Chapter 31, Problem 12A

If a soap bubble is thick enough to cancel yellow by interference, what color will it appear if illuminated by white light?

To determine

To Find: The color that will it appear if soap bubble is illuminated by the white light when it is thick enough to cancel yellow by interference.

Answer to Problem 12A

Blue

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

Interference can be defined as the phenomena of superimposing of two waves to produce a resultant wave of smaller, greater or same amplitude.

When the soap bubble is illuminated by the white light, it appears blue to the eye of the observer. This is because the thickness of the soap bubble is quite enough to cancel the yellow color from the incident light. Due to this, its complimentary color remains at the surface. Blue is the complimentary color of yellow.

Conclusion:

Hence, the surface of the soap bubble appears blue.