Verified Solution • 2025–26 Session moderate

QPages 393-394: Q14: HC Verma: Concepts of Physics - Volume 2 X-Rays Pages 393-394: Q14 Solution: Visible light passing through a circular hole forms a…

⚠️ Common Exam Traps & Conceptual Pitfalls

Students often forget that the Airy disc radius $r = 1.22\,\lambda\,D/a$ (or $r\propto\lambda$) scales with wavelength, so replacing visible light with X‑rays shrinks the disc rather than eliminating it; avoid assuming zero diffraction just because the wavelength is very short.

Visible light passing through a circular hole forms a diffraction disc of radius 0.1 mm on a screen. If an X-ray is passed through the same setup, the radius of the diffraction disc will be

Multiple Choice Options

  • A zero
  • B < 0.1 mm
  • C 0.1 mm
  • D > 0.1 mm

Step-by-Step Verified Solution

**Answer:** (b) < 0.1 mm. **Step-by-Step Explanation:** X-rays have much shorter wavelengths than visible light, so the diffraction radius is much smaller.

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