Concept explainers
The CIA wants your help identifying individual terrorists in a photo of a training camp taken from a spy satellite at 100-km altitude. You ask for details of the optical system used, but they’re classified. However, they do tell you that the optics are diffraction limited and can resolve facial features as small as 5 cm. Assuming a typical optical wavelength of 550 nm, what do you conclude about the size of the mirror or lens in the satellite camera?
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 32 Solutions
Modified Mastering Physics With Pearson Etext -- Standalone Access Card -- For Essential University Physics (3rd Edition)
Additional Science Textbook Solutions
Conceptual Integrated Science
Conceptual Physical Science (6th Edition)
University Physics (14th Edition)
Cosmic Perspective Fundamentals
Applied Physics (11th Edition)
Physics: Principles with Applications
- A spy satellite is in orbit a distance of 1.91 x 106 m above the earth's surface. It carries a telescope that can resolve two trees that are 1.34 m apart using light of wavelength 592 nm. What must be the minimum diameter of the telescope's lens (in meters)?arrow_forwardThe primary mirror of the orbiting telescope has a diameter of 6.7 cm. being in orbit, this telescope avoids the degrading effects of atmospheric distortion on its resolution. Assuming an average light wavelength of 550 nm, what is the angle between two just-resolvable point light sources?arrow_forwardIf a 540-nm light is used to observe a specimen in an oil-immersion objective having a numerical apperture of 1.25, what will be its resolving power? Suggest one way on how the resolution can be improved using the same lens?arrow_forward
- What is the resolving power of a microscope with a 6.00-mm diameter objective which has f =12.0 mm? (Take the average wavelength of visible light to be roughly 550 nm) a. 550 nm b. 870 nm c. 1145 nm d. 1342 nmarrow_forwardTwo apples are placed 14 cm apart on a table. Using 550 nm as the wavelength of the light, and 1.5 mm as the diameter of the lens, can a camera placed 275 meters away from the table resolve the two apples as distinct objects? a. yes b. noarrow_forwardA lens with an index of refraction of 1.60 is to be coated with a material (n = 1.40) that will make the lens nonreflecting for yellow-orange light (λλ = 515 nm) normally incident on the lens. What is the minimum required thickness of the coating?arrow_forward
- is the minimum separation of 2 small sources of red lights on Earth that you can resolve by eye when you are flying 3.0 km above the ground? Assume the light's wavelength in air is 633 nm, the index of refraction inside the eye is 1.333 and a pupil diameter of 4.00 mm.arrow_forwardAn anti-glare coating is applied to minimize reflection of a certain wavelength from the glass of a camera lens. If light travels slower in the coating than it does in the lens' glass, what minimum number of wavelengths need to travel across one thickness of the coating? Thank youarrow_forwardStarting from a point A, a light wave travels 30 mm in air, then 10 mm in water of refractive index nW=1.33 , followed by 10 mm in glass of refractive index nG=1.60 , then a further 20mm in air to point B. The optical path length from A to B is: (give your answer in mm to 1 d.p.)arrow_forward
- An amateur astronomer wants to build a telescope with adiffraction limit that will allow him to see if there are people onthe moons of Jupiter.(a) What diameter mirror is needed to be able to see 1.00 mdetail on a Jovian Moon at a distance of 7.50×108km fromEarth? The wavelength of light averages 600 nm.(b) What is unreasonable about this result?(c) Which assumptions are unreasonable or inconsistent?arrow_forwardTo keep unwanted light from reflecting from the surface of eyeglasses or other lenses, a thin film of a material with an index of refraction n = 1.38 iscoated onto the plastic lens (n = 1.55). What is the thinnest film that will minimize reflection for λ = 550 nm, the middle of the visible-light spectrum?arrow_forwardA thin layer of a transparent material that has an index of refraction of 1.25 is used as a nonreflective coating on the surface of glass that has an index of refraction of 1.50. What should the minimum thickness of the material be for the material to be nonreflecting for light that has a wavelength of 578 nm?arrow_forward
- Principles of Physics: A Calculus-Based TextPhysicsISBN:9781133104261Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage Learning