In a thin film of oil on water, which color will appear at the center of the pattern if the film thickness is such that the path difference is λ?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
In a thin film of oil on water, which color will appear at the center of the pattern if the film thickness is such that the path difference is λ?
Red
Blue
Green
Yellow
At the center, where the path difference is λ, constructive interference occurs, and the color that appears depends on the wavelength of light, typically red for thin films.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: In a thin film of oil on water, which color will appear at the center of the pattern if the film thickness is such that the path difference is λ?
Solution: At the center, where the path difference is λ, constructive interference occurs, and the color that appears depends on the wavelength of light, typically red for thin films.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand that a thin film of oil on water can create colorful patterns due to interference of light.
Step 2: Know that interference occurs when light waves overlap, and this can be constructive or destructive.
Step 3: Recognize that constructive interference happens when the path difference between the light waves is a whole number multiple of the wavelength (λ).
Step 4: In this case, the path difference is exactly λ, which means constructive interference occurs.
Step 5: Understand that the color seen at the center of the pattern depends on the wavelength of light that corresponds to this path difference.
Step 6: Typically, for thin films, the color that appears at this path difference (λ) is red.
