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Question #43245
The Question
In a modified Young's Double Slit Experiment, monochromatic light of wavelength illuminates two identical slits and separated by a distance . The screen is placed at a distance . Slit is fixed, while slit is made to oscillate along the axis perpendicular to the plane of the slits with a displacement , where . The frequency of oscillation is much higher than the response rate of the detector on the screen, so the detector records the time-averaged intensity. If the intensity produced by a single slit on the screen is , what is the fringe visibility of the observed interference pattern?
Options
- A.
- B.
- C.
- D.
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Correct Answer
Step-by-Step Solution
Explanation
How the Examiner Thinks
Intuition_Breaker
Train your brain to resist "obvious" answers that are designed to deceive your intuition.
Concepts Behind This Question
Young's Double Slit Geometry|Wave Equation Sign Convention|Kinematics
Why This Question Is Tricky
Common Mistakes
This question tests the transition from static wave geometry to dynamic phase modulation.
A common trap is incorrectly applying the Doppler shift to the vibrating slit, concluding that the frequencies are different (), making the sources incoherent and yielding a visibility of 0.
However, for typical SHM frequencies, the Doppler shift is negligible compared to the optical frequency, and the phenomenon is purely a phase modulation.
Another trap is assuming the high-frequency oscillation simply averages the displacement to zero, yielding a standard static pattern with visibility 1.
Students must correctly apply the time-averaged superposition principle and small-angle approximations to find the non-zero minimum intensity caused by the 'flickering' fringes.
Quick Facts About This Question
Question Information
| Subject | Physics |
| Chapter | Wave Optics - Class 12 |
| Concept | Young's Double Slit Geometry |
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Cognitive Load | 7 |
| Target Solve Time | 160 sec |
| Access | Free |