Young Double Slit Significance Flashcards
(7 cards)
What happens when coherent light passes through two slits in Young’s double slit experiment?
The light diffracts at both slits, and each slit acts as a coherent point source, producing a pattern of light and dark fringes due to interference.
When and why do light fringes form in Young’s double slit experiment?
Light fringes occur where the waves meet in phase and interfere constructively. This happens when the path difference between waves is a whole number of wavelengths, 𝑛𝜆, where 𝑛 is an integer.
When and why do dark fringes form in Young’s double slit experiment?
Dark fringes occur where the waves meet completely out of phase and interfere destructively. This happens when the path difference is a half-wavelength offset, i.e. (𝑛+1/2)𝜆.
What would be observed in Young’s double slit experiment if Newton’s corpuscular theory were correct?
No interference pattern would form. Instead, there would be only two bright spots corresponding to the two slits, because particles do not interfere.
What did Young’s double slit experiment demonstrate about the nature of light?
It showed that light undergoes both diffraction and interference, which are wave properties, providing strong evidence for Huygens’ wave theory over Newton’s corpuscular theory.
Why wasn’t Huygens’ wave theory immediately accepted after Young’s experiment?
Despite the evidence, Huygens’ theory wasn’t widely accepted because Newton’s reputation was so influential that many scientists continued to trust his corpuscular model.
What experimental finding eventually led to the rejection of Newton’s theory of light?
It was found that light travels slower in water, contradicting Newton’s prediction (that light travels faster in denser media), which helped to disprove the corpuscular theory.
