Achamber 5.0 cm long with flat, parallel windows at the ends is placed in one arm of a michelson interferometer (see below). the light used has a wavelength of 500 nm in a vacuum. while all the air is being pumped out of the chamber, 29 fringes pass by a point on the observation screen. what is the refractive index of the air?

1.00029

Explanation:

A wave is a disturbance which travels through a medium and transfers energy without displacing the medium itself.

interference is one of the characteristics of a wave motion

The Michelson interferometer produces interference fringes by splitting a beam of monochromatic light so that one beam strikes a fixed mirror and the other a movable mirror. When the reflected beams are reflected, an interference pattern results.

∝Δm=Δud

∝=wavelength  500nm

Δm=number of fringes

d=length 9f the  Michelson interferometer chamber

Δu= change in refractive index

500*10^-9*29=0.05*Δu

Δu=0.00029

REFRACTIVE INDEX=1+0.00029

refractive index=

1.00029

report!

explanation:

physics means: "the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy. the subject matter of physics, distinguished from that of chemistry and biology, includes mechanics, heat, light and other radiation, sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms."