A plane wave front of light is incident on a plane mirror as shown in the figure. Intensity is maximum at P when
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The path difference between the disturbance reaching at point $P$ directly and after reflection (from the geometry of figure) $=d \sec \theta \cdot \cos 2 \theta+d \sec \theta+\frac{\lambda}{2}$;
Here $\frac{\lambda}{2}$ is due to the reflection from denser medium.
For maximum intensity
$d \sec \theta(1+\cos 2 \theta)+\frac{\lambda}{2}=n \lambda \quad \text { or } \quad \cos \theta=\frac{3 \lambda}{4 d}$
∴ (b)