CLUSTER UNIVERSITY OF JAMMU

SYLLABUS – SEMESTER 4TH (CBCS) – B.SC PHYSICS

(CORE COURSE)

(EXAMINATION TO BE HELD IN 2017, 2018 AND 2019)

TITLE: WAVES AND OPTICS
COURSE CODE : 1PHYTC0401 CREDITS : 04
DURATION OF EXAMINATION TOTAL: 100 Marks
MINOR TEST : 01 Hour MINOR TEST: 20 Marks
MAJOR TEST : 2.5 Hours MAJOR TEST: 80 Marks

Objective: The course aims at enhancing the knowledge and understanding of students in the
areas of waves and optics.
Unit-I : Wave Motion (12 HOURS)
Plane and spherical waves, Longitudinal and transverse waves, Plane progressive waves, Wave
equation in simple and differential form, General solution of wave equation , Velocity of transverse
waves in a string , Velocity of longitudinal waves in a fluid, Energy density and intensity of a
progressive wave, Phase and group velocity, water waves: ripple and gravity waves. Characteristic
impedance of a string, Reflection and transmission coefficients, Impedance matching.

Unit-II : Superposition of Waves (12 HOURS)

Superposition principle and linearity, Superposition of two collinear harmonic oscillations with equal
frequencies and with slightly different frequencies (Beats), Superposition of two perpendicular
harmonic oscillations with equal frequencies and with different frequencies, Lissajous figures and
their uses, stationary/standing waves on a string of fixed length, eigen functions, energy of a
vibrating string, Melde’s experiment, Open and closed organ pipes.

Sound: Loudness of sound, Decibels, Intensity levels, Musical notes, Musical scale, Acoustics of
buildings: Reverberation , Absorption coefficient, Sabine formula, Measurement of reverberation
time, Acoustic aspects of halls and auditoria

Unit-III: Interference (12 HOURS)

Conditions for interference, Young’s double slit experiment, theory of interference fringes,
Fresnel’s biprism and its application to the determination of wavelength of sodium light, Phase
change on reflection , thin films (reflected and transmitted cases), Newton’s Rings: determination
of refractive index of liquid and wavelength of monochromatic light, Michelson’s interferometer
and its applications to determine (i) Wave length of monochromatic light (ii) thickness of thin
transparent plate (iii) resolution of spectral lines (iv) Determination of refractive index of glass.

COURSE CODE : 1PHYTC0401 Page | 1

 CLUSTER UNIVERSITY OF JAMMU
SYLLABUS – SEMESTER 4TH (CBCS) – B.SC PHYSICS
(CORE COURSE)

Unit-IV: Diffraction (12 HOURS)

Fresnel’s diffraction , Fresnel’s half –period zones , rectilinear propagation of light , Zone plate
action of Zone plate , Diffraction at a straight edge , rectangular slit and thin wire, Fraunhofer
diffraction, single slit diffraction, two slit diffraction, plane transmission grating, determination of
wavelength of monochromatic light using grating, width of principal maximum, absent spectra,
dispersive power of grating, limit of resolution, Rayleigh’s criterion, resolving power of grating.

Unit-V: Polarisation (12 HOURS)

Polarisation by reflection, Brewster’s law, Malus Law, Phenomenon of double refraction, Huygen
theory of double refraction , Nicol prism, Quarter wave plate and half wave plate; theory,
Production and detection of plane, Circularly and elliptical polarized light, Optical activity,
Specific rotation, Laurent’s half shade polarimeter.

Reference Books:
1. Fundamentals of Optics, F A Jenkins and H E White, 1976, McGraw-Hill
2. Principles of Optics, B.K. Mathur, 1995, Gopal Printing
3. Fundamentals of Optics, H.R. Gulati and D.R. Khanna, 1991, R. Chand
Publication
4. University Physics. FW Sears, MW Zemansky and HD Young 13/e, 1986.
Addison-Wesley
5. Optics, Brij Lal, Subhramanyam and Avadhanulu, S.Chand and Co., New Delhi.
6. Optics, Ajoy Ghatak, Tata McGraw Hill.
7. Fundamentals of Optics, Devraj Singh, PHI Learning, New Delhi.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAPER SETTERS AND CANDIDATES:

1. The question paper for Semester End Examination will consist of two parts:
a) Part A will comprise of short answer /objective type questions of 16 marks (five
questions of 2 marks and six questions of 1 mark each) covering all five units.
b) Part B will comprise of eight questions of 16 marks each with two questions each from
II, III, IV and V units. The students will have to attempt four questions selecting one
question from each unit. Each question of 16 marks will have two parts: (i) long answer
question of 12 marks (ii) short answer question/numerical problem of 4 marks each. The
duration of the examination will be 2.5 hours.
2. The Minor Test will be held for unit I of the syllabus. It will comprise of two parts:
a) Part A consists of three long answer questions of 5 marks each and students will have to
attempt any two.
b) Part B consists of seven short answer questions of 2 marks each and students will have
to attempt any five.

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