Single Slit Diffraction

Objective:

To verify the general form of single slit diffraction pattern. To approximate the wavelength of the

laser light. To verify the equation for the position of the pattern.

Introduction:

When light passes around the edge of an object, it bends slightly. This phenomenon is called

diffraction. The relative size of the wavelength to the size of the opening of the slit decides the amount of bending.

The bending would be unnoticeable if the wavelength of light is less than the opening. If both have size equal or

near, the bending would be visible and can easily be seen with naked eye. When coherent light falls on a narrow

slit and then viewed on a display screen and the screen is sufficiently far away i.e. much greater than the slit

width, we can use Fraunhofer approximation to describe the intensity of light. The lights waves bend and form

bright and dark fringes. Two crusts meet each other and form a bright fringe. If one crust and one trough meet

with each other, then a dark fringe is formed. The working equation of the experiment is given as:

a sin θ = m λ (Position of dark Fringes)

where,

a = width of the slit or aperture

λ = wavelength of the light used

θ = angle from the central axis of the apparatus

m = 1,2,3,….. (counting number specifying the order of the dark fringes (minimum).
Experimental Setup:

Figure 1 : The fringes along with the ruler

Results and Discussion:

Constants

L (mm) 1448.1

a (mm) 0.100

ΔL (mm) 5

Δa (mm) 0.005

Δl (mm) 5

ΔL/L 0.345%

Δa/a 5.000%

center pixel 479

pixel / mm 4.748
 pixel/mm Calculation

Ruler Position mm pixels

Left 0 2033

Right 230 3125

Single Slit Diffraction Analysis

m (order pixels l (mm) θ (rad) λ (meters) [Δl/l] [Δλ/λ] Δλ (meters)

uncertainty uncertainty uncertainty

in l in λ in λ

-7 135.07 -72.4 -0.04993 7.129 x 10-7 6.9% 8.5% 6.1 x 10-8

-6 181.19 -62.6 -0.04323 7.203 x 10-7 8.0% 9.4% 6.8 x 10-8

-5 230.6 -52.2 -0.03606 7.210 x 10-7 9.6% 10.8% 7.8 x 10-8

-4 278.37 -42.2 -0.02912 7.278 x 10-7 11.9% 12.9% 9.4 x 10-8

-3 326.14 -32.1 -0.02217 7.391 x 10-7 15.6% 16.4% 1.2 x 10-8

-2 373.91 -22.1 -0.01523 7.614 x 10-7 22.7% 23.2% 1.8 x 10-8

-1 424.97 -11.3 -0.00780 7.803 x 10-7 44.2% 44.5% 3.5 x 10-8

1 527.09 10.2 0.00705 7.050 x 10-7 49.0% 49.2% 3.5 x 10-8

2 579.80 21.3 0.01472 7.357 x 10-7 23.5% 24.0% 1.8 x 10-8

3 627.57 31.4 0.02166 7.220 x 10-7 15.9% 16.7% 1.2 x 10-8

4 680.28 42.5 0.02932 7.330 x 10-7 11.8% 12.8% 9.4 x 10-8

5 728.05 52.5 0.03626 7.251 x 10-7 9.5% 10.8% 7.8 x 10-8

6 777.46 62.9 0.04344 7.237 x 10-7 7.9% 9.4% 6.8 x 10-8

7 830.17 74.0 0.05109 7.295 x 10-7 6.8% 8.4% 6.1 x 10-8

the intensity of light is greater near the center and the intensity decreases as we move away from the center. The

intensity decreases due to diffraction of light. Due to diffraction of light, there is unequal distribution of light on

the screen.

Figure 2: Distance VS. Intensity of light generated by Fiji Software

Analysis:
Graph with best fit line and along with the equation of best fit is given as:

According to the best fit line, the relation of a sinθ = m λ is being followed with a slight error near the center of

the slit. This is due to the human error of not placing the source of light in the center. The intensity graph obtained

from the Fiji software has variation with the theoretical graph. Here, the intensity does not exactly goes to zero

i.e. adjacent fringe is not exactly dark as compared to the theoretical graph.

Uncertainty Analysis:
 According to the Uncertainty principle, if we want to measure the position of the particles

accurately, then momentum cannot be measured accurately. Similarly, if we want to measure the momentum (or

wavelength) of the particles accurately, then position of the particles becomes inaccurate. The uncertainty of the

experiment is related to the values of ‘m’ in the experiment. When the magnitude of ‘m’ is small, then the

uncertainty would be greater. Similarly, greater the magnitude of ‘m’ lesser would be the uncertainty according

to the equation of uncertainty given as:

Conclusion:

After observing the whole result, it is concluded that the width of the slit has an impact on the pattern

of the laser beam. Diffraction becomes smaller as we increase the slit width. So, the slit width and diffraction

pattern show an inversely proportional to each other. This result agrees with the theoretical relationship. The

experimental value of the wavelength of laser beam was calculated which was between 712nm to 729nm using a

slit with a separation of 0.1mm. For reducing the errors in the experiment, it is advised to do repeated trials to get

less error in the result. Care should be taken while marking the position of dark fringes either manually or on the

software because the deviations in the distance will cause an error in the calculation of wavelength.