Scribd
Upload
30 views

CHAPTER 10 - Complete Notes

hewfiewjfeoiwjfkjnrwoijgewpofkjknvkjfdnvwekgjjpoewkg[plkgewgf

Uploaded by

alvina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
30 views

CHAPTER 10 - Complete Notes

hewfiewjfeoiwjfkjnrwoijgewpofkjknvkjfdnvwekgjjpoewkg[plkgewgf

Uploaded by

alvina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 16

CHAPTER 10 : WAVE OPTICS [ Notes 1]

According to wave theory of light, a source of light sends out


disturbance in all directions. In a homogenous medium the disturbance
reaches all those particles of medium in phase which are located at the
same distance from the source of light and hence at any instant all such
particles must be vibrating in phase with each other. The locus of all
points which oscillates in phase is called a wave front.

C
i.e. A wavefront is defined as a surface of constant phase. The
speed with which a wave front moves outwards from the source is
called speed of the wave. Energy of wave travels in direction
perpendicular to wavefront.i.e Rays are perpendicular to wavefronts.
Ray is defined as path of energy propagation in the limit of wavelength
tending to zero.
TN
Different types of wavefronts :
i) Due to a point source : spherical wavefronts [ Figure (a)]
ii) Due to a linear source/line source : cylindrical wavefronts [ Figure
(b)]
iii) Due to a parallel beam ( i.e object at infinity ) : plane wavefronts [
Figure (c)]
iv) Due to converging beam & diverging beam : spherical wavefronts .

C
TN
Note: At a large distance from the source, a small portion of spherical wavefront can be
approximated as a plane wavefront.
Huygens Principle

Huygens principle is a geometrical construction used to determine the


new position of wavefront at a later time from its given position at any
instant.
According to Huygens principle,
 each point of the wavefront is the source of a secondary
disturbance, called secondary wavelets .
 The secondary wavelets spread out in all directions with the
speed of the wave in the given medium.

C
 The new wavefront at any later time is given by the forward
envelope (tangential surface in the forward direction) of the
secondary wavelets at that time.

i.e. According to Huygen’s principle, in order to determine the shape of


the wavefront at time t= 𝜏 seconds, we draw spheres of radius ‘v𝜏′ from
each point on the spherical wavefront, where v is the speed of the wave
TN
in the medium .If we now draw a common tangent to all these spheres,
we will obtain the new position of the wavefront at time 𝜏 seconds.

Huygens argued that amplitude of secondary wavelet is maximum in


the forward direction & zero in the backward direction.

Note : Voigt & Kirchoff mathematically proved that contribution of


wavelet in any direction making angle 𝜃 with thenormal to the wavelet
1
is proportional to (1 + cos 𝜃 ) ; for forward wavefront 𝜃 = 0° & for
2
backward wavefront 𝜃 = 180°
Q. Explain using Huygen’s principle, the construction of secondary wavefront for a
i)spherical wavefront ii) plane wavefront

Ans i) Huygen’s geometrical construction for a spherical wavefront.


Consider a diverging wave & let F1F2 represent a portion of the spherical
wavefront at t = o.

C
TN
ii) Huygen’s geometrical construction for a plane wave propagating to the right.
Let F1F2 represent a plane wavefront at t = o.
TN
C
TN
C
TN
C
TN
C
TN
C
TN
C
TN
C
OR S2Q = 9λ & S1Q = 7λ such that S2Q - S1Q = 2 λ.

C
TN
TN
C
TN
C
TN
C
TN
C

You might also like