Investigatory

project

DIFFRACTION OF LIGHT DUE

TO A THIN SLIT

HIMANK PARASHAR
Class XII-A
 INDEX

S. No. Title Remarks

1. Acknowledgement
2. Certificate
3. Aim
4. Why I choose this
project
5. Introduction
6. Types of DIffraction
7. Experimental Analysis
of Diffraction
8. Single Slit Diffraction
9. Intensity Curve
10. Bibliography
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I, Himank Parashar, XII - A, would like to express my immense gratitude

to my chemistry teacher Mrs Preeti Gaur, for the help and guidance
provided by her for completing the investigatory project.

I would also like to thank my parents for their ideas and inputs in making
this Project.

Most of all I would like to thank our school management, for providing us
the facilities and opportunity to do this project.
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr.Himank Parashar, student of class XII of

Apeejay School, Pitampura has successfully completed research in
the below given project under the heading ‘DEFFRACTION OF
LIGHT DUE TO A THIN SLIT’ during the academic session 2024-
2025 under the guidance of Mrs. Preeti Gaur

___________
Signature of
Physic teacher
AIM
The aim of the experiment is to observe and analyze the
diffraction pattern produced when light passes through a
thin slit, demonstrating the wave nature of light. It
involves studying the relationship between slit width
and diffraction, verifying theoretical principles, and
determining the wavelength of the light used.

Why I Chose This Project

It effectively demonstrates fundamental wave properties of light, such as

diffraction and interference. This experiment allows for the exploration of
how light behaves when encountering obstacles, providing practical
insight into wave phenomena. Additionally, it offers a clear, visual
representation of the principles behind wave optics, making it a valuable
experiment for understanding and verifying theoretical concepts in
physics.
INTRODUCTION
Diffraction refers to various phenomena that occur
when a wave encounters an obstacle or a slit. It is
defined as the bending of waves around the
corners of an obstacle or through an aperture into
the region of geometrical shadow of the
obstacle/aperture. The
diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a
secondary source of the propagating wave. Italian
scientist Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the
word "diffraction" and was the first to record
accurate observations of the phenomenon in 1660.
In classical physics, the diffraction phenomenon is
described by the Huygens-Fresnel principle that
treats each point in a propagating wave-front as a
collection of individual spherical wavelets. The
characteristic banding pattern is most pronounced
when a wave from a coherent source (such as a
laser) encounters a slit/aperture that is comparable
in size to its wavelength, as shown in the inserted
image. This is due to the addition, or interference,
of different points on the wave-front (or,
equivalently, each wavelet) that travel by paths of
different lengths to the registering surface.
However, if there are multiple, closely spaced
openings, a complex pattern of varying intensity
can result.
Diffraction and interference are closely related and
are nearly - if not exactly - identical in meaning.
Richard Feynman observes that "diffraction" tends
to be used when referring to many wave sources,
and "interference" when only a few are considered.
The effects of diffraction are often seen in
everyday life. The most striking examples of
diffraction are those that involve light; for example,
the closely spaced tracks on a CD or DVD act as a
diffraction grating to form the familiar rainbow
pattern seen when looking at a disc. This principle
can be extended to engineer a grating with a
structure such that it will produce any diffraction
pattern desired; the hologram on a credit card is
an example.

Principle:
The principle of the project is that when light
passes through a thin slit, it diffracts,
creating an interference pattern of bright
and dark fringes. This pattern demonstrates
light's wave nature, governed by Huygens'
Principle and interference effects.

TYPES OF DIFFRACTION

There are two ways in which analysis of diffraction of

light is done which are given below:

1. Fresnel Diffraction: When diffraction of light is

analysed for a light source at finite distance from
the diffracting device and point of observation or
screen is also located at finite distance from the
device as shown in figure 6.73, then in such
conditions mostly the diffraction analysis is done
with some specific methods called as "Fresnel’s
Diffraction."
 Fig 6.73

Fraunhoffer Diffraction: When diffraction is

analysed for a source at very large distance from
the diffracting device and point of observation or
screen is also at very large distance from the device
as shown in figure 6.74, then in such conditions
mostly the diffraction analysis is done with some
specific methods called as "Fraunhoffer
Diffraction."
Fig 6.74
EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF DIFFRACTION

Single Slit Diffraction

Aim: Experiment to study the phenomena of single slit
diffraction.
Requirements: Two Razor Blade, Red Laser, Blue
Laser.
Procedure:
a) Hold the two blades so that the edges are parallel
and have a narrow slit in between. This can be done
easily with thumb and forefingers

b) Keep the slit parallel to the laser which plays the role
of first slit, right in front of eye.

c) Adjust the width of the slit and the parallelism of the

edges the pattern change with of the pattern of light and
dark bands is visible.
d) As the position of the bands (except the central one)
depends on the wavelength, they will show some
colours. e) Use different lesars red and blue to make
fringes clearer, Compare the fringes.
Observations: Since theposition of all the bands
depends on wavelength so they will show some colour.
More the wavelength, More they willdiffract.

Result: Fringes are wider for red compared to blue.

Precaution: Protect your eyes by using spectacles while

performing the experiment. Don't use sunlight instead
of the bulb as sun also produces infrared rays harmful to
our eyes
 Single Slit Diffraction

When light rays travelling encounter obstacle of

comparable size relative to their wavelength in their
path, these light rays bend across the object and bending
causes change in optical path travelled by the light and
thus it generates path difference between coherent light
rays and this creates interference on the screen. In
Young's double slit experiment path difference was
generated by different path length of coherent light rays
by two slits. But in single slit bending of rays cause the
interference pattern.
With the help of Huygens principle we can understand
diffraction:
Light ray travelling towards the slit can be considered
as plane wavefront after passing through the slit new
wavelets are generated these wavelets either interfere
constructively at some point on the screen or
destructively at other points, thus bright and dark
fringes are generated.
To find dark fringes we shall use follow the following:

Pairing all the rays coming through the slit and then
finding what conditions cause the wavelets of the rays
in each pair to cancel each oher.
Dividing the slit in two regions each a/2. We can see the
wavelets along these two rays cancel each other when
they arrive at Pi.
To produce the first dark fringe they must be out of
phase by 1/2 when they reach at Pi. This pahse
difference is due to path length difference travelled by
wavelets.

Therefore the above result can be generalised for every

dark fringe as:
a sin &= mλ,
for m=1,2,3,... (minima-dark fringes)
 Intensity Curve

The equation below tells us intensity at an angle theta

from the priciple line
Note that as the slit width increases (relative to the
wavelength), the width of the central diffraction
maximum (the central hill like region of the graphs)
decreases; that is the ligth undergoes less flaring by the
slit. The secondary maxima also decrease in width.
 Bibiliography

Websites:
1. www.wikipedia.org
2.www.physics.usyd.edu.au
Books:
1. Physics Galaxy (Book)
2. Comprehensive Practical Guide (Book)
3. Fundamental Of Physics (Halliday& Resnick)