Q.Using analytical method, obtain an expression for the fringe width of two interfering waves.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The path difference between the two interfering waves at a point on the screen is ; setting this equal to for successive bright fringes and subtracting gives a constant spacing .
Let and be two coherent sources separated by a small distance , and let a screen be placed at a distance from them (). Let be the point on the screen equidistant from and (on the perpendicular bisector of ), and let be a point on the screen at distance from .
Path difference at P: By geometry (using so that is nearly parallel to the screen), the path difference between the two waves arriving at P is:
Condition for bright fringes (constructive interference): occurs when the path difference is an integral multiple of the wavelength:
Fringe width: the distance between two consecutive bright fringes ( and ):
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