Shri Gulab Rai Montessori Senior

Secondary School

Physics
Project Work
Session 2024-25

“Diffraction of Light”

Submitted By Submitted To
Navya Gangwar Mrs. Mani Sahni
XI-A1 PGT Chemistry
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my immense gratitude to
my chemistry teacher Mrs. MANI SAHNI, for the
help and guidance she provided for completing the
investigatory project. I also thank my parents who
gave their ideas and inputs in making this project.
Most of all I thank our school management, for
providing us the facilities and opportunity to do
this project. Lastly, I would like to thank my
schoolmates who have rendered and done this
project along with me. Their support made this
project fruitful.
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Navya Gangwar of Class

XII-A1 has proficiently completed the project-
work undertaken on the topic “Diffraction of
Light” during the academic session 2024-25. She
has prepared the project under my guidance and as
per the norms and guidelines prescribed by the
Central board of secondary Education (CBSE).

PGT Chemistry Principal

Mrs. Mani Sahni Mr. RS Rawat

INDEX
• Introduction
• Applications
• Practical
o Aim
o Apparatus Required
o Procedure
o Observation
o Result
o Precautions
• Bibliography
 INTRODUCTION
What is Diffraction?
• “Diffraction is a 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.”
• In classical physics, the diffraction
phenomenon is described as the interference of
waves according to the Huygens–Fresnel
principle. These characteristic behaviours are
exhibited when a wave encounters an obstacle
or a slit that is comparable in size to its
wavelength.
• Diffraction occurs with all waves, including
sound waves, water waves, and
electromagnetic waves such as visible light,
rays and radio waves.
• If we look clearly at the shadow cast by an
opaque object, close to the region of
 geometrical shadow, there are alternate dark
and bright regions, just like in interference.
• This is just due to the phenomenon of the
diffraction, which is a general characteristic
exhibited by all types of the waves.
When Does Diffraction Occurs?
• Diffraction occurs whenever propagating
waves encounter changes, its effects are
generally most pronounced for waves whose
wavelength is roughly comparable to the
dimensions of the diffracting object or slit.
• This is due to the addition, or interference, of
different parts of a wave that travel to the
observer by different paths, where different
path lengths result in different phases.
Types of Diffraction
a) Single-slit diffraction
Single slit diffraction occurs when light passes
through a narrow slit and spreads out, forming a
pattern of bright and dark regions on a screen. This
phenomenon demonstrates the wave nature of light
and is a key topic in optics.
When monochromatic light (light of a single
wavelength) passes through a single slit, it
produces a central bright fringe (maximum) on a
screen, flanked by a series of dark and bright
fringes (minima and maxima).
The positions of the dark fringes are given by the
formula:
𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝑚𝜆
The central bright fringe is the widest and most
intense. The width of the central maximum is
twice the distance between the first-order minima
on either side.
b) Double Slit Diffraction
Double slit diffraction occurs when light passes
through two closely spaced slits and creates an
interference pattern of bright and dark fringes on a
screen. This phenomenon demonstrates the wave
nature of light and the principle of superposition.
When monochromatic light passes through the
double slits, it produces a series of bright and dark
fringes on a screen. The bright fringes (maxima)
occur where the light waves from the two slits
constructively interfere, and the dark fringes
(minima) occur where the waves destructively
interfere.

APPLICATIONS

The effects of diffraction are often seen in

everyday life.
• The closely spaced tracks on a CD or
DVD act as a diffraction grating to form the
familiar rainbow pattern seen when looking at
a disc.
• The setting sun appears to be red because of
the diffraction of light from the dust particle in
the atmosphere.
• DJ/ Party Lights, Diffraction glasses, for
Fireworks, Light shows, 3d movies, Lasers are
based on diffraction.
• Twinkling stars are another example of
diffraction of light.
• When light passes through solid objects like
diamonds, it diffracts giving diffraction
patterns which depend upon the type, nature
and shape of the material.
 EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS
OF DIFFRACTION

Aim:
Experiment to study the phenomena of single slit
diffraction.

Apparatus Required:
Two Razor Blade, One glass electric Bulb, Filter,
Black Paper.

Procedure:
• Hold the two blades so that the edges are
parallel and have a narrow slit in between.
This can be done easily with thumb and
forefingers as shown in figure, and cover them
with black paper.
• Keep the slit parallel to the filament of the
bulb which plays the role of first slit, right in
front of eye.
 • Adjust the width of the slit and the parallelism
of the edges the pattern the pattern of light and
dark bands is visible.
• As the position of the bands
(except the central one) depends on the
wavelength, they will show some colours.
• Use a filter for red and blue to make fringes
clearer, Compare the fringes.

Observations:
Since the position of all the bands depends on
wavelength so they will show some colour. More
the wavelength, More they will diffract.

Result:
Fringes are wider for red compared to blue.

Precaution:
Protect your eyes by using spectacles while
performing the experiment. Don’t use sunlight
instead of the bulb as sun also produces infrared
rays harmful to our eyes.
*By repeating the above experiment with aluminium foil we can
easily show double slit diffraction.*
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• www.google.com
• www.wikipedia.com
• www.youtube.com
• NCERT Part II Class XII