Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-2-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2013-resit/8/ii/solution

The first single-slit minimum is at , so the characteristic angular resolution of an aperture of width is of order . With m, nm, and distance m, this slit-based estimate is
For the actual circular lens, the Rayleigh criterion uses the first zero of the Airy disk, . It gives rad and a resolved separation of about m. The factor belongs to the circular aperture, not to the one-dimensional slit derivation.
Figure 1.
Far-field single-slit intensity and the first diffraction minima
. The horizontal coordinate is w sin(theta)/lambda, so the first zeros are at plus and minus one. The lens-resolution estimate uses the central-maximum width. Details.

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