May 19, 2014

Young's Double Slit Experiment

This is a classic example of interference effects in light waves. Two light rays pass through two slits, separated by a distance d and strike a screen a distance, L , from the slits, as in Fig. 22.10.


Figure 22.10: Double slit diffraction



If d < < L then the difference in path length r1 - r2 travelled by the two rays is approximately:

r1 - r2 dsin

where is approximately equal to the angle that the rays make relative to a perpendicular line joining the slits to the screen.

If the rays were in phase when they passed through the slits, then the condition for constructive interference at the screen is:

dsin = m ,m = 1, 2,...

whereas the condition for destructive interference at the screen is:

dsin = (m + ) ,m = 1, 2,...

The points of constructive interference will appear as bright bands on the screen and the points of destructive interference will appear as dark bands. These dark and bright spots are called interference fringes. Note:
In the case that y , the distance from the interference fringe to the point of the screen opposite the center of the slits (see Fig.22.10) is much less than L ( y < <L ), one can use the approximate formula:

sin y/Lso that the formulas specifying the y - coordinates of the bright and dark spots, respectively are:

y Bm = brightspots

y Dm = darkspotsThe spacing between the dark spots is

y =


If d < < L then the spacing between the interference can be large even when the wavelength of the light is very small (as in the case of visible light). This give a method for (indirectly) measuring the wavelength of light. 

The above formulas assume that the slit width is very small compared to the wavelength of light, so that the slits behave essentially like point sources of light.

May 18, 2014

Common Emitter Transistor Amplifier


The larger collector current IC is proportional to the base current IB according to the relationship IC =βIB , or more precisely it is proportional to the base-emitter voltage VBE . The smaller base current controls the larger collector current, achieving current amplification.

The analogy to a valve is sometimes helpful. The smaller current in the base acts as a "valve", controlling the larger current from collector to emitter. A "signal" in the form of a variation in the base current is reproduced as a larger variation in the collector-to-emitter current, achieving an amplification of that signal.



The larger collector current IC is proportional to the base current IB according to the relationship IC =βIB , or more precisely it is proportional to the base-emitter voltage VBE . The smaller base current controls the larger collector current, achieving current amplification.


May 11, 2014

What is a mirage? How is it formed?

A traveller has lost his way in the desert. Enduring thirst and hunger, he suddenly saw an oasis, so the overjoyed man quickly ran towards it. To his great disappointment, it was just an illusion produced by a mirage. Such an episode was often pictured in movies, yet the optical magic that the nature plays with us - mirage - really exists in reality. Its formation is a result of the refraction and the total internal reflection of light in the air.

To investigate the formation of a mirage, we firstly need to understand why light is refracted in the air. Regions of air at different temperatures have different refractive indexes, just like many different mediums. The closer the air is to the ground, the hotter it will be, and its refractive index will be smaller. We could imagine the air as many layers of medium with a particular refractive index for every layer, and the refractive index is smaller for those that are closer to the ground. Thus when light travels in air, its path is as shown.

Vivax Solution

On the other hand, we should also understand what total internal reflection is. If light travels from glass to the air with a small incident angle, part of the light will be reflected back while the remaining part will be refracted, passing out from the glass. As the refractive index of glass is larger than that of the air, the refracted angle is always larger than the incident angle (Fig. 2). When the incident angle becomes larger, the refracted light will get closer and closer to the interface between the air and the glass. When it is larger than the critical angle, the light will only be reflected but not refracted. This phenomenon is called total internal reflection .

Suppose there is an oasis and the light it emits at point A is refracted by the air, the light will travel through a curved path. Total internal reflection occurs at point B and will cause the light to travel upwards. Then the light is refracted by the air again. At last, it will enter the eyes of the observer at point C, producing an illusion that the oasis is close to him.

Total internal reflection has been discovered for a long time already. Some of its broad applications include optical fibre, single lens reflex camera and binocular telescope.