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Question
Why are multiple colours observed over a thin film of oil floating on water? Explain with the help of a diagram.
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Solution
Interference due to a thin film:
The brilliant colours of soap bubbles and thin films on the surface of water are due to the interference of light waves reflected from the upper and lower surfaces of the film. The two rays have a path difference which depends on the point on the film that is being viewed. This is shown in above figure.
The incident wave gets partially reflected from upper surface as shown by ray AE. The rest of the light gets refracted and travels along AB. At B it again gets partially reflected and travels along BC. At Cit refracts into air and travels along CF. The parallel rays AE and CF have a phase difference due to their different path lengths in different media. As can be seen from the figure, the phase difference depends on the angle of incidence θ1, i.e., the angle of incidence at the top surface which is the angle of viewing, and also on the wavelength of the light as the refractive index of the material of the thin film depends on it. The two waves propagating along AE and CF interfere producing maxima and minima for different colours at different angles of viewing. One sees different colours when the film is viewed at different angles.
As the reflection is from the denser boundary, there is an additional phase difference of π radians (or an additional path difference λ). This should be taken into account for mathematical analysis.
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