A double-slit experiment uses slits separated by 0.20 mm and 650 nm light

PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Waves · Waves

Problem

A double-slit experiment uses slits separated by 0.20 mm and 650 nm light. The screen is 1.8 m from the slits. (1) Calculate the exact lateral position y_exact of the second-order bright fringe on the screen. (2) Using the small-angle approximation, calculate y_approx for the same fringe. (3) Compute the percent error between y_exact and y_approx and state whether the approximation is valid if the acceptable error threshold is 0.5 %.

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