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Questions
What are the conditions for obtaining a good interference pattern? Give reasons.
What is the essential condition for obtaining sustained interference?
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Solution 1
The conditions necessary for obtaining a well-defined and steady interference pattern are:
- The two sources of light should be coherent: This is the essential condition for getting a sustained interference pattern. As we have seen, the waves emitted by two coherent sources are always in phase or have a constant phase difference between them at all times. If the phases and phase differences vary with time, the positions of maxima and minima will also change with time, and the interference pattern will not be steady. For this reason, it is preferred that the two secondary sources used in the interference experiment are derived from a single original source.
- The light should be monochromatic: As can be seen from the condition of bright and dark fringes, the position of these fringes as well as the width of the fringes depend on the wavelength of light and the fringes of different colours are not coincident. The resultant pattern contains coloured, overlapping bands.
- The two interfering waves must have the same amplitude: Only if the amplitudes are equal, the intensity of dark fringes (destructive interference) is zero and the contrast between bright and dark fringes will be maximum.
- The two light sources should be narrow: If the slits are broad, the distances from different points along the slit to a given point on the screen are significantly different and therefore, the waves coming through the same slit will interfere among themselves, causing blurring of the interference pattern.
- The interfering light waves should be in the same state of polarization: Otherwise, the points where the waves meet in the opposite phase will not be completely dark and the interference pattern will not be distinct.
- The two waves should be in the same state of polarization: This is necessary only if polarized light is used for the experiment.
Solution 2
- The two light sources must be coherent, which implies that the light waves they emit must have a constant phase difference or be the same phase.
- The two series must emit light of the same wavelength, but the amplitude between them should differ as little as possible.
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