IB Physics 2 More Waves

Wave Phenomena

IB Course Companion

POLARIZATION IB COURSE COMPANION CH 4: PP. 141-143

1. Describe what is meant by polarized light.
Light is an example of a transverse wave (electric fields are oriented perpendicular to the direction of energy travel).
Light is created by the excitation of electrons in atoms. Individual atoms will, in
general, produce light with many different electric field orientations relative to the
direction of travel. There is an infinite possibility of possible electric field
directions. Each electron produces a different orientation and the beam of light we
see has many different orientations. This is an example of unpolarized light.
A wave is said to be linearly polarized (or plane polarized) if the resultant electric field vector vibrates in the same
direction at all times at a particular point.
2.
3.

Explain the terms polarizer and analyser.

Calculate the intensity of a transmitted beam of polarized light using Malus law.
A common way to produce polarized light is to use materials that only transmit light with electric fields aligned
along certain directions. All other electric field vibrations will be absorbed by the material. An example of this
material is called Polaroid. In this material there are long chains of hydrocarbons. These chains easily absorb
(interact) with electric field orientations that are parallel to the chains. Electric fields that are perpendicular to the
chains are transmitted through the material. The orientation perpendicular to the hydrocarbon chain is called the
transmission axis of the material.

4.
5.

Eo
E
Consider the diagram to the right:
Unpolarized light is incident on a
polaroid film whose transmission
analyser
polarizer
axis is vertical. This means that only
light with electrical fields aligned vertically will be transmitted through the polarizer. Well call the magnitude of
this electric field Eo. This light will have intensity Io which will be proportional to Eo2 (because intensity is
proportional to the square of the amplitude of the wave).
The vertically polarized light is then passed through a second polaroid film whose transmission axis is
rotation by an angle from the transmission axis of the polarizer (in the diagram, is the angle from
Eo
vertical). The second film is called the analyzer. Only the component of E o that is parallel to the
transmission axis of the analyzer will pass through. Any component perpendicular to the second axis

E
will be absorbed. The diagram shows the View looking straight on at the analyzer. From the diagram it
is easy to see that E and Eo are related by E = Eo cos . This is the electric field that is transmitted by
the analyzer.
The intensity of light transmitted by the analyzer will be proportional to E 2, which means it is proportional to cos2 .
We can write: I = Io cos2 . This is known as Maluss Law. It tells us how to determine the transmitted intensity
through the analyzer. Note, if = 0o then I = Io (all light is transmitted) and if = 90o, I = 0 (no light is transmitted).

Describe polarization by reflection.

State and apply Brewsters law.
The degree to which reflected light is polarized is determined by the angle of incidence of the light on the reflecting
surface. For unpolarized light that is incident normal to the reflector (I = 0) or parallel to the surface of the reflector
(I = 90o) the reflected light will remain unpolarized. For angles in-between the reflected light will be partially
polarized and at one specific angle it will be completed polarized.
It is found that when unpolarized light is reflected from a smooth surface, more of the light whose electric field is
parallel to the surface will be reflected than light whose electric field is perpendicular to the surface. This leads to
reflected light being partially polarized parallel to the surface (more of the intensity of reflected light is parallel to the
surface). The refracted beam is also partially polarized.
However, for one critical incident angle -- called the polarizing angle P, the reflected light is completely polarized.
This occurs when the sum of the reflected angle and the refracted angle is 90o. Mathematically, R + r = 90o. Recall
that for reflection, R = I and we want to find the polarizing angle where I = P. So we can write the condition as
P + r = 90o. Now, we can also relate the refracted angle to the incident angle using Snells Law. For simplicity, we
will assume that the incident light is traveling in air (index of refraction = 1). Then, we can write Snells Law as
follows: (1) sin P = n sin r where n is the index of refraction of the reflecting material (e.g. for water n = 1.33).
Substituting the polarizing condition into Snells Law we get: sin P = n sin (90 - P) = n cos P. (We are using the fact
that the sin and cos functions are out of phase by 90 o). Rearranging slightly gives tan P = n. This is known as
Brewsters Law (and the polarizing angle is also referred to as Brewsters angle).

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Consider light reflecting off of a smooth horizontal surface (a smooth lake or a road). All reflected light from the
surface has a strong horizontal component for its electric field vector. This intense light produces a glare that seems to
be coming from the surface (as a secondary source of light). It is possible to use a dense material to reduce the
intensity of all light that enters your eye but it will not reduce the glare. To reduce the glare you would want a polaroid
material with its transmission axis aligned vertically. This material will absorb most (or at the polarizing angle all) of
the reflected light, thereby reducing the glare of reflected light. This is why sunglasses are made of just such a polaroid
material.

DIFFRACTION (TWO SLIT) IB COURSE COMPANION CH 4: PP. 152-157

6. State the conditions for diffraction to occur.
Diffraction is how the path and pattern of a wave is changed when the wave passes through a small slit (aperture)
or around a small obstacle.
The frequency, wavelength and speed of the wave remain unchanged
The effect is most obvious when the aperture width is approximately equal to the wavelength of the source
7. Explain the formation of the two slit interference pattern (Youngs Experiment)
This experiment is historically significant because the explanation for the result can
only be given in the wave model
Consider coherent light (coherent = constant phase difference, which requires

constant frequency) passing through two small slits separated by a distance d as

shown. The light will arrive at the screen a distance D from the slits. The point O on
d
D
the screen is referred to as the central maximum (or central bright fringe) and
represents constructive interference between the light leaving from each slit.
Path difference
To find the location of the next bright fringe we must look at the difference in the
length of the path traveled by waves from each slit. To produce a bright fringe we
want constructive interference the waves must arrive in phase (peak with peak or
valley with valley). For this to happen the difference in how far they travel must be
an integer multiple of the wavelength.
The anglein the diagram locates the next bright fringe, B and allows us to determine the path difference. There
are two triangle to analyze: The triangle with sides OB and the length D from slits to screen locates the bright
fringe at B. The smaller triangle with hypotenuse d and one side equal to the path difference contains the same
angle . Because d <<D, the angle is very small. If s is the distance from O to B, then tan () = s/D. From the
smaller triangle, sin = path difference / d. For small angles (when the angle is expressed in radians), sin = tan
= . So we can write: s / D = path difference / d.
Remember that for constructive interference, path difference = n, so s/D = n/d and s = n D/d

s
O

DIFFRACTION (SINGLE SLIT) IB COURSE COMPANION - CH 9: P. 364-375

8. Sketch the variation with angle of diffraction of the relative intensity of light diffracted at a single slit.
9. Derive the formula = / b for the position of the first minimum of the diffraction pattern produced at a single slit.
Diffraction interference patterns due to a narrow slit occur because of difference
in path length for waves from different points in the slit. Each point on a
wavefront can be considered to be the source of a new spherical wave. These
waves then spread out and interfere.

b
Suppose we have a screen that is located far away from a small slit of width b
2
(remember, for diffraction to occur, must be approximately equal to b).
b
Consider the two points shown, separated by a distance b/2. The rays leaving
these two points are considered to be parallel (even though they will meet at the
far away screen). The angle describes where on the screen they will interfere.
The ray from the center of the slit must travel a greater distance than the ray from
the edge of the slit. The difference in path is shown in the diagram as the side
opposite the angle in the small triangle (hypotenuse = b/2). For the first minimum interference point, we want
destructive interference, which means the difference in path traveled must be /2.
Putting it all together:
difference in path at first minimum = / 2 AND difference in path from
= 2 / b
geometry = b/2 sin
set these equal to get: b/2 sin = / 2 BUT for small angles (measured in
=/b
radians) sin =
b
Subsitute: (b/2) = / 2 and rearrange to get = / b
L
So, if = / b then these two rays destructively interfere. But, for every
point in the top half of the slit there is a corresponding point in the bottom
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half that obeys this condition. So, the angle represents a minimum point in the interference pattern produced.
In general, we can divide the slit into any even number of sections and apply this same condition to locate other
minimum points.
If we divide the slit into an odd number of sections (3 or more) and apply the same condition we find that all but
one section of the wave will interfere destructively, leaving a small portion of the original light energy to land on
the screen. These bright (maximum spots are much less intense than the center bright spot: for 3 sections we find
the first bright spot has 1/3 the amplitude of the center spot and therefore 1/9 the intensity).
10. Solve problems involving single slit diffraction.
Example: Determine the width of the central bright maximum fringe seen on a screen that is 1m from a single slit
of width 0.2 mm if light of frequency 6.0 x 1014 Hz passes through the slit.
Looking at the diagram above, we have L = 1m, b = 2 x 10-4m and = 3x108 / 6 x 1014 = 5 x 10-7 m
The angular width of the central maximum = 2 = 2 / b = 2(5x10-7) / 2x10-4 = 5 x 10-3 radians
The width on the screen is found using width = L*angular width = 1m*(5x10-3 radians) = 5 x 10-3 m (or 5 mm).
11. Thin Film Interference
When light is incident on a thin film of oil on top of water you will note that you can see the entire rainbow of
colors in the oil. This is due to interference between the light reflecting off of the top surface of the oil and light
reflecting off of the bottom surface of the oil. The path difference between these two beams of light will determine
what happens.
When light passes into a denser medium (higher index of refraction) the reflected light has its phase changed by
radians (half of a wavelength). To achieve constructive interference another half wavelength, or 3/2 , 5/2 etc.
shift must come from the path difference.
It can be shown that for a film of thickness t, the path difference = 2tn where n is the index of refraction of the
film.
Put it all together and odd multiples of /2 = 2tn for constructive interference. A way to write odd multiples is (m
+ ) , so (m + ) = 2tn.

RESOLUTION IB COURSE COMPANION = CH 9: PP. 376-380

12. Sketch the variation with angle of diffraction of the relative intensity of light emitted by two point sources that
has been diffracted at a single slit.
13. State the Rayleigh criterion for images of two sources to be just resolved.
Consider trying to view two closely spaced objects through a single slit (or aperture). Examples include viewing
distant stars through a telescope, using a microscope to look at cell parts, or using your eye to look at the
headlights on a car approaching you. In all cases, light from two separate (not coherent) sources passes through a
small hole (lens). The light will diffract and what you see is the superimposed diffraction pattern for the light from
each source.
If the central maximum of each diffraction pattern do not overlap then we can distinguish two objects and they are
said to be resolved
The condition for when this occurs is called Rayleighs Criterion: When the central maximum of one image
falls on the first minimum of another image, the images are said to be just resolved.
Mathematically this means the following: for a narrow slit the minimum angular separation of two sources that can
be resolved is min = / b. For circular apertures the geometry of the situation requires we add a correction factor
and min = 1.22 / D where D is the diameter of the aperture.

well resolved

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14. Describe the significance of resolution in the development of devices such as CDs and DVDs, the electron
microscope and radio telescopes.
For the application of diffraction in CDs and DVDs see Ch 24, p. 765 in College Physics. Resolution is a factor
here because the steering beams must fall in the space between tracks which then limits how close together the
tracks on the CD may be located.
When considering the effectiveness of a microscope in being able to resolve small objects, there are two factors to
consider - the diameter of the objective lens and the wavelength being used to produce the image. For a light
microscope, light of wavelengths from 400 to 700 nm is used to illuminate the objects. If the wavelength could be
made to be smaller, then we would be able to resolve much smaller (closer together) objects. Electrons typically
have wavelengths on the order of 10-11 m which greatly increases the resolution in an electron microscope.
To improve the resolution of a telescope, the key is to increase the size of the aperture (or effective aperture). One
way to accomplish this is to use two (or more) telescopes simultaneously to effectively increase the aperture
diameter. A single radio telescope may have an aperture size of hundreds of meters. However, if two of these
telescopes can be linked electronically when they are hundreds of kilometers apart, then the resolution of the
system would increase by a factor of 1000 (we would be able to see things 1000 times closer together).
15. Solve problems involving resolution.
A radio telescope is receiving radio waves of frequency 5.0 GHz and its dish size is 76 m. Two stars are 100 light
years away from Earth and are known to be 0.05 light years apart. (a) Will the radio telescope be able to resolve
these two sources? (b) Two separate identical radio telescopes are placed 200 km apart. The signals they receive
can be combined to effectively create a large radio telescope that is 200 km in diameter. Will these be able to
resolve the two stars?
(a) We know that min = 1.22 / D = 1.22 (3x108 / 5x109) / 76 = 9.63 x 10-4 rad. The angle formed by the two stars
at this distance is 0.05 Ly / 100 Ly = 5 x 10 -4 rad. This is smaller than the minimum angle, so they cannot be
resolved. (b) In this case, min = 1.22 (3x108/5x109) / 200x103 = 3.66 x 10-7 rad. Since this is smaller than the
actual angle, they can be resolved (quite easily!).
THE DOPPLER EFFECT IB COURSE COMPANION CH 9, P. 381 - 386
16. Describe and explain the Doppler effect. Students should recognize that in general the velocities of source
and/or detector are specified with respect to the medium. They should know however that light in a vacuum is
unique and, in this case, it is the relative velocity of source and detector that is relevant.
17. Construct wavefront diagrams for moving-detector and moving-source situations.
If there is relative motion between the observer and the source, then in general the observer will receive the wave
at a frequency which is different from that which was emitted.
The Doppler effect (measuring a different frequency) comes about because wavefronts from a moving source or
incident on a moving observer appear to bunch together or spread apart depending on the type of motion involved.

Stationary source / observer

18.

Moving source / stationary observers

Stationary source / moving observer

Derive the equations for the Doppler effect for sound in the cases of a moving detector and a moving source.
First, lets look at a moving source
Suppose that the speed of sound in air is v and the source is moving with a speed v s
We can find the frequency measured by observer B in our picture on the
previous page as follows:
1. The first wavefront is emitted and will take a time t to reach the observer.
vt
It travels a distance vt.
2. At a time T (the original period) later a second wavefront is emitted.
During this time the source has moved some distance closer to the
vsT
vt - vsT
observer. This distance is vsTo.
#2

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The second wavefront only has to travel a distance vt vsT to reach the observer. Traveling at a speed of
v, it will take this wavefront a time of (vt vsT) / v to reach the observer.
4. So, lets recap what has happened. At t = 0 a wavefront is emitted and arrives at the observer some time t
later. A second wavefront is emitted at t = T and takes (vt - vcT) / v more to reach the observer. So from
the beginning, the second wavefront arrives at time T + (vt vsT) / v.
5. The difference in these two times is the observed period of the waves from the point of view of the
obsever: T/ = T + (vt - vsT) / v t = T (vs/v)T = T(1 vs/v)
6. To find the observed frequency use f/ = 1/T/ = 1 / T(1 vs / v) = f / (1 vs/v) = f/
We can find the frequency measured by observer A in our picture in a similar way:
1. The first wavefront is emitted and will take time t to reach the observer. It travels a distance vt.
2. At a time T later a second wavefront is emitted. During the time T the source has moved a distance v sT
farther from the observer.
3. The second wavefront has to travel a distance vt + vsT to reach the observer. It takes a time of
(vt +
vsT) / v to reach the observer.
4. So, the first wavefront arrives at time t. The second wavefront arrives at time T + (vt + v sT)/v later.
5. The difference in these two times will be the observed period of the waves: T = T + (vt + v sT)/v t which
gives: T/ = T + (vs/v)T = To(1 + vs/v).
6. The observed frequency becomes f/ = 1/T/ = f / (1 + vs/v) = f/
To sum up: when the source moves towards the observer a higher frequency is observed and when the source
moves away from the observer a lower frequency is observed.
Now, lets look at a moving observer
Suppose the speed of sound in air is v and the observer is moving with a speed v o
If the observer is moving towards the source, then the distance between waves doesnt change but the waves
appear to be coming at a faster rate because they are traveling with a speed v + vo relative to the observer. So,
to find the observed frequency we can use the definition of wave speed: (v = f) as follows:
1. f/ = v/ / / = (v + vo) / because / =
2. But, = v/f. So, f/ = (v + vo) / (v/f) = f (v + vo) / v = f (1 + vo/v) = f/
If the observer is moving away from the source, then the distance between the waves doesnt change, but the
waves appear to be coming at a slower rate because they are traveling with a speed v vo relative to the
observer. So, to find the observed frequency we can use the definition of wave speed (v = f) as follows:
1. f/ = v/ / / = (v vo) / because / =
2. But, = v /f. So, f/ = (v vo) / (v/f) = f(v vo) / v = f(1 vo/v) = f/
To sum up: when the observer moves towards the source a higher frequency is observed and when the
observer moves away from the source a lower frequency is observed.
Solve problems on the Doppler effect for sound. Problems may include both a moving source and a moving
detector but not both simultaneously.
3.

19.

20.

Solve problems on the Doppler effect for electromagnetic waves.

In the case where the relative speed between the source is small compared to the speed of light (it can still be a
very large speed, it just needs to be small compared to 3 x 10 8 ms-1) we can apply an approximation to calculate
the Doppler shift, f.

v
f
c

In the case of light, we can refer to a decrease in observed frequency as a Red Shift and an increase in observed
frequency as a Blue Shift. The equation gives us the amount of shift measured (usually quite small).

where f is the frequency of the source and v is the relative speed between source and observer.

See the IB Course Companion for examples of the Doppler Effect, such as the shift in frequency of light from distant
galaxies, the use of Doppler shifts to determine the speed and rotation of thunderstorms, etc.

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