What Mistake Am I Making in Calculating Fringe Width?

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cupid.callin
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Homework Statement



attachment.php?attachmentid=35479&stc=1&d=1305217898.png



so here i have shown the distances of two dark fringes ...

from here ... fringe width is [tex]\frac{\lambda L}{2d}[/tex]
L is distance of screen ... d is distance b/w 2 fringes.

but fringe width is [tex]\frac{\lambda L}{d}[/tex] , right ?

What mistake am i making?
 

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i wrote it above

by using formula of distance of dark fringe ...

fringe width comes out to be ... [tex] \frac{\lambda L}{2d}[/tex]

but fringe width is [tex] \frac{\lambda L}{d}[/tex]

so why am i getting wrong answer
 
hello ... someone?
 
The fringe width is the distance between the centres of alternate dark(or bright) fringes.
Lamda D/d as marked on your diagram goes from the centre of a bright fringe to the centre of an adjacent dark fringe in other words you have marked in half the fringe width.
 
So you mean this is fringe width ??
attachment.php?attachmentid=35509&stc=1&d=1136054234.png

well this looks satisfying
 

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cupid.callin said:
So you mean this is fringe width ??
attachment.php?attachmentid=35509&stc=1&d=1136054234.png

well this looks satisfying

You have now marked the fringe width correctly.
 
are you sure?
because fringe width means "width of 1 fringe"
but (as you said) i have marked width of 2 fringes
 
I did not say you marked in the width of two fringes I said you marked in the width of half a fringe.The fringe width as marked above in red is correct since it goes from the centre of a bright fringe to the centre of an adjacent bright fringe.
Look at a graph of how the intensity varies smoothly across an interference pattern and this should clarify things for you.