’s principle.

12. Three polarizing sheets are kept as shown in figure. An unpolarized light is sent through the
polarizers. The polarizing directions of these sheets make angles of 1 = 2 = 3 = 55o with the
direction of y-axis. Find the percentage of initial intensity transmitted by the system.

13. Two sinusoidal waves identical to each other moving in the same direction along a stretched string,
interfere with each other. The phase difference between them is 90o and amplitude of each wave is
7.6 mm.
a) Find the amplitude of resultant wave and the type of interference. (2)
b) Determine the phase difference in radians and wavelengths at which the amplitude of resultant
wave is 5.2 mm. (3)

14. Obtain expression for the intensity in Young’s double slit experiment using phasors and conditions
for nodes and antinodes.

15. Explain the diffraction of light by a single slit. Obtain conditions for maxima and minima in the
diffraction pattern.

16. Explain the fringe formation in a wedge shaped air film and obtain an expression for the fringe
width.

PART C (4 x 10 =40 Marks)

17. Obtain matrices which represents effect of translation, reflection and refraction of light.

18. Explain the superposition of two SHMs having same frequency but having displacements in
perpendicular directions acting simultaneously at a point. Draw the shape of resultant when the
phase difference between the two waves is at: 0, π/4 and π/2. What is the resultant when
amplitudes are equal with phase difference π/2?

19. Explain the light propagation in a step index optical fiber and obtain expression for numerical
aperture.

20. With a clear sketch, explain the principle and working of Michelson interferometer. How will you
find the thickness of a thin glass plate using the interferometer?

********

Page 2 of 2
R