Question

Two sources of light of wavelength 720 nm are 10 m away from a pinhole of diameter 1.2 mm. How far apart must the sources be for their diffraction patterns to be resolved by Rayleigh's criterion?

Answer 1

Answer:

The value is  $y = 0.00732 \ m$    

Explanation:

From the question we are told that

    The wavelength of each source is  $\lambda = 720 \ nm = 720 *10^{-9} \ m$

     The distance from the pinhole $D = 10 \ m$

     The diameter is $d = 1.2 mm = \frac{1.2}{1000} = 0.0012 \ m$

Generally from Rayleigh's criterion  we have that the distance between the sources of light for their diffraction patterns is mathematically represented as '

        $y = \frac{ 1.22 * \lambda * D}{d}$

=>      $y = \frac{ 1.22 * 720 *10^{-9}* 10 }{ 0.0012}$

=>      $y = 0.00732 \ m$