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Question 79 of 91

Q.(a) Discuss the working of Cyclotron in detail. OR

(b) Discuss the diffraction at single slit and obtain the condition for nth^{th} minimum.
Tamil Nadu DgeTamil Nadu HSC (DGE) Board 2023Subjective· 5mImportance★★★★★
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(a) The cyclotron uses crossed magnetic and oscillating electric fields to repeatedly accelerate a charged particle along an outward spiral; (b) single-slit Fraunhofer diffraction gives minima at asin⁡θ=nλa\sin\theta=n\lambda. Both alternatives answered below.

(a) Working of the Cyclotron

1. Construction. The cyclotron consists of two hollow, D-shaped metal electrodes (called dees, D1D_1 and D2D_2) separated by a small gap, housed in an evacuated chamber placed between the poles of a strong electromagnet that produces a uniform magnetic field BB perpendicular to the plane of the dees. An oscillating (alternating) high-frequency voltage is applied across the gap between the dees.

2. Principle. A positive ion released near the centre, in the gap, is accelerated across the gap by the electric field into one dee. Inside a dee there is no electric field (it is a hollow conductor), but the magnetic field bends the ion into a semicircular path due to the magnetic Lorentz force:

qvB=mv2r  ⟹  r=mvqBqvB = \dfrac{mv^2}{r} \implies r = \dfrac{mv}{qB}

The ion re-emerges at the gap on the opposite side after half a revolution.

3. Resonance/synchronisation. For continuous acceleration, the oscillator frequency must be timed so that the electric field reverses direction exactly when the ion crosses the gap each time, so the ion is always accelerated (never decelerated) at the gap. The time for one semicircular traversal is T/2T/2 where the period is

T=2πmqBT = \dfrac{2\pi m}{qB}

independent of the ion's speed vv or radius rr (since r∝vr\propto v). Hence the required oscillator (cyclotron) frequency is

f=1T=qB2πmf = \dfrac{1}{T} = \dfrac{qB}{2\pi m}

which is constant regardless of the ion's energy -- this is the key resonance condition that makes the cyclotron work.

4. Spiral motion and extraction. Each time the ion crosses the gap, it gains kinetic energy qVqV (VV = peak gap voltage), so its speed -- and hence orbit radius -- increases; it thus traces an outward spiral of semicircular arcs. When the radius reaches the maximum value RR permitted by the dees, the ion is extracted (via a deflecting electrode) with maximum kinetic energy

KEmax=12mvmax2=q2B2R22mKE_{max} = \dfrac{1}{2}mv_{max}^2 = \dfrac{q^2B^2R^2}{2m}

(using vmax=qBR/mv_{max}=qBR/m).

5. Limitation. At very high speeds (relativistic), the ion's mass effectively increases, breaking the resonance condition -- this limits the maximum energy attainable by a classical cyclotron.

(b) Diffraction at a single slit -- condition for nthn^{th} minimum

1. Setup. Consider a single slit of width aa illuminated normally by a plane monochromatic wavefront of wavelength λ\lambda. According to Huygens' principle, every point across the slit's width acts as a source of secondary wavelets. We examine the resultant intensity in a direction making angle θ\theta with the normal to the slit, focused onto a screen by a lens.

2. Path difference across the slit. The wavelet from the topmost point of the slit and the wavelet from the bottommost point (separated by the full width aa) have a path difference of asin⁡θa\sin\theta in direction θ\theta.

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