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 - Questions - Page 1073: 8b

Answer

The rays are exactly out of phase.

Work Step by Step

We can find the extra distance traveled by the upper ray: $d = 150~nm+150~nm = 300~nm$ The path length difference is $~~300~nm$ Both rays reflect once from the glass surface, so any phase difference will be caused by the difference in path length. If the path length difference is $(m+\frac{1}{2})~\lambda,$ where $m$ is an integer, then the rays will be exactly out of phase. Note that the path length difference is $\frac{\lambda}{2}$ Therefore, the rays are exactly out of phase.
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