•SESSION:-2022-23•

•SUBMITTED TO:- •SUBMITTED BY:-

Dr.pooja gulati Happy Gautam
 PHYSICS
PROJECT
WORK
On

Single slit
Diffraction
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENT •

~ I would like to thank the

Physics Teacher Dr. Pooja gulati
mam for giving the
extraordinary idea about this
project and guiding this project
until finish line. Her
suggestions and instructions
have served as the major
contributor towards the
competition of this project.

Our thanks should not stop

alone with teachers. Our friends
and parents even played a big
part in it.I see this project as a
result of hardwork from us and
innovation from our teacher. So,
we once again thank all of
them who put their hands in it
and made successful.
CERTIFICATE

•This is to certify that HAPPY

GAUTAM student of class 12-B
has successfully completed the
research on the topic“SINGLE
SLIT DIFFRACTION"under
the guidance of Dr. POOJA
GULATI during the year 2022-
23 in the partial fulfillment of
physics practical examination.

•PRINCIPAL SIGN’S:-

•EXAMINAR’S SIGN:-

•TEACHER SIGN’S:-
 INTRODUCTION
The phenomenon of diffraction was first documented in 1665
by the Italian Francesco Maria Grimaldi. The use of lasers
has only become common in the last few decades. The laser’s
ability to produce a narrow beam of coherent monochromatic
radiation in the visible light range makes it ideal for use in
diffraction experiments: the diffracted light forms a clear
pattern that is easily measured.As light, or any wave, passes a
barrier, the waveform is distorted at the boundary edge. If
the wave passes through a gap, more obvious distortion can
be seen. As the gap width approaches the wavelength of the
wave, the distortion becomes even more obvious. This process
is known as diffraction. If the diffracted light is projected
onto a screen some distance away, then interference between
the light waves create a distinctive pattern (the diffraction
pattern ) on the screen. The nature of the diffraction pattern
depends on the nature of the gap (or mask) which diffracts
the original light wave.
Diffraction patterns can be calculated by from a function
representing the mask. The symmetry of the pattern can
reveal useful information on the symmetry of the mask. For a
periodic object, the pattern is equivalent to the reciprocal
lattice of the object.In conventional image formation, a lens
focuses the diffracted waves into an image. Since the
individual sections (spots) of the diffraction pattern each
contain information, by forming an image from only
particular parts of the diffraction pattern, the resulting
image can be used to enhance particular features. This is used
in bright and dark field imaging.The phenomenon of
diffraction was first documented in 1665 by the Italian
Francesco Maria Grimaldi. The use of lasers has only
become common in the last few decades. The laser’s ability to
produce a narrow beam of coherent monochromatic radiation
in the visible light range makes it ideal for use in diffraction
experiments: the diffracted light forms a clear pattern that is
easily measured.
 light, or any wave, passes a barrier, the
waveform is distorted at the boundary edge. If
the wave passes through a gap, more obvious
distortion can be seen. As the gap width
approaches the wavelength of the wave, the
distortion becomes even more obvious. This
process is known as
diffraction. If the diffracted light is projected
onto a screen some distance away, then
interference between the light waves create a
distinctive pattern (the diffraction pattern ) on
the screen. The nature of the diffraction pattern
depends on the nature of the gap (or mask)
which diffracts the original light wave.

Diffraction patterns can be calculated by from a

function representing the mask. The symmetry
of the pattern can reveal useful information on
the symmetry of the mask. For a periodic object,
the pattern is equivalent to the reciprocal lattice
of the object.In conventional image formation, a
lens focuses the diffracted waves into an image.
Since the individual sections (spots) of the
diffraction pattern each contain information, by
forming an image from only particular parts of
the diffraction pattern, the resulting image can
be used to enhance particular features. This is
used in bright and dark field imaging.
 DIFFRACTION
• What is diffraction?
• When parallel waves of light are obstructed
by a very small object (i.e. sharp edge, slit,
wire, etc.), the waves spread around the edges
of the obstruction and interfere, resulting in a
pattern of dark and light fringes.

• What does diffraction look like?

• When light diffracts off of the edge of an
object, it creates a pattern of light referred
to as a diffraction pattern. If a
monochromatic light source, such as a laser,
is used to observe diffraction, below are
some examples of diffraction patterns that
are created by certain objects.
 DIFFRACTION
PATTERNS
TYPES OF DIFFRACTION
There are two ways in which analysis of diffraction of
light is done which are given below:

1. Fresenel 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 show in figure 6.73, then in such conditions mostly
the diffraction analysis is done with some specific
methods called as “Fresnel’s Diffraction”.

2. Fraunhoffer Diffraction: When diffraction is

analysed for a source at very large distance from the at
very 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"
 EXPERIMENT ANALYSIS OF
DIFFRACTION
Single Slit Diffraction

•Aim: Experiment to study the phenomena of single slit

diffraction.
•Requirements: Two Razor Blade, One glass electric Bulb,
Filter, Black Paper
•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 as shown in the
figure and cover them with
black paper.
b) Keep the slit parallel to the filament of the bulb 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 of light and dark bend is visible.
D) As the position of the bands (except the central one)
depends on the wavelength, they will show some colours. E)
Use a filter for red and blue to make fringes clearer,
Compare the fringes.

Observations: Since the position of all the bands depends on

wavelength so they will show some colour. More the
wavelength, More they will diffract. 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 which is harmful
to our eyes.

*By repeating the above experiment with aluminium foil we

can easily show double slit diffraction.*
 SINGLE SLIT DIFFRACTION
• In our consideration of the Young’s double-
slit experiments, we have assumed the width
of the slits to be so small that each slit is a
point source. In this section we shall take the
width of slit to be finite and see how
Fraunhofer diffraction arises. Let a source of
monochromatic light be incident on a slit of
finite width a, as shown in Figure 1

FIGURE :- Diffraction of light By a slit of width a

• In diffraction of Fraunhofer type, all rays

passing through the slit are approximately
parallel. In addition, each portion of the slit
will act as a source of light waves according
to Huygens’s principle.
For simplicity we divide the slit into two
halves. At the first minimum, each ray
from the upper half will be exactly 180
out of phase with a corresponding ray
form the lower half. For example, suppose
there are 100 point sources, with the first
50 in the lower half, and 51 to 100 in the
upper half. Source 1 and source 51 are
separated by a distance and are out of
phase with a path difference° a /28 = ½.
Similar observation applies to source 2
and source 52, as well as any pair that are
a distance a/2 apart. Thus, the condition
for the first minimum is

• Applying the same reasoning to the

wavefronts from four equally spaced points a
distance a/ 4 apart, the path difference would
be 8 = a sine / 4, and the condition for
destructive interference is
 • The argument can be generalized to
show that destructive interference will
occur when

Figure 2 illustrates the intensity distribution for a single-slit

diffraction Note that = 0 is a maximum.

• By comparing Eq. (14.5.4) with Eq. (14.2.5),

we see that the condition for minima of a
single-slit diffraction becomes the condition
for maxima of a double-slit interference
when the width of a single slit a is replaced
by the separation between the two slits d.
The reason is that in the double-slit case, the
slits are taken to be so small that each one is
considered as a single light source, and the
interference of waves originating within the
same slit can be neglected. On the other
hand, the minimum condition for the single-
slit diffraction is obtained precisely by
taking into consideration the interference of
waves that originate within the same slit.
 • SINGLE SLIT INTERFERENCE•
• How do we determine the intensity
distribution for the pattern produced by a
single-slit diffraction? To calculate this, we
must find the total electric field by adding the
field contributions from each point. Let’s
divide the single slit into N small zones each
of width Ay a = /N, as shown in Figure
14.6.1. The convex lens is used to bring
parallel light rays to a focal point P on the
screen. We shall assume that Ay << so that all
the light from a given zone is in phase. Two
adjacent zones have a relative path length 8 =
Ay sine. The relative phase shift Aẞ is given
by the ratio

• Suppose the wavefront from the first point

(counting from the top) arrives at the point
Pon the screen with an electric field given by
• The electric field from point 2 adjacent to
point 1 will have a phase shift ∆β , and the
field is
 Diffraction by
circular aperture

• Here we consider diffraction by a circular

aperture that is a circular opening, such as circular
lens through which light can pass. Figure 36.10
shows the image formed by light from a laser that
was directed onto a circular aperture with a very
small diameter. This image is not apoint as
geometrical optics would suggest but a circular disk
surrounded by several progressively fainter
secondary rings.
• The analysis of such patterns shows that the first
minimum for the diffraction pattern of a circular
aperture of diameter d is located by

(First minimum –circular

aperture)

The angle theta is the angle from the central

axis to any point on that circular minimum.
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.
 DIFFRACTION
GRATING
• A diffraction grating consists of a large number of slits
each of width and separated from the next by a distance ,
as shown in Figure

If we assume that the incident light is planar and

diffraction spreads the light from each slit over a wide
angle so that the light from all the slits will interfere
with each other. The relative path difference between
each pair of adjacent slits is δ = d sinθ ,similar to the
calculation we made for the double-slit case. If this path
difference is equal to an integral multiple of
wavelengths then all the slits will constructively
interfere with each other and a bright spot will appear on
the screen at an angle θ . Thus, the condition for the
principal maxima is given by

d m sinθ = λ, m = ± 0, 1, ± 2, ± 3, ... (14.8.1)

If the wavelength of the light and the location of the m-

order maximum are known, the distance d between slits
may be readily deduced. The location of the maxima
does not depend on the number of slits, N. However, the
maxima become sharper and more intense as N is
increased. The width of the maxima can be shown to be
inversely proportional to N. In Figure 14.8.2, we show
the intensity distribution as a function of β / 2 for
diffraction grating with N =10 and . Notice that the
principal maxima become sharper and narrower as N
increases.
Figure 14.8.2 Intensity distribution for a diffraction
grating for (a) N =10 (b)N = 30

The observation can be explained as follows: suppose an

angle θ ( recall that β = 2 s π a inθ / λ ) which initially
gives a principal maximum is increased slightly, if there
were only two slits, then the two waves will still be
nearly in phase and produce maxima which are broad.
However, in grating with a large number of slits, even
though θ may only be slightly deviated from the value
that produces a maximum, it could be exactly out of
phase with light wave from another slit far away. Since
grating producespeaks that are much sharper than the
two-slit system, it gives a more precise measurement of
the wavelength.
B IBLIOGRAPHY
~•Help from Internet

• www.sceincefare.com

• www.mycbsegide.com

~•Help from books

•Refrenced from
H.C.Verma

•Refrenced from physics

NCERT

~• Help from teachers