Analysis

This experiment observes the behavior of a beam of light when it passes through a small

slit and is observed in different distances on an image board. In the first part of the experiment, a

beam of light is made to pass through a single slit of width 0.08mm and it was observed that as the

light passes through the horizontal slit, a vertical beam of light is observed in the image board with

a central bright fringe at the middle and an alternating dark and light fringes on the top and bottom.

As the image board is placed further, the dark fringes are further from the center and also the

wavelength also increases. In the second part of the experiment, the light is made to pass through

two silts of the same width but at 0.50 mm apart. The pattern was also observed to be similar to

the single slit pattern but this time, there are dark lines within the light fringes, which are observed

to be interferences. As the image board is placed further, the dark fringes are also further from the

center and also the wavelength also increases.

The results of the experiment coincide with Huygen’s Principle that states that the location

of the dark fringes is proportional to the image distance and wavelength and also inversely

proportional to the slit width. The pattern of the images also proved that light bends because the

slit is horizontal but the image produced is vertical. The pattern also proves that light is of a wave

form because of the destructive interference that is observed in the image of the two slits.
 Conclusion

This experiment explores the behavior of light in the single slit diffraction and the two-slit

interference phenomenon. Diffraction is the bending of light waves around small openings and

also obstacles. Interference is the superimposition of similar waves which results in a wave of

greater or of lower amplitude. The Huygens principle is also used in this experiment. This

experiment also is based on the notion that light is also of a wave form.

These principles are proven in the experiment where the patterns of light in the images

were formed are of vertical diffracted light from the single horizontal slit. There were also dark

fringes within the light fringes that signify interference of waves from the same wavelength from

the two-slit aperture. The results also proved the Hudgen’s principle because the location of the

dark fringes is proportional to the image distance and wavelength and also inversely proportional

to the slit width. Collectively, the results prove that the light is of a wave nature.

It is recommended that can help is that to tape a piece of paper on the image board to be

able to trace the fringes and then measure it from there, as opposed to measuring the fringes directly

on the image board. This way, you can get more accurate measurements of the fringe. And also,

making sure that the room is dark enough so you can see properly the pattern of the diffracted

light.
 Error Analysis

The group was able to get a maximum percent error of only 3% from all the parts of the

experiment because the group properly planned the exection of each part of the experiment. One

technique that really helped is that to tape a piece of paper on the image board to be able to trace

the fringes and then measure it from there, as opposed to measuring the fringes directly on the

image board. This way, you can get more accurate measurement.
 Application

Diffraction is not that appealing to the masses simply because it is not an everyday

phenomenon that is seen from everyday things. But Diffraction played a great part in discovering

structures of molecules and atoms when X-ray was discovered. X-rays, when it came out, only

showed a 2-D picture of light that came through and obstructed that shows only shadows. Sir

William Bragg discovered that when shining solid materials with x-rays, patterns were consistently

emerging on the same materials. Applying the theory of diffraction of light, this led him to believe

that imposing the pattern in 3 dimensions, he can accurately tell the structure of the molecules

where the X-rays are diffracted from the structure. This gave him the Nobel Piece price when he

was just 25 years old and it is the underlying concept that more than 25 Nobel Piece Prices were

based on. This led to more accurate x-ray results on the modern world. As a mechanical engineer,

it is my aspiration to be able to solve these kinds of problems in the world. It is also very important

for me to learn the basics of this concept to be able to solve future problems.