Question

What is the relationship between frequency and diffraction?

Answer 1

Relationship between frequency and diffraction:

1. The frequency of a wave can be defined as the number of oscillations completed per unit of time.
2. Diffraction is a phenomenon where the incidence of a light ray on a corner or opening causes it to bend.
3. The degree of bending is dependent on the frequency of light but the frequency remains unchanged even after the phenomenon of diffraction.
4. For single slit diffraction, the amount of diffraction can be expressed as $\sin \theta =\frac{\lambda }{d}$. Here, $\theta$ is the angle of diffraction, $\lambda$ is the wavelength and $d$ is the slit width.
5. Using the relation $\lambda =\frac{c}{f}$ in the expression above, where, $c$ is the speed of light and $f$ is the frequency.

$$\begin{gathered} \sin \theta =\frac{\lambda }{d} \\ \sin \theta =\frac{c}{fd} \end{gathered}$$

Thus, the relation between frequency and diffraction can be expressed as $\sin \theta =\frac{c}{fd}$.