A beam of microwaves with = 0.7 mm is incident upon a 12 cm slit. At a distance of 2 m from the slit, what is the approximate width of the slit's image?
Width of the slit image is 12 cm as said in the problem.
To find the approximate width of the slit's image, we can use the concept of diffraction. Diffraction occurs when a wave encounters an obstacle or opening and bends around it.
We can use the following equation to find the approximate width of the slit's image:
w ≈ (λ * D) / d
Where:
w is the approximate width of the slit's image,
λ is the wavelength of the microwaves,
D is the distance from the slit to the screen (2 m in this case),
d is the width of the slit (12 cm = 0.12 m).
Substituting the given values into the equation, we have:
w ≈ (0.7 mm * 2 m) / 0.12 m
First, we need to convert the wavelength of the microwaves to meters:
λ = 0.7 mm = 0.7 × 10^-3 m
Now we can calculate the approximate width of the slit's image:
w ≈ (0.7 × 10^-3 m * 2 m) / 0.12 m
w ≈ 0.0117 m or approximately 1.17 cm
Therefore, the approximate width of the slit's image at a distance of 2 m from the slit is approximately 1.17 cm.