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Question 100 of 127

Q.State and obtain Bragg's Law.

Tamil Nadu DgeTamil Nadu HSC (DGE) Board 2019Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Bragg's law gives the condition for constructive interference of X-rays reflected from successive parallel planes of atoms in a crystal, 2dsin⁡θ=nλ2d\sin\theta = n\lambda, derived from the geometric path difference between rays reflected from adjacent planes.

A crystal can be regarded as made up of a set of parallel, equally spaced atomic planes separated by an interplanar spacing dd. When a monochromatic beam of X-rays of wavelength λ\lambda falls on these planes at a glancing angle θ\theta (measured from the plane, not the normal), each plane reflects a small fraction of the incident beam, obeying the ordinary law of reflection (angle of incidence = angle of reflection, both =θ=\theta).

Derivation: Consider two parallel rays, one reflected from the upper plane at point AA and the other from the next plane (a distance dd below) at point BB, directly below AA. Draw perpendiculars from AA to the incident and reflected rays of the lower ray, meeting them at points CC and DD respectively. In the right triangle ACBACB, AB=dAB = d and ∠ABC=θ\angle ABC = \theta, so AC=dsin⁡θAC = d\sin\theta; similarly AD=dsin⁡θAD = d\sin\theta. The extra distance travelled by the ray reflected from the lower plane, compared with the ray reflected from the upper plane, is

Path difference=CB+BD=AC+AD=2dsin⁡θ\text{Path difference} = CB + BD = AC + AD = 2d\sin\theta

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