Fundamentals of Physics Extended (10th Edition)

Published by Wiley
ISBN 10: 1-11823-072-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-11823-072-5

Chapter 35 - Interference - Problems - Page 1074: 12a

Answer

$L = 52.5~nm$

Work Step by Step

Note that each ray reflects off an even number of mirrors, so the phase difference will be caused by the difference in path length. We can measure each path length from the first red arrow, to the point that is a horizontal distance $L$ from the last mirror in each path. The path length of ray 1 is $7L$ The path length of ray 1 is $3L$ The path length difference is $4L$ To be exactly out of phase, the path length difference must have the form $~~(m+\frac{1}{2})~\lambda$ We can let $m = 0$ to find the smallest value of $L$: $4L = (m+\frac{1}{2})~\lambda$ $L = \frac{\lambda}{8}$ $L = \frac{420.0~nm}{8}$ $L = 52.5~nm$
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