RAFFLES INSTITUTION

PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

2013 Year 5
Tutorial

11

SUPERPOSITION

SELF-CHECK QUESTIONS
S1

What is the principle of superposition?

S2

How is a stationary wave formed?

S3

What is the phase difference between particles located between two successive
nodes of a stationary wave? How about their amplitudes?

S4

What is the longest possible wavelength of a stationary wave set up in a string fixed at
both ends? What about that of a stationary sound wave set up in a pipe with (i) one
end closed and (ii) with both ends open?

S5

What is diffraction? Is the effect of diffraction more pronounced when the size of the
aperture is reduced or when it is enlarged?

S6

Why is diffraction of light not easily observed? (It was thought that light travels in a
straight line.)

S7

Explain the term coherence, and constructive and destructive interference.

S8

In a Youngs double-slit experiment, what is the relation between the fringe

separation x, the wavelength , the slit separation a and the slit to screen distance D?

S9

What is the grating formula?

S10

How do you calculate the maximum number of orders that can be observed when a
beam of monochromatic light passes through a diffraction grating?

RAFFLES INSTITUTION
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

SELF-PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1

A suspension bridge is to be built across a valley where it is known that winds can gust
at 5 s intervals. It is estimated that the speed of transverse waves along the span of the
bridge is 400 m s-1. Calculate the length of the bridge when there is danger of resonant
vibrations at its fundamental frequency.

An organ pipe of effective length 0.60 m is closed at one end. Given that the speed of
sound in air is 300 m s1, determine the two lowest resonant frequencies.

J86/1/12
A string of length L, fixed at both ends, is plucked at its midpoint and emits its
fundamental note of frequency f1. When the string is plucked at a different point, the first
overtone frequency f2 is also produced.
(i)

What is the ratio f2/f1?

(ii)

What is the speed of the transverse waves in the string?

A microwave transmitter emits waves which are reflected from a metal plate. The
reflected wave and the incident wave superpose to form a standing wave. When a
microwave detector was traversed along the standing wave, successive points at which
the detector detected zero intensity were located 1.5 cm apart. What is the frequency of
the waves?

Red light of wavelength 6.0 10-7 m is incident normally on a Youngs double-slit,

where the slits separation is 0.40 mm and the distance of the slits to the screen is 1.20
m.

(a) What is the separation of the fringes on the screen?

(b) What is the effect on the appearance of the fringes if
(i)

the separation of the slits is decreased?

(ii) the screen is moved closer to the slits?

(c) What can be said about the fringe-separation between higher-order fringes?
6

A diffraction grating has 400 lines per mm and is illuminated normally by

monochromatic light of wavelength 600 nm. Calculate
(a)

the grating spacing,

(b)

the angle to the normal at which the first order maximum is seen,

(c)

the number of diffraction maxima obtained.

RAFFLES INSTITUTION
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

10

Answers
1
2
3
4

1000 m
125 Hz, 375 Hz
(i) 2:1, (ii) 2 f1L or f2L
1.0 1010 Hz
(a) 1.8 mm, (b) fringe separation increases, fringe separation decreases,
(c) the fringe separation x does not obey the formula.
(a) 2.5 106 m (b) 13.9 (c) 9

9
3

10

RAFFLES INSTITUTION
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Stationary Waves
1

J99/3/4
One end of a horizontal string is attached to an oscillator and the other end is passed
over a pulley. The string is kept under tension by means of a weight as shown below.
Pulley
As the frequency of the oscillator is increased, stationary waves are produced on the
string at certain frequencies.
(a)

Draw the stationary wave on the string when the frequency is such that the
distance between the oscillator and the pulley corresponds to two wavelengths of
the wave on the string.
Oscillator
(b) On your diagram, label the position of nodes N on the string.
(c)

Explain why a stationary wave is observed on the string only at particular

frequencies of vibration of the oscillator.

A 60.0 cm long, vertical hollow tube is initially submerged just below the surface of
water. As it is raised, the tube first resonates to a vibrating tuning-fork of frequency 512
Hz when the air column above the water level is 14.8 cm. The next resonance is
observed when the length of air column is 48.0 cm. Determine
(a) the end-correction, and
(b) the lowest frequency to which the tube will resound when it is open at both ends.

A student performs an experiment to measure the speed of sound in air. He has a

loudspeaker S, which is emitting sound of frequency 600 Hz, placed in front of a
reflector R. A sensitive microphone M is then moved between R and S. Signal from M is
monitored on a CRO.
CRO signals show that the first peak-signal is detected when M is located at the 130
mm mark on a ruler placed between R and S. The third peak-signal is detected when M
is at the 698 mm mark.
Calculate
(a)

the speed of sound in air, and

(b)

the positions of the two minima that lie between these two peak-signals.

Interference
4

In a Youngs double-slit experiment, the distance between slits is 0.50 mm and the
slits are 1.0 m from the screen. Two interference patterns can be seen on the screen
when lights of wavelengths 480 nm and 600 nm are incident perpendicularly to the slits.
What is the separation between the third-order interference fringes on the screen?

RAFFLES INSTITUTION
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

Sound waves of wavelength 0.42 m enter a tube where a semi-circular pipe of radius r
is linked to straight pipe as shown below.

detector

source

What is the smallest radius r such that a minimum will be heard at the detector?
6

J85/3/8
(a)

What do you understand by

(i) coherence
(ii) interference
between two separate wave trains?

(b)
R
B
S

A
C

The figure above illustrates the Youngs double slits experiment. A source of light
S illuminates a narrow slit A, which acts as a source for the narrow slits B and C,
and produces fringes on the screen. With light of wavelength , bright fringes of
separation s are formed on the screen. State the relation between , s, d, and D.
Suggest suitable values for d and D.
Describe and explain what happens to the fringes if
(i) both slits B and C are made narrower whilst keeping d constant,
(ii) the light emerging from slit B is reduced in intensity to half that from slit C,
(iii) a thin sheet of transparent plastic is inserted between slit B and slit A,
(iv) slits B and C are both covered with sheets of polaroid with their polarising axis
aligned, and that in front of B is slowly rotated.
(c)

When the wavelength of the source is 500 nm, the center of the 120 th dark fringe
counting from O lies at R. Upon replacement of the source by one of unknown
wavelength, R is found to be the location of the 90 th bright fringe
(counting O as zero). Find the wavelength of the unknown source.

J79/3/1

RAFFLES INSTITUTION
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

A source S of continuous waves a distance h from a plane reflector R produces regions

of high intensity such as C, C and C as shown below. Account for this.
When the frequency of S is changed slowly, the regions C, C and C move in the
direction y as shown. Account for this, and deduce whether the frequency has been
increased or decreased. Assume that no phase change occurs upon reflection with R.

h
C
S
In the Appletons
experiment, S was a radio transmitter
C on the Earths surface and R
was the Heaviside layer a reflecting layer in the atmosphere 80 km above the
ground. When the transmitted wavelength is slowly changed from 200 m to 180 m, a
receiver on the ground 120 km away from S observed
C fluctuations in the received signal
strength. Calculate the number of signal maxima observed
during this change of
y
frequency.
Diffraction Grating
8

In the spectrum of white light obtained by using a certain diffraction grating, the second
and third orders partially overlap. What wavelength in the third-order spectrum will
appear at the angle corresponding to a wavelength of 650 nm in the second-order
spectrum?

When a cadmium light is viewed through a diffraction grating having 500 lines per mm,
the first order spectral lines were observed at the stated angles.
Colour

Angle /

red

18.78

green

14.74

light blue

13.89

dark blue

13.53

(a)

Find the wavelengths of each of these lines.

(b)

What is the maximum order of each colour?

RAFFLES INSTITUTION
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

10

J93/3/2
A beam of red light from a laser is shone normally on to a diffraction grating. Bright light
is seen emerging at certain angles as shown in Fig. 10(a).
Use the principle of superposition to suggest a qualitative explanation of this effect.

1stst order red

1 order
violet
fromgas
A diffraction
grating with a grating spacing Light
of 2.20
106 m is used11.8
to examine
the
light
Red light
from
15.8
11.8
from a flowing gas. It is found that the first order violet light emerges at 15.8
anstangle 11.8
laser
1 order violet
and the first order red light at an angle 15.8 as shown in Fig. 10 (b)
1st order red
Diffraction
Diffraction
(a) Calculate the
wavelengths of these two colours.
grating
grating
(b) Describe and explain what will be observed at an angle of 54.8.
Fig. 10(a)
Fig. 10(b)
(c) Without making any further calculations, draw a sketch similar to Fig. 10(b)
showing the whole pattern observed.

Additional Questions
11

A ship at X is equidistant from two shore-based radio transmitters P and Q as shown

below. Both transmitters operate on a wavelength of 300 m and radiate signals of equal
amplitude.
Y

P
30 km

Q
30 km

(a) In the figure, the ship at X detects zero signal amplitude. What information does
this give about the signals from P and Q?
(b) The ship moves in a straight line from X to Y. Throughout the journey the amplitude
of the signal detected by the ship is zero. Explain this.
(c) The ship moves in the direction YQ until the signal detected has amplitude twice
that from either transmitter alone. How far has the ship moved?
(d) When the ship sails from Y to the harbor alongside transmitter Q, the detected
signal rises and falls in amplitude, calculate how many dips in intensity will be
passed

RAFFLES INSTITUTION
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

Answers
2

(a) 1.8 cm, (b) 267 Hz

(a) 341 m s-1, (b) 272 mm, 556 mm

7.2 104 m

0.184m

(c) 664 nm

44

433 nm

(a) 644nm, 509 nm, 480 nm, 468 nm, (b) 3, 3, 4, 4

10

(a) 4.50 107 m, 5.99 107 m

11

(c)75 m, (d) 200

CHALLENGING QUESTIONS
1

In the figure below, S1 and S2 are two coherent monochromatic light sources separated
by a distance of 0.50 mm. Position O is equidistant from S 1 and S2, and the screen is
0.80 m from the slits.
S1

0.50 mm

0.80 m

S2
When a thin parallel-sided piece of glass G of thickness 3.6 106 m is placed in front
of S1 as shown, the centre of the fringe system moves from O to a point P.
Calculate OP, if the wavelength of the two sources is 6.0 10 7 m and the refractive
index of the glass is 1.5.
Ans: 2.88 103 m
2

An oil film floating in water is illuminated by white light at normal incidence. The film is
280 nm thick and has a refractive index of 1.45. By considering interference of light rays
which are reflected at the oilwater and oil-air boundary, find the dominant colour in
the reflected light.
Note: When light enters a denser medium from a less-dense medium, it will undergo a
180 phase shift. No such phase shift occurs when light enters an optically less than
medium from a denser one.
Ans: 541 nm