Diffraction Pattern of a Single Slit Experiment

What is the diffraction pattern seen on the screen after a laser with wavelength 633 nm illuminates a single slit of width 0.185 mm?

A. First and second dark fringes

B. First and second minima

Answer:

The diffraction pattern seen on the screen after a laser with wavelength 633 nm illuminates a single slit of width 0.185 mm consists of first and second dark fringes.

Diffraction is the bending of waves around obstacles and the spreading of waves as they pass through an aperture. In the case of a single slit experiment, when a laser with a specific wavelength illuminates a narrow slit, the light waves spread out and form a pattern on a screen placed at a certain distance from the slit.

The dark fringes in the diffraction pattern occur due to destructive interference, where the crest of one wave aligns with the trough of another wave, resulting in cancellation of light intensity. The distance between the first and second dark fringes provides information about the wavelength of the light, the width of the slit, and the distance between the slit and the screen.

In this experiment, the distance between the first and second dark fringes is 8.25 mm, which can be used to calculate the distance between the screen and the slit. By utilizing the properties of diffraction and the given parameters, the diffraction pattern can be analyzed to understand the behavior of light waves passing through a single slit.