DIFFRACTION (TWO SLIT) IB COURSE COMPANION CH 4: PP.

152-157
6. State the conditions for diffraction to occur.
Diffraction is how the path and pattern of a wave is changed when the wave passes through a small slit (aperture) or around a
small obstacle.
The frequency, wavelength and speed of the wave remain unchanged
The effect is most obvious when the aperture width is approximately equal to the wavelength of the source
7. Explain the formation of the two slit interference pattern (Youngs Experiment)
This experiment is historically significant because the explanation for the result can
B
only be given in the wave model
Consider coherent light (coherent = constant phase difference, which requires
s

constant frequency) passing through two small slits separated by a distance d as

shown. The light will arrive at the screen a distance D from the slits. The point O on
d
O
D
the screen is referred to as the central maximum (or central bright fringe) and
represents constructive interference between the light leaving from each slit.
Path difference
To find the location of the next bright fringe we must look at the difference in the
length of the path traveled by waves from each slit. To produce a bright fringe we
want constructive interference the waves must arrive in phase (peak with peak or
valley with valley). For this to happen the difference in how far they travel must be
an integer multiple of the wavelength.
The anglein the diagram locates the next bright fringe, B and allows us to determine the path difference. There are two
triangle to analyze: The triangle with sides OB and the length D from slits to screen locates the bright fringe at B. The smaller
triangle with hypotenuse d and one side equal to the path difference contains the same angle . Because d <<D, the angle is
very small. If s is the distance from O to B, then tan () = s/D. From the smaller triangle, sin = path difference / d. For small
angles (when the angle is expressed in radians), sin = tan = . So we can write: s / D = path difference / d.
Remember that for constructive interference, path difference = n, so s/D = n/d and s = n D/d
DIFFRACTION (SINGLE SLIT) IB COURSE COMPANION - CH 9: P. 364-375
8. Sketch the variation with angle of diffraction of the relative intensity of light diffracted at a single slit.
9. Derive the formula = / b for the position of the first minimum of the diffraction pattern produced at a single slit.
Diffraction interference patterns due to a narrow slit occur because of difference
in path length for waves from different points in the slit. Each point on a
wavefront can be considered to be the source of a new spherical wave. These
waves then spread out and interfere.

Suppose we have a screen that is located far away from a small slit of width b
(remember, for diffraction to occur, must be approximately equal to b).
b
Consider the two points shown, separated by a distance b/2. The rays leaving
these two points are considered to be parallel (even though they will meet at the
far away screen). The angle describes where on the screen they will interfere.
The ray from the center of the slit must travel a greater distance than the ray from
the edge of the slit. The difference in path is shown in the diagram as the side
opposite the angle in the small triangle (hypotenuse = b/2). For the first
minimum interference point, we want destructive interference, which means
the difference in path traveled must be /2.
Putting it all together:
= 2 / b
difference in path at first minimum = / 2 AND difference in path from
geometry = b/2 sin
=/b
set these equal to get: b/2 sin = / 2 BUT for small angles (measured in
b
radians) sin =
L
Subsitute: (b/2) = / 2 and rearrange to get = / b
So, if = / b then these two rays destructively interfere. But, for every
point in the top half of the slit there is a corresponding point in the bottom
half that obeys this condition. So, the angle represents a minimum point in
the interference pattern produced.
In general, we can divide the slit into any even number of sections and apply this same condition to locate other minimum
points.
If we divide the slit into an odd number of sections (3 or more) and apply the same condition we find that all but one section
of the wave will interfere destructively, leaving a small portion of the original light energy to land on the screen. These bright
(maximum spots are much less intense than the center bright spot: for 3 sections we find the first bright spot has 1/3 the
amplitude of the center spot and therefore 1/9 the intensity).
10. Solve problems involving single slit diffraction.

Example: Determine the width of the central bright maximum fringe seen on a screen that is 1m from a single slit of width 0.2
mm if light of frequency 6.0 x 1014 Hz passes through the slit.
Looking at the diagram above, we have L = 1m, b = 2 x 10-4m and = 3x108 / 6 x 1014 = 5 x 10-7 m
The angular width of the central maximum = 2 = 2 / b = 2(5x10-7) / 2x10-4 = 5 x 10-3 radians
The width on the screen is found using width = L*angular width = 1m*(5x10-3 radians) = 5 x 10-3 m (or 5 mm).
11. Thin Film Interference
When light is incident on a thin film of oil on top of water you will note that you can see the entire rainbow of colors in the
oil. This is due to interference between the light reflecting off of the top surface of the oil and light reflecting off of the
bottom surface of the oil. The path difference between these two beams of light will determine what happens.
When light passes into a denser medium (higher index of refraction) the reflected light has its phase changed by radians
(half of a wavelength). To achieve constructive interference another half wavelength, or 3/2 , 5/2 etc. shift must come
from the path difference.
It can be shown that for a film of thickness t, the path difference = 2tn where n is the index of refraction of the film.
Put it all together and odd multiples of /2 = 2tn for constructive interference. A way to write odd multiples is (m + ) , so
(m + ) = 2tn.
RESOLUTION IB COURSE COMPANION = CH 9: PP. 376-380
12. Sketch the variation with angle of diffraction of the relative intensity of light emitted by two point sources that has been
diffracted at a single slit.
13. State the Rayleigh criterion for images of two sources to be just resolved.
Consider trying to view two closely spaced objects through a single slit (or aperture). Examples include viewing distant stars
through a telescope, using a microscope to look at cell parts, or using your eye to look at the headlights on a car approaching
you. In all cases, light from two separate (not coherent) sources passes through a small hole (lens). The light will diffract and
what you see is the superimposed diffraction pattern for the light from each source.
If the central maximum of each diffraction pattern do not overlap then we can distinguish two objects and they are said to be
resolved
The condition for when this occurs is called Rayleighs Criterion: When the central maximum of one image falls on the
first minimum of another image, the images are said to be just resolved.
Mathematically this means the following: for a narrow slit the minimum angular separation of two sources that can be
resolved is min = / b. For circular apertures the geometry of the situation requires we add a correction factor and min =
1.22 / D where D is the diameter of the aperture.

well resolved

just resolved

not resolved

14. Describe the significance of resolution in the development of devices such as CDs and DVDs, the electron microscope and
radio telescopes.
For the application of diffraction in CDs and DVDs see Ch 24, p. 765 in College Physics. Resolution is a factor here because
the steering beams must fall in the space between tracks which then limits how close together the tracks on the CD may be
located.
When considering the effectiveness of a microscope in being able to resolve small objects, there are two factors to consider the diameter of the objective lens and the wavelength being used to produce the image. For a light microscope, light of
wavelengths from 400 to 700 nm is used to illuminate the objects. If the wavelength could be made to be smaller, then we
would be able to resolve much smaller (closer together) objects. Electrons typically have wavelengths on the order of 10 -11 m
which greatly increases the resolution in an electron microscope.
To improve the resolution of a telescope, the key is to increase the size of the aperture (or effective aperture). One way to
accomplish this is to use two (or more) telescopes simultaneously to effectively increase the aperture diameter. A single radio
telescope may have an aperture size of hundreds of meters. However, if two of these telescopes can be linked electronically

when they are hundreds of kilometers apart, then the resolution of the system would increase by a factor of 1000 (we would
be able to see things 1000 times closer together).
15. Solve problems involving resolution.
A radio telescope is receiving radio waves of frequency 5.0 GHz and its dish size is 76 m. Two stars are 100 light years away
from Earth and are known to be 0.05 light years apart. (a) Will the radio telescope be able to resolve these two sources? (b)
Two separate identical radio telescopes are placed 200 km apart. The signals they receive can be combined to effectively
create a large radio telescope that is 200 km in diameter. Will these be able to resolve the two stars?
(a) We know that min = 1.22 / D = 1.22 (3x108 / 5x109) / 76 = 9.63 x 10-4 rad. The angle formed by the two stars at this
distance is 0.05 Ly / 100 Ly = 5 x 10 -4 rad. This is smaller than the minimum angle, so they cannot be resolved. (b) In this
case, min = 1.22 (3x108/5x109) / 200x103 = 3.66 x 10-7 rad. Since this is smaller than the actual angle, they can be resolved
(quite easily!).