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Physics Olympiad Preparation Program 2010-2011

- University of Toronto -

Solutions: Optics and Waves
Due February 14, 2011

Problem 1
(a) Two transparent balloons, whose centers
are fixed in the same vertical plane
(Fig.1A), are inflated in such a way that
their radii r
1
and r
2
are increasing
according to r
1
= a + vt and r
2
= b + vt,
where a, b and v are constants; and t is
time. The student is observing the process
from the top view in a horizontal plane as
in Fig. 1B. His camera is recording the
positions of points of intersection of the
two circumferences C at split-second
intervals.
Find the locus of the point C in the
horizontal plane. Justify your answer
mathematically. You will need to recall the
definitions of a circle, an ellipse, a
hyperbola and a parabola from your 11
th

Grade textbook.
(b) There are two coherent sources of sinusoidal spherical waves that produce an interference
pattern in space. The wavelength of the waves is , the phase speed is v. The interference
pattern is observed in the plane that includes both sources of the waves. What curve(s) do
the positions of the maxima of interference pattern belong to? Justify your answer.

Solution
(a) We will denote the center of one of the balloons O
1
and the center of the other balloon as
O
2
. In the plane, shown in Fig.1B, the distance O
1
C = r
1
, and the distance O
2
C = r
2
. At any
instant of time t, the sum of radii and the sum of the radii squared depend on time and
therefore cannot be constant. Therefore, the position of point C cannot move along an
ellipse or along a circle. On the other hand, the difference r
2
r
1
= b - a = const. The locus
of a point that moves so the difference of its distances from two fixed points is a non-zero
constant is a hyperbola. In our B-plane, the point C and the symmetric point shown in
Fig.1B, are moving to the left along one branch of the hyperbola open to the left.

(b) As the observations of interference
pattern are made in a plane, we can
place the sources of coherent
circular waves S
1
and S
2
into the
plane of a drawing. Let us call this
plane the horizontal plane. On any
other arbitrary chosen vertical plane
P1 (see Fig.1a) that is perpendicular
to the plane of the drawing, the
interference pattern consists of
A
B
r
1

r
2
C
FIG.1
S
1
S
2

P1

P2
FIG.1a.
Page 2 of 9

nodes and antinodes. The latter are the locations of interference maxima, or the points of
constructive interference. There will be two antinodal points on the intersection of the plane
P1 and the plane of the drawing where the path difference is exactly (the first interference
order). If we begin shifting the vertical plane parallel to P1, we will find a new plane, P2,
with the other two antinodal points with the path difference . The other set of antinodal
points are associated with the path difference 2 , and so on. Thus, the locus of antinodal
points (interference maxima) in the plane of the drawing is a set of hyperbolas with two
branches each. Every pair of branches refers to a specific path difference between the waves
that come from sources S
1
and S
2
. The sources of the coherent waves in Fig.1a are emitting
the waves with some initial phase shift. However, the coherence is not destroyed by this
phase shift if it is constant with respect to time. Therefore, the situation described above is a
general case of interference pattern.

Figure 1b gives an interference pattern in the plane of drawing in a particular case of zero
initial phase difference between the waves emitted by the sources. In this case, the straight
line which belongs to the vertical plane P3, which is equidistant from S
1
and S
2
and
perpendicular to the direction from S
1
to S
2
, is also a locus of interference maxima
corresponding to the path difference 0.

The bold dashed line in Fig.1b that connects antinodal points is an ellipse. Interference
maxima on this ellipse belong to different interference orders. Figure 1b shows the
intersections of one of the assemblage of ellipses with the branch of the hyperbola of the
second interference order and the straight line connecting the interference maxima of zero
interference order. The hyperbola and the ellipse are confocal. In mathematics, it can be
proved that the confocal ellipse and hyperbola intersect at a right angle.

Thus, the loci of interference maxima (or minima!) observed in the plane of the two
coherent sources of spherical waves are hyperbolae, ellipses and one straight line in a
particular case of zero initial phase difference for the emitted waves.




FIG.1b
P3
H
Page 3 of 9

Problem 2
A He-Ne laser beam with intensity I = 0.20 W/cm
2
is incident on a plane surface at an angle of
45
o
. Find the normal pressure produced by the laser beam on the surface if
(a) the surface is white and reflects 100% of the incident photons;
(b) the surface is black and absorbs 100% of the incident photons.
Energy of one photon is E
1
= hf, where h = 6.6x10
-34
Js is the Plancks constant; and f is the
frequency of the wave. One photon possesses a linear momentum p =E
1
/ c, where c = 3.0x10
8

m/s is the speed of light in free space.

Solution
The laser beam due to its high coherence and very small wavelength compared to the
macroscopic objects can be considered a beam of monoenergetic photons. The intensity of the
beam is I = E
1
N / (tA
beam
), where N / t is the number of photons, emitted per unit of time; and
A
beam
is the cross-sectional area of the beam. We will denote N / t = n.
Interaction of electromagnetic wave with a surface results in partial
reflection of the wave and partial refraction with the following attenuation
in the substance. To solve the problem, it is convenient to introduce a
reflection coefficient as
i
r
n
n
= , where subscript r means reflected and
subscript i means incident. For the ideal white surface, = 1, and for
the ideal black surface, = 0. The interaction between a photon and a
surface is analogous to a perfectly elastic collision in mechanics if the
surface is white, and perfectly inelastic collision if the surface is black. Real
surfaces have < 1. Upon the definition of the normal pressure P, it is
equal to the normal force F
y
, exerted on the surface (see Fig. 2s), divided by
the surface area A. Upon the definition of force,
t
p
F

=
r
r
, or force is the
rate of change of linear momentum. Thus we can relate the normal pressure on the surface to the
rate of change of the linear momentum of the beam of photons.
The x-component of the linear momentum of the incident beam of photons is given by



The y-component of the linear momentum of the incident beam of photons is given by



Taking into account the reflection coefficient , the change in each of the components of the
linear momentum of the beam of photons due to the interaction with the wall can be found as




Only the y-component of the change of the linear momentum of the wall p
y,wall
contributes into
the normal force on the wall, and p
y

wall
= - p
y
. As pressure is a positive value, we can operate
with magnitudes of the normal force and the y-component of the linear momentum of the wall,
as follows

.

(a) = 1; P = 6.7x10
-6
Pa; (b) = 0; P = 3.3x10
-6
Pa

p
r
x



y


p
i




FIG.2s
sin sin
1
c
tA I
c
E
t n p
beam
i x

= =
( ) cos 1
c
tA I
p
beam
y

+ = ( ) sin 1
c
tA I
p
beam
x

=
cos cos
1
c
tA I
c
E
t n p
beam
i y

= =
( ) ( ) ( ) Pa
x
x
c
I
A c
IA
A t
p
A t
p
A
F
P
beam
y wall y y
2
1
10 0 . 3
10 20 . 0
1 cos 1 cos 1
8
4
2
,
+ = + =

+ =

=
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Problem 3
A student wants to repeat the Youngs double-slit experiment with sunlight. To observe the
interference pattern, he produced two parallel slits separated by a very
small distance d in a plane obstacle and placed a very large white screen
at a distance L from the obstacle, parallel to the plane with the slits. In
this experiment, L>>d, and d is on the order of magnitude of several tens
of micrometers. The visible spectrum of electromagnetic waves spreads
from about 400 nm to approximately 700 nm. The table shows the
approximate boundaries of colors distinguished by the eye. As the
double-slit experiment is performed with sunlight, the bright fringes of
pure colors appear only with the smallest order numbers of maxima
observed. Farther from the central white fringe the bright fringes of
different colors begin to overlap. We resolve two lines as two different ones when their maxima
are separated by a distance which is about a half width of one of the adjacent bright fringes.
Estimate the maximum order m
max
of the interference pattern, in which it is still possible to see at
least one clear maximum of a pure color of the sunlight spectrum and identify this color.

Solution
The resolution criterion mentioned above is called the Rayleighs criterion. Numerically, the
Rayleighs criterion is expressed as
(3.1)

Figure 3Sa helps to visualize this criterion for two closely located peaks on the screen.

FIG.3Sa. Rayleighs criterion of resolution of two peaks of equal amplitude and width.
(1): red and blue peaks of same width are separated by a distance larger than the width
of the peak; the peaks are resolved and identified by the eye as a red line and a blue
line;
(2): red and blue peaks are at a distance equal to the width of the peak and are just
resolved; the eye identifies three colors: the red line to the left, the additive,
magenta in this case (see explanation below), line in the middle, and the blue line to
the right;
(3): the peaks are not resolved and are identified as one false peak with the position
of its maximum between the maxima of the red and the blue peaks. The color of
this false peak however, does not correspond to the average value of <> = (
r
+

b
). The peaks color is identified by the eye as magenta in the range where two
peaks overlap and is red on its left side and is blue on its right side.

Color , nm
Red 700 - 635
Orange 635 590
Yellow 590 560
Green 560 490
Blue 490 464
Indigo 464 446
Violet 446 - 400
x
r
x
b
x
r
x
b
x
r
x
f
x
b

(1) (2) (3)

= R
Page 5 of 9

As the real sunlight has a continuous spectrum with different intensities of different wavelengths,
we have to analyse the interference pattern of the entire spectrum within the range of
wavelengths 400 nm 700 m (the boundaries are taken very approximately) but will not take
into consideration the difference in intensities of the spectrum components.

If the incident light consisted of just one wavelength, the interference pattern on the white screen
behind the slits would look like in Fig. 3Sb. In our problem, each color will have its own
interference pattern with unique series of maxima and minima on the screen.



















The position x
,m
of a bright fringe (maximum intensity) of a monochromatic component of the
incident beam on the screen in the double-slit experiment is given by

(3.2)

where m = 0, 1, 2, 3, ... and corresponds to the order of maximum observed on the screen.
At the position opposite to the midpoint between two slits, all monochromatic waves will
interfere constructively, and x
,m
= 0, for m = 0 regardless . As all components of the incident
beam have maximum at this point, the central bright fringe on the white screen is white with
reddish tinge at the sides, however, because the width x
,m
of the interference maximum (see
Fig.3Sb) is proportional to the wavelength and is given by

(3.3)

Equation 3.3 also gives a separation of the maxima of interference pattern for the wavelength
on the screen.

For non-monochromatic light, the position of the interference maximum is spread within x
m
,
related to =
max
-
min
according to Eq. 3.2 as

(3.4)

The width of the maximum is given by Eq.3.3, and can be rewritten for non-monochromatic line
as
(3.5)
FIG. 3Sb. Distribution of intensity in interference pattern on the screen in the
double-slit experiment with monochromatic light. The first order of
interference is denoted as , because the path difference between the
rays from two slits is equal to ; the second order of interference is
denoted as 2; and so on. Locations of maxima (bright fringes) and
minima (dark fringes) depend upon the wavelength.

d
L
m x
m
=
,

d
L
x
m
=
,
=
d
L
m x
m
| |
> < =
> <

d
L
x
Page 6 of 9


where
is the average wavelength of the line.

The width of a maximum in an interference pattern is a distance between two adjacent dark
fringes. Therefore, it is clear that for distinct resolution of the interference maximum, the width
of the bright fringe must be larger than the difference in positions of the maxima of the
components of the non-monochromatic line, i.e.
x
<>
> x
m
(3.6)
Substituting (3.4) and (3.5) into (3.6), we can obtain an inequality
(3.7)
Actually, we have obtained a condition for observation of the maximum possible order of
interference pattern, which can be compared to the resolution formula (3.1). For the given range
of the wavelengths of the visible light, <> = 550 nm; and = 300 nm. The m
max
= 1. This
means that the bright fringes of one color in the order of interference m > 1 will be superimposed
on the bright fringes of the other color or colors with the other order m. E.g. the position of the
violet bright fringe of order m = 3 almost coincides with positions of the yellow and the orange
bright fringes of the order m = 2, and cannot be resolved by the eye.
In practice, the interference pattern for white light in the double-slit experiment looks as follows:
to the right and to the left side from the band that corresponds to m = 1 and contains the colors
from violet to red, an observer sees a uniformly illuminated white field. However, this is not the
original white light spectrum. The white color in each position of this field appears as a
superposition of different but not all of the wavelengths that are the components of the original
white light (sunlight). The eye interprets the mixture of colors as white (some sources refer to
grey color of this field), because of a specific property of the eye which is preferentially sensitive
to just three colors: blue, green, and red that are called the primary colors.
Fig. 3Sc illustrates the formation of other than primary colors
(additive colors) and the possible appearance of an image of the white
light in a human brain.
The last visible pure color is red in the bright fringe with m = 1. Its
maximum almost coincides with the minimum of the violet bright
fringe with m = 2; and it is still resolved with green bright fringe with
m = 1. Considering which color from the sunlight spectrum is
presented in the interference pattern, we should take into account that
each color corresponds to a range of wavelengths. This complicates
the analysis along with the fact that all components of the sunlight
spectrum have originally different intensities; and the human eye has a different sensitivity to
each of the colors.




2
min max

+
>= <

> <
=

> <
<
max
m m
FIG. 3Sc.
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Problem 4
Fig.2 shows the series of three coaxial discs,
which are polarizers. Suppose the transmission
axes of the left and right polarizing discs are
perpendicular to each other. The central disc is
rotating on the common axis with an angular
speed . Unpolarized light is incident on the left
disc with an intensity I
max
. Find the intensity of
the light beam emerging from the right disc. The
intensity of the electromagnetic wave is
proportional to the electric field amplitude
squared.

You may find useful the following trigonometric identities:
cos
2
= (1 + cos 2 ) and sin
2
= (1 cos 2 ).

Solution
The speed of light in our solution is considered infinite.
The linearly polarized components of unpolarized incident beam of light have randomly
distributed directions of polarization relative to the transmission axis of the first polarizer. For
each component i, the transmitted intensity is given by I
trans,i
= I
max
cos
2

i
(Maluss law). As the
angles
i
are distributed randomly, the intensity must be averaged. The average value <cos
2

i
> =
0.5.

For incident unpolarized light of intensity I
max
the intensity is changing as follows:

After transmitting the 1st disk, the intensity is given by I
1
= I
max
.

After transmitting the 2nd disk at some instant t, I
2
= I
1
cos
2
= I
max
cos
2
.

After transmitting the 3rd disk, I
3
= I
max
cos
2
cos
2
(90
o
),

where the angle between the first and second disk is t = .

Using trigonometric identities ( )
2
1
cos 1 cos2
2
= +

and ( ) ( )
2 2
1
cos 90 sin 1 cos2
2
= =

we have







The intensity of the emerging beam oscillates with angular frequency 4 .







Transmission axis
= t
I
max
Transmission
axis
FIG.2.
( )
( ) ( ) t I I I
I I I

4 cos 1
16
1
4 cos 1
16
1
2 sin
8
1
2 cos 1
8
1
2
2 cos 1
2
2 cos 1
2
1
max max
2
max
2
max max 3
= = =
= =
(

+
=
Page 8 of 9

Problem 5 (experimental)
1. Take a cylindrical glass with thin walls and fill it with water to about one half of its height.
2. Measure the external diameter of the glass.
3. Take a piece of graph paper and draw two parallel bold straight lines separated by
approximately 3-4 mm.
4. Place and fix the graph paper behind the glass in a vertical plane with vertical orientation of
the lines. In your experiment, your eye, the surface of the water in the glass and the drawn lines
must be aligned.
5. Measure the distance between the axis
of the cylindrical glass and the lines on
the graph paper; and the distance
between the axis of the glass and your
eye. The top view of your experimental
setup is shown in Fig.3.
6. Look through the walls of the glass in
the direction parallel to the water surface.
You will see two pairs of lines above the
water surface and below the surface. It is
important that you see the surface of the
water in the glass as a straight line.
7. Move the glass until the upper and the lower image coincide for one of the drawn lines.
8. With the help of the graph paper divisions determine the shift in horizontal direction of the
underwater image of the second line.
9. Using all measured values calculate the index of refraction of water. Enumerate the main
sources of uncertainties of your value.
10. All your measurements must be put into a table. Show all your calculations in detail.
NOTE: Sometimes an equation cannot be solved analytically. If this is your case, try the method
of iterations. Substitute a rough approximation of the unknown into your equation and calculate
one of the measured parameters. Change the value of the unknown and again calculate one of the
measured parameters. The result will show you in what direction to continue to change your
unknown until the measured parameter becomes very close to its real value within the
uncertainty of measurement.

Solution
All variables to be measured
or used in calculation are
shown in Fig.5s.

The measured quantities are:
L, R, M, h and h`- h, where
h` is the position of the
image of one of the lines
under the water surface. The
glass walls are thin.

The unknown index of
refraction n of water can be
found from the Snells law:


(5.1)

Graph paper Glass with Eyes
water

FIG.3.
FIG.5s
H
a
b
n
sin
sin
=
Page 9 of 9

For angles a, b, c and d, the following relationships are valid:

c = tan
-1
(h'/(M+L)) (5.2)


(5.3)


b = c + d; d = b c (5.4)

To find the angle a, it is reasonable to introduce the following new variables and trigonometric
identities:

x = tan = tan (2a d);

B = tanb;








Hence

h = Rsin (M Rcos) tan(b - ) =
Bx
x B
x
R
M
x
Rx
+

|
|

\
|
+

+
1
1 1
2 2
(5.5)


Equation 5.5 can be converted into a quadratic equation for x

[(Bh M)
2
R
2
B
2
] x
2
+ 2 (h +MB)(Bh - M) x +(h + MB)
2
R
2
B
2
= 0 (5.6)


Solving Eq.5.6 for measured and calculated values, you are expected to obtain the value for
angle a as
a = (tan
-1
x + d )

and substitute this value together with the result of Eq.5.3 into the Eq.5.1.

The index of refraction for water must be about 1.33.







( )
2 2
1 1
`
`
sin sin sin
sin sin
h L M R
Lh
c
R
L
b
c
R
b
L
+ +
=
(

= =

( )
Bx
x B
b
b
b
x
x
x
+

=
+

=
+
=
+
=
+
=
+
=
1 tan tan 1
tan tan
tan
;
1 tan 1
tan
sin ;
1
1
tan 1
1
cos
2 2 2 2