1st Edition

ISBN: 9781938168000

Author: Paul Peter Urone, Roger Hinrichs

Publisher: OpenStax College

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In physics, the term diffraction is defined as the bending of light around the corners of the obstacle. As a light ray passes by an aperture, it bends around the edges or through slits, it spreads out through a narrow opening. The diffracted light will p…

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Textbook Question

Chapter 27, Problem 59PE

Diffraction spreading for a flashlight is insignificant compared with other limitations in its optics, such as spherical aberrations in its mirror. To show this, calculate the minimum angular spreading of a flashlight beam that is originally 5.00 cm in diameter with an average wavelength of 600 nm.

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Chapter 27, Problem 58PE

Chapter 27, Problem 60PE

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A telescope can be used to enlarge the diameter of a laser beam and limit diffraction spreading. The laser beam is sent through the telescope in opposite the normal direction and can then be projected onto a satellite or the Moon. If this is done with the Mount Wilson telescope, producing a 2.54 m diameter beam of 613 nm light, what is the minimum angular spread of the beam? Neglecting atmospheric effects, what is the size of the spot this beam would make on the Moon, assuming a lunar distance of 3.84×108 m?

A telescope can be used to enlarge the diameter of a laser beam and limit diffraction spreading. The laser beam is sent through the telescope in opposite the normal direction and can then be projected onto a satellite or the Moon. (a) If this is done with the Mount Wilson telescope, producing a 2.54-m-diameter beam of 633-nm light, what is the minimum angular spread of the beam? (b) Neglecting atmospheric effects, what is the size of the spot this beam would make on the Moon, assuming a lunar distance of 3.84×108 m ?

Diffraction spreading for a flashlight is insignificant compared with other limitations in its optics, such as spherical aberrations in its mirror. To show this, calculate the minimum angular spreading of a flashlight beam that is originally 5.80 cm in diameter with an average wavelength of 550 nm.

Chapter 27 Solutions

College Physics

Ch. 27 - What type of experimental evidence indicates that...Ch. 27 - Give an example of a wave characteristic of light...Ch. 27 - How do wave effects depend on the size of the...Ch. 27 - Under what conditions can light be modeled like a...Ch. 27 - Go outside in the sunlight and observe your...Ch. 27 - Why does the wavelength of light decrease when it...Ch. 27 - Does Huygens's principle apply to all types of...Ch. 27 - Young's double slit experiment breaks a single...Ch. 27 - Suppose you use the same double slit to perform...Ch. 27 - Is it possible to create a situation in which...

Ch. 27 - Figure 27.55 shows the central part of the...Ch. 27 - What is the advantage of a diffraction grating...Ch. 27 - What are the advantages of a diffraction grating...Ch. 27 - Can the lines in a diffraction grating be too...Ch. 27 - If a beam of white light passes through a...Ch. 27 - Suppose pure-wavelength light falls on a...Ch. 27 - Suppose a feather appears green but has no green...Ch. 27 - It is possible that there is no minimum in the...Ch. 27 - As the width of the slit producing a single-slit...Ch. 27 - A beam of light always spreads out. Why can a beam...Ch. 27 - What effect does increasing the wedge angle have...Ch. 27 - How is the difference in paths taken by two...Ch. 27 - Is there a phase change in the light reflected...Ch. 27 - In placing a sample on a microscope slide, a glass...Ch. 27 - Answer the above question if the fluid between the...Ch. 27 - While contemplating the food value of a slice of...Ch. 27 - An inventor notices that a soap bubble is dark at...Ch. 27 - A non-reflective coating like the one described in...Ch. 27 - Why is it much more difficult to see interference...Ch. 27 - Under what circumstances is the phase of light...Ch. 27 - Can a sound wave in air be polarized? Explain.Ch. 27 - No light passes through two perfect polarizing...Ch. 27 - Explain what happens to the energy carried by...Ch. 27 - When particles scattering light are smaller than...Ch. 27 - Using the information given in the preceding...Ch. 27 - When light is reflected at Brewster's angle from a...Ch. 27 - Explain how microscopes can use wave optics to...Ch. 27 - A bright white light under water is collimated and...Ch. 27 - Show that when light passes from air to water, its...Ch. 27 - Find the range of visible wavelengths of light in...Ch. 27 - What is the index of refraction of a material for...Ch. 27 - Analysis of an interference effect in a clear...Ch. 27 - What is the ratio of thicknesses of crown glass...Ch. 27 - At what angle is the first-order maximum for...Ch. 27 - Calculate the angle for the third-order maximum of...Ch. 27 - What is the separation between two slits for which...Ch. 27 - Find the distance between two slits that produces...Ch. 27 - Calculate the wavelength of light that has its...Ch. 27 - What is the wavelength of light falling on double...Ch. 27 - At what angle is the fourth-order maximum for the...Ch. 27 - What is the highest-order maximum for 400-nm light...Ch. 27 - Find the largest wavelength of light falling on...Ch. 27 - What is the smallest separation between two slits...Ch. 27 - (a) What is the smallest separation between two...Ch. 27 - (a) If the first-order maximum for pure-wavelength...Ch. 27 - Figure 27.56 shows a double slit located a...Ch. 27 - Using the result of the problem above, calculate...Ch. 27 - Using the result of the problem two problems...Ch. 27 - A diffraction grating has 2000 lines per...Ch. 27 - Find the angle for the third-order maximum for...Ch. 27 - How many lines per centimeter are there on a...Ch. 27 - What is the distance between lines on a...Ch. 27 - Calculate the wavelength of light that has its...Ch. 27 - An electric current through hydrogen gas produces...Ch. 27 - (a) What do the four angles in the above problem...Ch. 27 - What is the maximum number of lines per centimeter...Ch. 27 - The yellow light from a sodium vapor lamp seems to...Ch. 27 - What is the spacing between structures in a...Ch. 27 - Structures on a bird feather act like a reflection...Ch. 27 - An opal such as that shown in Figure 27.17 acts...Ch. 27 - At what angle does a diffraction grating produces...Ch. 27 - Show that a diffraction grating cannot produce a...Ch. 27 - If a diffraction grating produces a first-order...Ch. 27 - (a) Find the maximum number of lines per...Ch. 27 - €37. (a) Show that a 30,000-line-per-centimeter...Ch. 27 - A He—Ne laser beam is reflected from the surface...Ch. 27 - The analysis shown in the figure below also...Ch. 27 - Unreasonable Results Red light of wavelength of...Ch. 27 - Unreasonable Results (a) What visible wavelength...Ch. 27 - Construct Your Own Problem Consider a spectrometer...Ch. 27 - (a) At what angle is the first minimum for 550-nm...Ch. 27 - (a) Calculate the angle at which a 2.00- m -wide...Ch. 27 - (a) How wide is a single slit that produces its...Ch. 27 - (a) What is the width of a single slit that...Ch. 27 - Find the wavelength of light that has its third...Ch. 27 - Calculate the wavelength of light that produces...Ch. 27 - (a) Sodium vapor light averaging 589 nm in...Ch. 27 - (a) Find the angle of the third diffraction...Ch. 27 - (a) Find the angle between the first minima for...Ch. 27 - (a) What is the minimum width of a single slit (in...Ch. 27 - (a) If a single slit produces a first minimum at...Ch. 27 - A double slit produces a diffraction pattern that...Ch. 27 - Integrated Concepts A water break at the entrance...Ch. 27 - Integrated Concepts An aircraft maintenance...Ch. 27 - The 300-m-diameter Arecibo radio telescope...Ch. 27 - Assuming the angular resolution found for the...Ch. 27 - Diffraction spreading for a flashlight is...Ch. 27 - (a) What is the minimum angular spread of a 633-nm...Ch. 27 - A telescope can be used to enlarge the diameter of...Ch. 27 - The limit to the eye's acuity is actually related...Ch. 27 - What is the minimum diameter mirror on a telescope...Ch. 27 - You are told not to shoot until you see the whites...Ch. 27 - (a) The planet Pluto and its Moon Charon are...Ch. 27 - The headlights of a car are 1.3 m apart. What is...Ch. 27 - When dots are placed on a page from a laser...Ch. 27 - Unreasonable Results An amateur astronomer wants...Ch. 27 - Construct Your Own Problem Consider diffraction...Ch. 27 - A soap bubble is 100 nm thick and illuminated by...Ch. 27 - An oil slick on water is 120 nm thick and...Ch. 27 - Calculate the minimum thickness of an oil slick on...Ch. 27 - Find the minimum thickness of a soap bubble that...Ch. 27 - A film of soapy water (n=1.33) on top of a plastic...Ch. 27 - What are the three smallest non-zero thicknesses...Ch. 27 - Suppose you have a lens system that is to be used...Ch. 27 - (a) As a soap bubble thins it becomes dark,...Ch. 27 - A film of oil on water will appear dark when it is...Ch. 27 - Figure 27.34 shows two glass slides illuminated by...Ch. 27 - Figure 27.34 shows two 7.50-cm-long glass slides...Ch. 27 - Repeat Exercise 27.70, but take the light to be...Ch. 27 - Repeat Exercise 27.71, but take the light to be...Ch. 27 - Unreasonable Results To save money on making...Ch. 27 - What angle is needed between the direction of...Ch. 27 - The angle between the axes of two polarizing...Ch. 27 - If you have completely polarized light of...Ch. 27 - What angle would the axis of a polarizing filter...Ch. 27 - At the end of Example 27.8, it was stated that the...Ch. 27 - Show that if you have three polarizing filters,...Ch. 27 - Prove that, if I is the intensity of light...Ch. 27 - At what angle will light reflected from diamond be...Ch. 27 - What is Brewster's angle for light traveling in...Ch. 27 - A scuba diver sees light reflected from the...Ch. 27 - At what angle is light inside crown glass...Ch. 27 - Light reflected at 55.6° from a window is...Ch. 27 - (a) Light reflected at 62.5° from a gemstone in a...Ch. 27 - If b is Brewster's angle for light reflected from...Ch. 27 - Integrated Concepts If a polarizing filter reduces...Ch. 27 - Integrated Concepts Suppose you put on two pairs...Ch. 27 - Integrated Concepts (a) On a day when the...

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