Defraction of Light (Physics Investigatory Project)
Defraction of Light (Physics Investigatory Project)
Defraction of Light (Physics Investigatory Project)
REPORT
ON
INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
(Session 2017-18)
XII-A
17
(INDIA)
CERTIFICATE
This is hereby to certify that, the original and genuine investigation work has been carried
out to investigate about the subject matter and the related data collection and investigation
has been completed solely, sincerely, and satisfactorily by NIHAS of class XII A, Kendriya
Diffraction of Light”
Teacher’s Signature
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was supported by our respected Physics Teacher MR. RENUKASWAMI.
I thank my friends and my teachers who provided their help and expertise that greatly
assisted the research, although they may not agree with all of the
interpretations/conclusions of this project work. I thank our physics teacher for assistance
and guidance as provided by him.
phenomena of diffraction of light like about the discovery of diffraction, how did
diffraction got its name from, about its occurrence, mechanism, types of Diffraction , its
understand the above listed topics easily, as well as some experiments which made me
I acknowledge the support of my teacher Mr. Rajat Pareek who guided me during the
investigation.
Table of Contents
1 Chapter-1
(Introduction)
2 Chapter-2
(Understanding Diffraction)
3 Chapter-3 (Experimental
Analysis)
4 Report Conclusion
5 References
Matter of Report
Chapter-1
Introduction to Diffraction
A. What is Diffraction?
unnoticeable.”
Diffraction refers to various phenomena that occur when a wave encounters an obstacle or
a slit. It is defined as the bending of light around the corners of an obstacle or aperture into
when a wave encounters an obstacle or a slit that is comparable in size to its wavelength.
Diffraction occurs with all waves, including sound waves, water waves,
and electromagnetic waves such as visible light, rays and radio waves.
If we look clearly at the shadow cast by an opaque object, close to the region of geometrical
shadow, there are alternate dark and bright regions, just like in interference. This is just due
to the phenomenon of the diffraction, which is a general characteristic exhibited by all types
of the waves.
Since wavelength of light is much smaller than the dimensions of most of the obstacles, we
do not generally encounter the effects of diffraction of light in the everyday life
observations. However the finite resolution of our eye or of the optical fiber instruments
Since physical objects have wave-like properties, diffraction also occurs with matter and
Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word "diffraction" and was the first to record accurate
B. History of Diffraction
The effects of diffraction of light were first carefully observed and characterized by
Francesco Maria Grimaldi, who also coined the term diffraction, from the Latin
diffringere, 'to break into pieces', referring to light breaking up into different directions.
Isaac Newton studied these effects and attributed them to inflexion of light rays. Thomas
spaced slits. Explaining his results by interference of the waves emanating from the two
Diffraction occurs whenever propagating waves encounter changes, its effects are generally
most pronounced for waves whose wavelength is roughly comparable to the dimensions of
the diffracting object or slit. If the obstructing object provides multiple, closely spaced
This is due to the addition, or interference, of different parts of a wave that travel to the
observer by different paths, where different path lengths result in different phases. The
formalism of diffraction can also describe the way in which waves of finite extent
UNDERSTANDING DIFFRACTION
A. Mechanism
by the Huygens–Fresnel
of a wave can be
point source for a secondary spherical wave. The wave displacement at any subsequent
point is the sum of these secondary waves. When waves are added together, their sum is
determined by the relative phases as well as the amplitudes of the individual waves so that
the summed amplitude of the waves can have any value between zero and the sum of the
individual amplitudes. Hence, diffraction patterns usually have a series of maxima and
minima.
B. Types of Diffraction
a) Single-slit diffraction
A long slit of infinitesimal width which is illuminated by light diffracts the light into a
series of circular waves and the wave front which emerges from the slit is a cylindrical
consider light of a single wavelength. If the incident light is coherent, these sources all have
Light incident at a given point in the space downstream of the slit is made up of
contributions from each of these point sources and if the relative phases of these
contributions vary by 2π or more, we may expect to find minima and maxima in the
diffracted light. Such phase differences are caused by differences in the path lengths over
We can find the angle at which a first minimum is obtained in the diffracted light by the
following reasoning. The light from a source located at the top edge of the slit interferes
destructively with a source located at the middle of the slit, when the path difference
Similarly, the source just below the top of the slit will interfere destructively with the source
located just below the middle of the slit at the same angle. Along the entire height of the
slit, the condition for destructive interference for the entire slit is the same as the condition
for destructive interference between two narrow slits a distance apart that is half the width
of the slit.
If light consisted strictly of ordinary or classical particle, and these particles were fired in
a straight line through a slit and allowed to strike a screen on the other side we would expect
to see a pattern corresponding to the size and shape of the slit. However when the single
slit experiment is actually performed the pattern on the screen is a diffraction pattern in
The smaller the slit, the greater the angle of the spread.
b) Double Slit Diffraction
When this phenomenon was studied, it indicated that light consists of waves as distribution
of wave fronts.
two parallel slits, and the light passing through the slits is observed on a screen behind the
screen
atoms, whose total mass was over 10,000 atomic mass units.
The double slit experiment for its clarity in
impossible to explain.
c) Diffraction Events
The amount of bending which occurs is based on the wavelength of the light or the objects
size in relation to light's wavelength. In addition to bending, light is sometimes broken into
its basic components. These components are the colors of the rainbow red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo and violet (ROYGBIV).Red light has the longest wavelength, while
violet has the shortest. This is why red is typically the prominent color in a rainbow and
sun.
Diffraction is the bending of waves around an obstacle, while Interference is the meeting
of two waves during the diffraction process and usually happens when there are two or
more slits. Interference of the light waves with each other causes the diffracted light to
become brighter or dimmer during the diffraction process because of what we call
everyday life.
ii. This principle can be extended to engineer a grating with a structure such that
diffraction pattern
desired;
scattering light.
iv. The setting sun appears to be red because
interference.
vii. When light passes through solid
Diffraction in the atmosphere by small particles can cause a bright ring to be visible
around a bright light source like the sun or the moon. A shadow of a solid object,
using light from a compact source, shows small fringes near its edges. The speckle
pattern which is observed when laser light falls on an optically rough surface is also
a diffraction phenomenon.
CHAPTER-3
Requirements: Two Razor Blade, One glass electric Bulb, Filter, Black Paper
Procedure:
paper.
b) Keep the slit parallel to the filament of the bulb which plays the role of first slit, right
in front of eye.
(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.
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.
*By repeating the above experiment with aluminium foil we can easily show double slit
diffraction.*
References
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.youtube.com