1) When a light wave enters into a medium of different optical density,

A) its speed and frequency change.

B) its speed and wavelength change.
C) its frequency and wavelength change.
D) its speed, frequency, and wavelength change.

2) When a beam of light (wavelength = 590 nm), originally traveling in air, enters a piece of
glass (index of refraction 1.50), its frequency
A) increases by a factor of 1.50.
B) is reduced to 2/3 its original value.
C) is unaffected.
D) none of the given answers

3) When a beam of light (wavelength = 590 nm), originally traveling in air, enters a piece of
glass (index of refraction 1.50), its wavelength
A) increases by a factor of 1.50.
B) is reduced to 2/3 its original value.
C) is unaffected.
D) none of the given answers

4) What principle is responsible for alternating light and dark bands when light passes through
two or more narrow slits?
A) refraction
B) polarization
C) dispersion
D) interference

5) Two light sources are said to be coherent if they

A) are of the same frequency.
B) are of the same frequency, and maintain a constant phase difference.
C) are of the same amplitude, and maintain a constant phase difference.
D) are of the same frequency and amplitude.

6) What do we mean when we say that two light rays striking a screen are in phase with each
other?
A) When the electric field due to one is a maximum, the electric field due to the other is also a
maximum, and this relation is maintained as time passes.
B) They are traveling at the same speed.
C) They have the same wavelength.
D) They alternately reinforce and cancel each other.

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7) Two beams of coherent light travel different paths arriving at point P. If the maximum
constructive interference is to occur at point P, the two beams must
A) travel paths that differ by a whole number of wavelengths.
B) travel paths that differ by an odd number of half-wavelengths.

8) Two beams of coherent light travel different paths arriving at point P. If the maximum
destructive interference is to occur at point P, the two beams must .
A) travel paths that differ by a whole number of wavelengths.
B) travel paths that differ by an odd number of half-wavelengths.

9) At the first maxima on either side of the central bright spot in a double-slit experiment,
light from each opening arrives
A) in phase.
B) 90° out of phase.
C) 180° out of phase.
D) none of the given answers

10) At the first minima on either side of the central bright spot in a double-slit experiment,
light from each opening arrives
A) in phase.
B) 90° out of phase.
C) 180° out of phase.
D) none of the given answers

11) At the second maxima on either side of the central bright spot in a double-slit experiment,
light from
A) each opening travels the same distance.
B) one opening travels twice as far as light from the other opening.
C) one opening travels one wavelength of light farther than light from the other opening.
D) one opening travels two wavelengths of light farther than light from the other opening.

12) In a Young's double slit experiment, if the separation between the slits decreases, what
happens to the distance between the interference fringes?
A) It decreases.
B) It increases.
C) It remains the same.
D) There is not enough information to determine.

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13) In a double-slit experiment, it is observed that the distance between adjacent maxima on a
remote screen is 1.0 cm. What happens to the distance between adjacent maxima when the
slit separation is cut in half?
A) It increases to 2.0 cm.
B) It increases to 4.0 cm.
C) It decreases to 0.50 cm.
D) It decreases to 0.25 cm.

14) One beam of coherent light travels path P1 in arriving at point Q and another coherent
beam travels path P2 in arriving at the same point. If these two beams are to interfere
destructively, the path difference P1 - P2 must be equal to
A) an odd number of half-wavelengths.
B) zero.
C) a whole number of wavelengths.
D) a whole number of half-wavelengths.

15) If a wave from one slit of a Young's double slit experiment arrives at a point on the screen
one-half wavelength behind the wave from the other slit, which is observed at that point?
A) bright fringe
B) dark fringe
C) gray fringe
D) multi-colored fringe

16) Why would it be impossible to obtain interference fringes in a double-slit experiment if the
separation of the slits is less than the wavelength of the light used?
A) The very narrow slits required would generate many different wavelengths, thereby
washing out the interference pattern.
B) The two slits would not emit coherent light.
C) The fringes would be too close together.
D) In no direction could a path difference as large as one wavelength be obtained, and this is
needed if a bright fringe, in addition to the central fringe, is to be observed.

17) The separation between adjacent maxima in a double-slit interference pattern using
monochromatic light is
A) greatest for red light.
B) greatest for green light.
C) greatest for blue light.
D) the same for all colors of light.

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18) The principle which explains why a prism separates white light into different colors is
A) refraction.
B) polarization.
C) dispersion.
D) total internal reflection.

19) The principle which allows a rainbow to form is

A) refraction.
B) polarization.
C) dispersion.
D) total internal reflection.

20) White light is

A) light of wavelength 550 nm, in the middle of the visible spectrum.
B) a mixture of all frequencies.
C) a mixture of red, green, and blue light.
D) the term used to describe very bright light.
E) the opposite (or complementary color) of black light.

21) Light with wavelength slightly shorter than 400 nm is called

A) ultraviolet light.
B) visible light.
C) infrared light.
D) none of the given answers

22) Light with wavelength slightly longer than 750 nm is called

A) ultraviolet light.
B) visible light.
C) infrared light.
D) none of the given answers

23) Which color of light undergoes the greatest refraction when passing from air to glass?
A) red
B) yellow
C) green
D) violet

24) Which color of light undergoes the smallest refraction when passing from air to glass?
A) red
B) yellow
C) green
D) violet

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25) A beam of white light is incident on a thick glass plate with parallel sides, at an angle
between 0° and 90° with the normal. Which color emerges from the other side first?
A) red
B) green
C) violet
D) None of the given; all colors emerge at the same time.

26) Light has a wavelength of 600 nm in a vacuum. It passes into glass, which has an index
of refraction of 1.50. What is the speed of the light in the glass?
A) 3.0 × 108 m/s
B) 2.5 × 108 m/s
C) 2.0 × 108 m/s
D) 1.5 × 108 m/s

27) Light of wavelength 550 nm in vacuum is found to travel at 1.96×108 m/s in a certain
liquid. Determine the index of refraction of the liquid.
A) 0.65
B) 1.53
C) 1.96
D) 5.50

28) Light of wavelength 550 nm in air is found to travel at 1.96 × 108 m/s in a certain liquid.
Determine the frequency of the light in the liquid.
A) 5.5 × 1014 Hz
B) 3.6 × 1014 Hz
C) 5.5 × 105 Hz
D) 3.6 × 105 Hz

29) Light of wavelength 550 nm in air is found to travel at 1.96 × 108 m/s in a certain liquid.
Determine the wavelength of the light in the liquid.
A) 550 nm
B) 359 nm
C) 281 nm
D) 303 nm

30) Two thin slits are 6.00 μm apart. Monochromatic light falls on these slits, and produces a
fifth order interference fringe at an angle of 32.3°. What is the wavelength of the light?
A) 164 nm
B) 416 nm
C) 614 nm
D) 641 nm

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31) Light of wavelength 575 nm falls on a double-slit and the third order bright fringe is seen
at an angle of 6.5°. What is the separation between the double slits?
A) 5.0 μm
B) 10 μm
C) 15 μm
D) 20 μm

32) In a Young's double slit experiment, if the separation between the two slits is 0.050 mm
and the distance from the slits to a screen is 2.5 m, find the spacing between the first-order
and second-order bright fringes for light with wavelength of 600 nm.
A) 1.5 cm
B) 3.0 cm
C) 4.5 cm
D) 6.0 cm

33) In a double-slit experiment, the slit separation is 2.0 mm, and two wavelengths, 750 nm
and 900 nm, illuminate the slits. A screen is placed 2.0 m from the slits. At what distance
from the central maximum on the screen will a bright fringe from one pattern first coincide
with a bright fringe from the other?
A) 1.5 mm
B) 3.0 mm
C) 4.5 mm
D) 6.0 mm

34) Two thin slits are 0.050 mm apart. Monochromatic light of wavelength 634 nm falls on
the slits. If there is a screen 6.0 m away, how far apart are adjacent interference fringes?
A) 0.76 mm
B) 7.6 mm
C) 7.6 cm
D) 76 cm

35) In a double-slit experiment, light and dark regions are observed on a screen. Which of
the following terms is used for these regions?
a) Balmer lines
b) Langmuir-Blodgett patterns
c) fringes
d) troughs
e) stripes

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36) In a double-slit experiment, light and dark regions are observed on a screen. What causes
a dark region to be observed between two brighter regions?
a) It is the shadow cast from the material in which the two slits have been made.
b) Light from the two slits undergoes constructive interference.
c) The two slits act like polarizing material and some of the light is blocked by the double-slits.
d) Light from the two slits undergoes destructive interference.
e) The screen is inhomogeneous and absorbs light non-uniformly.

37) What are supernumeraries?

a) stars that emit visible light
b) side bands observed during single slit diffraction
c) dim, colored arcs within a rainbow
d) astronomers that count the stars within sectors of the sky
e) faint secondary bands within a double slit diffraction pattern

38) Complete the following sentence: The term coherent relates to

a) the amplitude of two waves.
b) the frequency of two waves.
c) the diffraction of two waves.
d) the phase relationship between two waves.
e) the polarization state of two waves.

39) Complete the following sentence: In order for light to be considered completely coherent,
a) the phase difference of light at any two points must be constant.
b) it must originate from the same source.
c) its intensity at every point must be constant.
d) it must follow the same path.
e) it must be traveling at its vacuum speed.

40) Why is no interference pattern observed when light from two sources of differing
wavelength interfere?
a) The intensities of the two waves will be necessarily different.
b) The light from the two different sources is not likely to be coherent.
c) If the two light sources are close enough to each other, they will produce an interference
pattern.

41) An electromagnetic wave has an amplitude E0. The intensity of the wave is proportional
to which of the following?
a) E0
b) E02
c) E0-2
d) E0-1
e) The intensity is not related to the wave amplitude.

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42) Which of the following would be most useful in calculating the phase difference for light
originating from two slits?
a) the total distance traveled by the two waves from the slits to the
observation screen
b) the path length difference that the two waves travel
c) the width of the slits
d) the distance from the light source to the slits
e) the area of the slits

43) A thin layer of gasoline is floating on a thin layer of water in a parking lot. You notice
that there are multicolored bands on the surface of the gasoline. Which one of the following
statements concerning this situation is false?
a) The wavelength that is important for thin-film interference is the wavelength within the film,
not the wavelength in a vacuum.
b) The wavelength within a film is determined by multiplying the index of refraction and the
vacuum wavelength.
c) The fact that the bands are multicolored indicates that the film has non-uniform thickness.
d) When light travels through a material with a smaller refractive index toward a material with
a larger refractive index, reflection at the boundary occurs along with a phase change that is
equivalent to one-half of a wavelength in the film.
e) When light travels from a larger toward a smaller refractive index, there is no phase change
upon reflection at the boundary.

44) Which of the following statements concerning reflected light is true?

a) The reflected light will experience a phase change only if the light is traveling from a
material of smaller refractive index to one of larger refractive index.
b) Reflected light will always interfere constructively with incident light.
c) Reflected light will always interfere destructively with incident light.
d) The reflected light will experience a phase change only if the light is traveling from a
material of larger refractive index to one of smaller refractive index.
e) Reflected light will not experience interference with incident light.

45) By what amount does the phase of a light wave change when it reflects from the interface
of a medium that has a higher index of refraction?
a) zero
b) 0.25 wavelength
c) 0.50 wavelength
d) 1.00 wavelength
e) None of the above answers are correct.

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46) Interference involving thin films does not depend on which of the following parameters?
a) intensity of light
b) film thickness
c) index of refraction of the film
d) incident angle of the light
e) wavelength on the light

47) Which one of the following devices can be used to measure the wavelength of laser light?
a) meter stick
b) diffractometer
c) interferometer
d) caliper
e) sphygmomanometer

48) What is a beam splitter?

a) a partially silvered glass plate that allows part of a light beam to be transmitted and part
reflected
b) a monochromatic light source is focused perpendicularly onto a razor blade edge to split it
into two equal parts
c) a periodic array of metal atoms that partially transmits a light beam and partially reflects it
d) a Young double slit
e) a diffraction grating