CBSE Class 12 (Science) Wave Optics — practice questions
95 free MCQs with worked solutions. Tap any question for the answer + explanation, or practice them all in the app.
Practice CBSE Class 12 (Science) Wave Optics in the app →Light passes from air to glass ($n = 1.5$). Brewster's angle is:HUYGENS' PRINCIPLE states that every point on a wavefront acts as a:In Young's double-slit experiment, the fringe width β is given by:In Young's experiment, a BRIGHT fringe (constructive interference) requires path difference = ?In single-slit diffraction, the central maximum is:Polarisation of light is direct experimental evidence that light is a:BREWSTER'S LAW for the polarising angle θ_B relates to the refractive index n as:The resolving power (RP) of a diffraction grating with N slits in the m-th order is:The corpuscular model of light was given in 1637 by:The corpuscular model is often attributed to Newton for his book:The wave theory of light was put forward in 1678 by:The speed of light in water was shown to be less than in air by:Foucault carried out that measurement in the year:The famous interference experiment of 1801 was performed by:Light was shown to be an electromagnetic wave by:Light waves are electromagnetic waves that are:A surface of constant phase in a wave is called a:Wave energy travels in a direction to the wavefront that is:The wavefronts from a point source are:Far from the source, a small part of the wavefront is nearly:Each point of a wavefront acts as a source of a:The next position of a wavefront is found by drawing a common:Huygens explained the missing backwave by taking the amplitude zero:Two sources whose phase difference does not change are:Coherent sources give an interference pattern that is:Two separate light sources lighting one wall are:When two sources are incoherent, their intensities:The increase in wavelength from the Doppler effect is called:Light with no preferred direction of vibration is:A polaroid is made of long chain molecules that are:In 1678 a Dutch physicist proposed that light travels as a wave. He was:Newton's famous book OPTICKS pushed which picture of light?Light bends towards the normal on entering water. The wave model predicts its speed in water is:Foucault measured the speed of light in water in 1850. He found it was:Young's 1801 interference experiment firmly showed that light is a:Yellow light has a wavelength of about 0.6 of which unit?Maxwell found the speed of electromagnetic waves matched the speed of light. He concluded light is:Your voice bends round a doorway but a hillock returns an echo. The hillock is:Drop a stone in a calm pool. The ring of points all oscillating in phase is a:A point source sends waves out evenly in all directions. Its wavefronts are:By Huygens principle the new wavefront is the common ___ to all the secondary wavelets.Two needles bob in a water trough with a phase difference that never changes. The sources are:Two separate sodium lamps light two pinholes. On the screen you see:The dark and bright bands on the screen in Young's experiment are called:In Young's pattern, consecutive bright fringes are:Near the edge of a shadow you see alternate dark and bright bands. This is:Diffraction is shown by:The rainbow of colours you see on a CD comes from:Wiggle a string up and down and a wave runs along it. The displacement is at right angles to the travel, so thOrdinary lamp light passes through one polaroid. Its intensity drops to:Two polaroids are set crossed. The light passing through both is:Blue sky seen through a rotating polaroid rises and falls in brightness. Sky light is:Who put forward the wave theory of light in 1678?Who gave the corpuscular model of light in 1637 and derived Snell's law?On bending towards the normal, the corpuscular model gave what speed?What did Foucault find in 1850 about the speed of light in water?Which theory explained how light waves travel through vacuum?The branch of optics that neglects the finite wavelength of light is?In Huygens' construction, the new wavefront is the common tangent to what?How did Huygens explain the absence of a backwave?Speed of wave is v. After time t, each secondary wavelet has radius?Light of 589 nm in air enters water of index 1.33. Wavelength there?Air to water for 589 nm light: its frequency (c = 3×10⁸ m/s) is?A point source at a convex lens focus gives which wavefront after the lens?Two coherent sources each give intensity I0. At a constructive point?A path difference of 2λ corresponds to what phase difference?Two in-phase sources: path difference of 2.5λ at a point gives what?Equal waves of amplitude a differ in phase by φ. Resultant amplitude?Two coherent sources, each giving I0, differ in phase by π/2. Net intensity?Two independent lamps, each giving I0, light one wall spot. Total?Why do two separate sodium lamps give no steady fringes?How did Young make two pinholes act as coherent sources?In Young's double slit, the n-th bright fringe lies at x equal to?Which condition in Young's experiment gives a dark fringe?How are bright and dark fringes spaced in Young's double-slit pattern?Young's slits: λ = 600 nm, D = 1.0 m, d = 0.50 mm. Fringe width?In Young's experiment, halving slit separation d changes fringe width to?Third bright fringe: λ = 500 nm, D = 2 m, d = 1 mm. Distance from centre?Who revived the wave theory by showing interference of light?Diffraction is shown by which kinds of waves?The colours seen on a CD surface are due to which phenomenon?What limits the resolution of telescopes and microscopes?Single slit of width a: the first minimum occurs at angle roughly?Light of 500 nm falls on a 0.10 mm slit. First minimum at angle?In single-slit diffraction, secondary maxima compared to the central one are?What did Feynman say about interference versus diffraction?The double-slit pattern is a mix of which two effects?What household setup shows single-slit diffraction with a bulb filament?Viewing a bulb filament through a slit, which colour shows wider fringes?In diffraction and interference, what happens to light energy?Polarisation shows that light waves are of which kind?The pass-axis of a polaroid is oriented how relative to its aligned molecules?Polarised light I0 meets a polaroid at angle θ. Transmitted intensity?Polarised light of intensity I0 meets a polaroid at 60°. Intensity passed?Unpolarised light I0 crosses two polaroids with axes at 45°. Final intensity?