Question
What will be the amplitude of the central fringe if the amplitudes of the two waves in a double slit experiment are a and 3a?
  1. 2a2a
  2. 4a4a
  3. 8a28a^2
  4. 16a216a^2
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Final Answer

(b)

Solution video

OpenStax College Physics for AP® Courses, Chapter 27, Problem 7 (Test Prep for AP® Courses)

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Video Transcript
This is College Physics Answers with Shaun Dychko. The super position principle says that if you have two waves in the same place, the result will have an amplitude equal to the sum of the amplitudes of each of the waves. So, you have one wave with an amplitude A and another wave with an amplitude of 3A. And so, their sum will be of amplitude 4A. And, there's no interference effects to be concerned with here because we're talking about the central fringe. And so, the answer here is B.