Physics Education

PAPER Related content

- A spreadsheet simulation for a Young's
Simulating Fraunhofer diffraction of waves using double slits experiment
R Field
microsoft excel spreadsheet - Diffraction and interference--a standard
teaching topic using non-standard
diffracting objects
To cite this article: I Singh et al 2018 Phys. Educ. 53 055010 S Gröber, M Vetter, B Eckert et al.

- Binary half adder based on diffraction

A W Barker Clur and J Talbot

View the article online for updates and enhancements.

Recent citations
- Simulating longitudinal vibrations of
coupled oscillator using the fourth-order
Runge–Kutta method by programming
spreadsheet
I Singh et al

- Using SMath Studio in physics teaching

Keith Atkin

- Visualizing the trajectory of a charged

particle in electric and magnetic fields
using an Excel spreadsheet
I Singh et al

This content was downloaded from IP address 200.54.114.3 on 12/08/2019 at 20:09

 Paper
Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010 (11pp) iopscience.org/ped

Simulating Fraunhofer
diffraction of waves using
microsoft excel spreadsheet
I Singh1 , K Khun Khun1 and B Kaur2
1
  PG Department of Physics, Khalsa College, Amritsar 143005, India
2
  School of Mathematics, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala 147004,
India

E-mail: iqbalsgh@yahoo.com, kbikramjeet@yahoo.com and kamal_minty@rediffmail.com

Abstract
Excel spreadsheets are used as an excellent tool in physics laboratory
experiments related to wave optics. This paper presents a simple way to
simulate diffraction of waves through a slit using Excel spreadsheets without
any tedious programming. These simulations are used to visualize the effect
of variation of different parameters such as number of slits, wavelength of
incoming light, slit width and slit separation on Fraunhofer diffraction pattern.

1. Introduction its use in numerous applications in the field of

Today sophisticated technological innovations
have greatly enhanced the teaching and learning
of science, but the use of simple and interactive
teaching methods is still considered more benefi-
cial in concept development for subjects such as
physics. Such methods help to induce better learn-
ing in students and present science subjects in a
more interesting and fascinating way. Presenting
a physical concept through simulations is one
such method which can be easily implemented for
analyzing university/school courses of physics.
There are numerous softwares which are
available for effective teaching of these courses
but MS Office Excel is one of the most simple
and cost effective software that can be used to cre-
ate simulations for several science and engineer-
ing concepts. It is an easily accessible tool with
simple cell based structure that can be effectively
used by beginners. The analysis and interpretation
of results through an Excel spreadsheet is much
simpler and less time consuming due to minimal
programming requirements which contributes to
data analysis, education, research and business
industry.
There are number of reports found in the lit-
erature which are devoted to different applications
of Excel [1–11]. Field [1] has used a spreadsheet
to discuss Fraunhofer diffraction patterns pro-
duced by a single slit and a Young’s double slits
arrangement. He also included the practical data
into the same spreadsheet. Zaheer [7] has used
Excel spreadsheets to demonstrate the formation
of Lissajous figures, damped harmonic oscilla-
tor and wind speed distribution. Chandra [4] has
discussed the motion of a charged particle in a
magnetic field using 3D pictures prepared with
VPython and Excel controlled by Visual Basic.
Tambade [5] has also discussed the motion of a
charged particle under the simultaneous influence
of electric and magnetic fields, through Excel
simulations. Other reports related to the teaching
of physics through simulations by Excel spread-
sheets include concepts on oscillators [6], waves
in general and their superposition [7], interference

1361-6552/18/055010+11$33.00 1 © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd

I Singh et al

Figure 1.  Screenshot of the Excel spreadsheet programmed for single slit diffraction.

Table 1.  The various columns of the spreadsheet, terms used in diffraction equation (1), their description and
corresponding Excel commands used to obtain the data are represented in.
Excel command/values assigned
Column/cell Term Description to diffraction parameters
A θ Angle in degree −J$4 to  +  K$4 increment in θ
with step of M$4
B θ Angle in radian RADIANS(A2)
C δ = (πa sin θ)/λ  Half of the phase difference (PI() * N$2 * SIN(B2))/M$2
between the first and last wave
from the two ends of a single slit
D  sin δ 2 Diffraction term IFERROR(((SIN(C2))/C2)^2,1)a
δ
E ∆ = (πb sin θ)/λ   Half of the phase difference (PI() * O$2 * SIN(B2))/M$2
between resultant waves from
successive slits
F sin (N∆) Numerator of interference term SIN(L$2 * E2)
G N sin (∆) Denominator of interference L$2 * SIN(E2)
term
 2
H sin(N∆) Interference term IFERROR((F2/G2)^2,1)a
sin ∆
    2 
I sin δ 2 sin(N∆) N slit diffraction pattern J$2 * D2 * H2 * (K$2^2)
I0 δ sin ∆

J2 I0 Intensity 10
J4 θi Starting angle Say (−90°)
K2 N Number of slits 1, 2, 3...100
K4 Θf Final angle Say (90°)
L2 λ Wavelength 5.00  ×  10−5 (cm)
L4 Number of step Steps between θi to θf 1000
M2 A Slit width 0.002 (cm)
M4 Step height Increment in θ at each step (K$4  −  J$4)/L$4
N2 b Inter slit spacing 0.008 (cm)
a
 sin δ 
IFERROR function returns a custom result when a formula for δ when δ  =  0 generates an error. In such case it returns
the value equal to 1 for the formula.

September 2018 2 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010

 Simulating Fraunhofer diffraction of waves using microsoft excel spreadsheet
and diffraction [8], relative kinematics [9] and
Fourier analysis [10, 11] etc.
This paper presents a systematic way to teach
details of Fraunhofer diffraction by program-
ming an Excel spreadsheet. The visualization
of concepts of diffraction through an Excel pro-
gram goes a long way in removing the traditional
teaching and learning difficulties. The paper com-
prises a summary of the theory of diffraction and
the details of Excel commands used to simulate
phenom­enon of diffraction. The discussion there-
after includes the explanation of diffraction based
on the graphical results.
2.  Theory of diffraction
The phenomenon of diffraction is clear evidence
of the wave nature of light. It occurs when waves
pass through an aperture with a width comparable
to that of the wavelength of light. The theory of
diffraction with reference to near field and far
field irradiance of the aperture i.e. Fresnel and
Fraunhofer diffraction, respectively, has already
been developed and worked upon well [12]. The
studies have shown that prominent visual effects
of diffraction in the form of Fraunhofer patterns
are obtained only in case of far field irradiance of
the aperture with light in comparison to the near
field where the irradiance pattern is simple and
does not reveal much. So, in order to provide bet-
ter insight into the phenomenon and reinforce the
physical concept behind the theory of Fraunhofer
diffraction we have exploited Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets for better learning outcomes for
students.
2.1.  Fraunhofer diffraction at N slits
The general equation for intensity distribution in
case of Fraunhofer diffraction at N parallel slits
each of width a and slit separation b, for incident
wavelength λ, is given by [13]

 2   2 
sin δ sin (N∆)
I(θ) = I0
(1) ,
δ sin ∆
where θ is the diffraction angle, I0 is the inten-
sity in the θ = 0◦ direction, δ = (πa sin θ)/λ
is half of the phase difference between the first
and last wave from the two ends of a single slit.
∆ = [π(a + b) sin θ]/λ is the half of the phase
September 2018
I0 N λ (cm) a (cm) b (cm)
10 1 5.00 × 10–5 0.002 0.008
8
I0
4
0
–6 –4 –2 0 2 4 6
θ (degree)
Figure 2.  Single slit diffraction pattern.
difference between the resultant waves from suc-
cessive slits.
The first term in square brackets is referred to
as the ‘diffraction term’ which gives the intensity
distribution produced by a single slit, and the sec-
ond term in square brackets is referred to as the
‘interference term’ which represents the interfer-
ence produced by N point sources. However, the
diffraction modulates the interference effects due
to which the maxima and minimas of the interfer-
ence pattern will be contained within the diffrac-
tion envelop. This occurs because the diffraction
fringes have greater spread than the interference
fringes [12].
Analysis of equation  (1) shows that as θ
changes, δ, Δ and I also changes. Thus, the inten-
sity varies as the diffraction angle ‘θ’ changes.
The principal characteristics of the resultant pat-
tern are given as follows.
(i) 
According to equation  (1) the intensity
in the resultant diffraction pattern will be
maximum at points where sin (N∆)/sin ∆
is maximum. This condition is satis-
fied when sin ∆ approaches zero. Hence
∆ = mπ where m  =  0, ±1, ±2,… As
∆ = [π(a + b) sin θ]/λ  , the condition of
maximum intensity becomes
(a + b) sin θ = mλ.
(2)
This equation  gives the various directions
corresponding to m  =  0, ±1, ±2,… in
which the resultant intensity is maximum
i.e. I = I0 N 2. As the value of N is very large
3 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010
I Singh et al

Figure 3.  Screenshot of Excel spreadsheet programmed for double slit diffraction.

I0 N λ (cm) a (cm) b (cm)

10 2 5.00 × 10–5 0.002 0.008
0.8 0.8 I0 N λ (cm) a (cm) b (cm)
[(sinN∆)/(Nsin∆)]2

10 2 5.00 × 10–5 0.002 0.008

((sinδ)/δ)2

0.4 0.4

0.0
0.0
–10 –5 0 5 10
–15 –10 –5 0 5 10 15
∆
δ
Figure 5.  Plot of interference term of equation (1) for
N  =  2.
Figure 4.  Plot of diffraction term of equation (1) for
N  =  2.

thus we get very intense maxima’s called I0 N λ (cm) a (cm) b (cm)

40
10 2 5.00 × 10–5 0.002 0.008
principal maxima [12–14].
The intensity minima’s in the N slit diffrac-
tion pattern according to equation  (1) are
20
located at points where sin(N∆) = 0. This
I0

condition is satisfied for

(3)
N∆ = nπ 0

where ‘n’ is any integer excluding 0, N, –4 0 4

2N,.... θ (degree)
Hence the condition for secondary minima
becomes Figure 6.  Double slit diffraction pattern.

September 2018 4 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010

 Simulating Fraunhofer diffraction of waves using microsoft excel spreadsheet

Figure 7.  Screenshot of the Excel spreadsheet programmed for N  =  3 slits diffraction.

λ 2λ (N − 1)λ
(4)
(a + b) sin θ = ± , ± , ... ± . I0 N λ (cm) a (cm) b (cm)
N N N
80 10 3 5.00 × 10–5 0.002 0.008
(ii) The condition for first secondary minimum
after the pth principal maxima is [12]
I0

40
(a + b) sin(θp + dθ) = pλ + λ/N,
(5)

where p  =  0, ±1, ±2, ±3 and these minima

occurs on both sides of the principal maxima. 0
There will be N  −  1 secondary minima
between two successive maxima [12]. –4 –2 0 2 4
(iii) 
Between adjacent principal maxima, there θ (degree)
occurs N  −  2 weak secondary maxima.
Figure 8.  Triple slit diffraction pattern.

3.  Results and discussion 2  

sin δ
Fraunhofer diffraction can be studied by program- I(θ) = I0
(6) .
δ
ming an Excel spreadsheet. The screenshot of the
spreadsheet used to run the program for N  =  1 is The corresponding data of θ (column A) versus I
shown in figure 1. The organization of the spread- (column I) obtained in the spreadsheet is plotted in
sheet to simulate diffraction equation (1) is struc- figure 2. The plot shows the variation in intensity as
tured in table 1. a function of diffraction angle θ in case of single slit.
For N  =  2, equation (1) reduces to the dou-
3.1.  Effect of N (number of slits) ble-slit pattern
 2  
For N  =  1, equation (1) reduces to single slit dif- sin δ 
2
(7) I(θ) = I0 (2 cos ∆) .
fraction pattern δ

September 2018 5 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010

I Singh et al
Figure 9.  Screenshot of the Excel spreadsheet programmed for N  =  100 slits diffraction.
The screenshot of the Excel spreadsheet for the
N  =  2 is shown in figure 3. The individual effect
of δ and Δ on I(θ) is shown in figures  4 and 5,
respectively. The complete diffraction pattern can
be obtained by combining the results of diffrac-
tion factor and the interference factor. The curve
obtained represents the diffraction pattern of the
double slit is shown in figure 6.
Figure 7 shows the simulated data in the
spreadsheet for N  =  3. The corresponding dif-
fraction pattern for the same is shown in fig-
ure  8. The pattern shows the presence of N  −  1
secondary minima and N  −  2 secondary maxima
between two adjacent principle maxima.
Figure 9 shows the screenshot of the Excel
spreadsheet for N  =  100. The variation in diffrac-
tion pattern with the increase in number of slits
is shown in figure 10. The pattern reveals that the
principal maxima becomes sharper and narrower
with a change in number of slits from 5 to 100.
It is worth noting that the secondary maxima are
no longer visible due to the significant reduction
in intensity.
3.2.  Effect of wavelength
Figure 11 shows the effect of the decrease of
wavelength on the double slit diffraction pattern.
The decrease in wavelength narrows down the
September 2018
diffraction envelope while the number of visible
maxima and minima remains the same.
3.3.  Effect of slit width
Figure 12 shows the effect of variation in slit
width on the diffraction pattern obtained for
N  =  5. It is observed that a decrease in slit width
broadens the diffraction envelope.
3.4.  Effect of variation in diffraction angle
Figure 13 shows the effect of variation in dif-
fraction angle on diffraction pattern obtained for
N  =  10. The figure shows the diffraction pattern
for slit width (0.000 002 cm) and slit spacing
(0.000008 cm). It is observed that a decrease in
slit width broadens the diffraction envelope com-
pared to one obtained in figure 10 for broader slit
width/spacing. So, in order to view the complete
fringe pattern we have to increase the range of
diffraction angle. Figure 13(a) shows the typical
diffraction pattern for N  =  10 in diffraction angle
range  −5°–5°. With further increase in diffraction
angle range to  −50°–50° and  −90°–90°, one can
locate maximum number of fringes as observed
in figures  13(b) and (c), respectively. Keeping
all the other parameters fixed if we increase only
6 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010
 Simulating Fraunhofer diffraction of waves using microsoft excel spreadsheet

–4 –2 0 2 4

243 N=5
I0 λ (cm) a (cm) b (cm)
10 5.00 × 10–5 0.002 0.008
162

81

990 N = 10

660

330
Ι (intensity)

24 300 N = 50

16 200

8100

99 000 N = 100

66 000

33 000

–4 –2 0 2 4
θ (degree)

Figure 10.  Effect of number of slits (N) slits on the diffraction pattern.

September 2018 7 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010

I Singh et al

40 I0 N a (cm) b (cm)
10 2 0.002 0.008

20 λ = 8 × 10–5 cm

40 λ = 4 × 10–5 cm

20
I0

40 λ = 2 × 10–5 cm

20

–4 –2 0 2 4
θ (degree)

Figure 11.  Effect of the wavelength on the double slit diffraction pattern.

September 2018 8 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010

 Simulating Fraunhofer diffraction of waves using microsoft excel spreadsheet

–6 –4 –2 0 2 4 6

243 a = 0.002 cm I0 N λ (cm) b (cm)

10 5 5.00 × 10–5 0.008
162

81

243
a = 0.0008 cm

162

81
Ι (intensity)

243 a = 0.0005 cm

162

81

243 a = 0.0002 cm

162

81

–6 –4 –2 0 2 4 6
θ (degree)

Figure 12.  Effect of slit width on N  =  5 slit diffraction pattern.

September 2018 9 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010

I Singh et al

–120 –80 –40 0 40 80 120

(a)
990

660 I0 N λ (cm) a (cm) b (cm)

10 10 5.00 × 10–5 2 × 10–5 8 × 10–5
330 θi θf No. of steps Step height
–5 5 1000 0.01
0

990 (b)

660 θi θf N
–50 50 10
330
Ι (intensity)

990
(c)
660
θi θf N
330 –90 90 10

9.90 × 106
(d)

6.60 × 106
θi θf N

3.30 × 106 –90 90 1000

0.00

–120 –80 –40 0 40 80 120

θ (degree)

Figure 13.  Effect of diffraction angle on the fringe pattern.

the number of slits N  =  1000 we get very sharp programming language. The analysis made in this
fringes in the field of view. This all suggests that study helps analyze the effects of various param­
for very small slit width/spacing we have a large eters such as number of slits, slit width, wavelength
angle diffraction pattern. and diffraction angle on the diffraction pattern.

Acknowledgment
4. Conclusions
The authors would like to acknowledge the assis-
Learning diffraction of waves using MS Office tance of Principal Khalsa College Amritsar, India
Excel spreadsheets is one of most effective ways for their encouragement and continuous support.
to analyze the concept of diffraction. The N slit
diffraction can be easily simulated and presented
in the Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet can be ORCID iDs
programmed without knowledge of any particular I Singh https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3267-8102

September 2018 10 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010

 Simulating Fraunhofer diffraction of waves using microsoft excel spreadsheet
Received 15 May 2018, in final form 6 June 2018
Accepted for publication 19 June 2018
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/aacd82
References
[1] Field R 1995 A spreadsheet simulation for a
Young’s double slits experiment Phys. Educ.
30 230
[2] Baker J and Sugden S J 2007 Spreadsheets in
education—the first 25 years, Spreadsheets
Educ. (eJSiE) 1 18–43
[3] Pratt G 2004 An introduction to spreadsheets in
science Science Teachers Workshop (Sydney:
The University of Sydney) pp 1–7
[4] Chandra P 2008 Preparing content-rich learning
environments with VPython and Excel,
controlled by visual basic for applications
Phys. Educ. 43 88–94
[5] Tambade P S 2011 Trajectory of charged particle
in combined electric and magnetic fields using
interactive spreadsheets Eur. J. Phys. Educ.
2 49–59
[6] Oliveira M C and Nápoles S 2010 Using a
spreadsheet to study the oscillatory movement
of a mass-spring system Spreadsheets Educ.
(eJSiE) 3 2
 [7] Zaheer U, Muhammad A and Danish A K 2017
Teaching physics using Microsoft Excel
Phys. Educ. 52 053001
 [8] Robinson G and Jovanoski Z 2011 The use of
Microsoft Excel to illustrate wave motion and
fraunhofer diffraction in first year physics
courses Spreadsheets Educ. (eJSiE) 4 5
 [9] Grigore I, Mironi C and Barna E S 2015 Using
Microsoft Excel in teaching and learning
relativistic kinematics Rom. Rep. Phys.
67 716–32
[10] Oliveira M, Nápoles S and Oliveira S 2012
Fourier analysis: graphical animation and
analysis of experimental data with Excel
Spreadsheets Educ. (eJSiE) 5 2
[11] Singh I and Kaur B 2018 Teaching graphical
simulations of Fourier series expansion of
some periodic waves using spreadsheets
Phys. Educ. 53  035031
[12] Sharma V K, Bhatia T S and Kakkar S K 2007
Optics and Lasers (Jalandhar: S Vikas and
Co.) p 289
September 2018
[13] Khandelwal D P 2003 Optics and Atomic
Physics (Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House) p 193
[14] Subrahmanyam N B L and Avadhanulu M N
2008 A Text Book of Optics (New Delhi: S
Chand & Company
Pvt. Ltd.)
Iqbal Singh received his bachelor and
master’s degree from Panjab University
Chandigarh, India in 2001 and in 2003,
respectively. He joined Khalsa College
Amritsar as an Assistant Professor in
2004. He resumed his study in Guru
Nanak Dev University Amritsar India
and received PhD degree in March
2013. He has 18 publications in
international and national Journals, and
conference proceedings. His research
interests are in metal oxide based gas sensors, photosensors
and development of smart tools to teach physics concepts etc.
Kamalpreet Khun Khun received her
bachelors and master’s degree in physics
from Guru Nanak Dev University
Amritsar in 1999 and 2001, respectively.
She pursued her Ph.D. in the field of
material science and received the degree
in April 2013. Presently she is working
as an Assistant Professor in Physics at Khalsa College Amritsar.
Her research interests include the development of metal oxide
based gas sensors, simple and effective teaching methods for
concept development especially in the fields of optics. She has
eight publications in international and national Journals to her
credit.
Bikramjeet Kaur received his bachelor
degree from Punjabi University Patiala,
India in 2011 and master’s degree in
Mathematics from Thapar University
Patiala in 2013. She joined as a research
fellow at the School of Mathematics,
Thapar University Patiala in 2013 and
pursuing her Ph.D. on nonlinear partial
differential equations. She has 4 publications in the
international journals of repute. Her research interests are in
nonlinear partial differential equations, solitons etc.
11 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 055010