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Question 37 of 46

Q.In Young's double slit experiment, if a thin glass plate is placed in the path of one of the interfering beams, then

(a) the fringe width decreases
(b) the fringe width increases
(c) fringe pattern is shifted
(d) fringe pattern is unaffected.
West Bengal WbchseWest Bengal HS (WBCHSE) Board 2024MCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★
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A thin glass plate in one beam's path adds an extra optical path length, which shifts the whole fringe pattern without changing the fringe spacing.

In Young's double slit experiment, if a thin transparent plate of thickness tt and refractive index μ\mu is introduced in the path of one of the two interfering beams, light through that slit picks up an EXTRA optical path

Δ=(μ−1)t\Delta = (\mu - 1)t

compared to the other beam. This introduces a constant additional path difference at every point on the screen, which shifts the entire fringe pattern (the position of the central bright fringe moves) towards the side of the slit carrying the glass plate, by an amount

y0=Dd(μ−1)ty_0 = \dfrac{D}{d}(\mu - 1)t

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