Question

What do you mean by diffraction of light? The light of wavelength $5000\mathring{A}$ is falling normally a slit of width $2\times {10}^{-5}$ metre. Find the angular width of central maxima in the diffraction pattern.

Answer 1

Diffraction is the slight bending of light as it passes around the edge of an object. The amount of bending depends on the relative size of the wavelength of light to the size of the opening. If the opening is much larger than the light's wavelength, the bending will be almost unnoticeable. However, if the two are closer in size or equal, the amount of bending is considerable, and easily seen with the naked eye.

The angular width of the central maximum is given by,

$\omega =\frac{2\lambda }{d}$

$\omega =\frac{2\times 5000\times {10}^{-10}}{2\times {10}^{-5}}$

$\omega =0.02$