THE PRACTICE STUDIO
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PRACTICE / Interference intensity
Removing a beam can brighten one point
Two coherent beams separately give 16 and 4 W/m² at a detector. They arrive exactly out of phase. The weaker beam is then blocked without changing the stronger beam.
By how much does the detector intensity increase?
Organize the givens & assumptions
- I₁ = 16 W/m²
- I₂ = 4 W/m²
- Initial phase difference = 180°
Same-frequency coherent beams, parallel polarization, same observation medium and unchanged individual detector intensities, unless the prompt explicitly averages phase.
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Problem: Removing a beam can brighten one point
Two coherent beams separately give 16 and 4 W/m² at a detector. They arrive exactly out of phase. The weaker beam is then blocked without changing the stronger beam.
Question: By how much does the detector intensity increase?
Givens:
- I₁ = 16 W/m²
- I₂ = 4 W/m²
- Initial phase difference = 180°
Assumptions: Same-frequency coherent beams, parallel polarization, same observation medium and unchanged individual detector intensities, unless the prompt explicitly averages phase.
Choices (LaTeX):
A. 12\ \mathrm{W/m^2}
B. 4\ \mathrm{W/m^2}
C. -4\ \mathrm{W/m^2}
D. 20\ \mathrm{W/m^2}
Ask for my approach first. Help me distinguish a physical misconception from an algebra error without revealing which choice is correct.
Tutoring approach:
Act as a patient physics tutor. Ask what I understand and what I have tried, then wait for my reply. Teach one step at a time; do not give the final answer or a complete solution immediately. Start with a physical picture. Define unfamiliar symbols and operators, explain signs and units, and state the model's assumptions. Give progressively stronger hints only when I need them. Ask me to predict a change before calculating it. When I finish, help me check dimensions and a limiting case, then ask one related transfer question. If information is missing or ambiguous, ask rather than inventing it. Distinguish exact results from approximations and acknowledge uncertainty.Start with the smallest hint.
Work through it with me.
One decision at a time. Pause, predict, then unpack the algebra.
Interference can make removing one field increase the local intensity.
Initial field
The amplitude magnitudes are proportional to 4 and 2.
Why is this step valid?
Destructive interference applies to fields, so intensities cannot simply be subtracted.
After blocking
Only the unchanged stronger beam reaches the detector.
Why is this step valid?
Removing a beam also removes its interference cross term with the other field.
Compare readings
The increase is the final reading minus the initial reading.
Why is this step valid?
A local brightening does not mean that blocking light has increased total source power.
The starting reading follows directly from the full intensity formula.
TRY THE IDEA AGAIN
If the same beams initially arrive in phase, blocking the weaker beam does what?
YOUR LEARNING NOTE
How does this idea feel now?
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