In Young's double-slit experiment, if the distance between the slits is doubled, what happens to the fringe width?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
In Young's double-slit experiment, if the distance between the slits is doubled, what happens to the fringe width?
It doubles
It halves
It remains the same
It quadruples
Fringe width is given by β = λD/d. If d (distance between slits) is doubled, the fringe width β will halve.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: In Young's double-slit experiment, if the distance between the slits is doubled, what happens to the fringe width?
Solution: Fringe width is given by β = λD/d. If d (distance between slits) is doubled, the fringe width β will halve.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand the formula for fringe width, which is β = λD/d.
Step 2: Identify the variables in the formula: λ is the wavelength of light, D is the distance from the slits to the screen, and d is the distance between the slits.
Step 3: Note that if the distance between the slits (d) is doubled, we can represent this as d' = 2d.
Step 4: Substitute the new value of d into the formula: β' = λD/(2d).
Step 5: Simplify the new formula: β' = (1/2)(λD/d) = (1/2)β.
Step 6: Conclude that if the distance between the slits is doubled, the fringe width (β) will be halved.
