“DIFFRACTION”

Project report submitted to Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary

School, Coimbatore.

042 PHYSICS

CLASS : XII

Submitted By
BALAMURUGAN A
(Reg No )

MAHARISHI VIDYA MANDIR SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

(Managed by Ramajayam Educational Trust)
Affiliated to CBSE, New Delhi, Affiliation No.1930386
559, Ramani’s Mayuri,
Chinnavedampatti, Coimbatore-641049
2024-2025
 DECLARATION

I, BALAMURUGAN A, Second year Senior Secondary Student in Science, of

Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Coimbatore, hereby declare that
the project report entitled “DIFFRACTION” submitted to Maharishi Vidya Mandir
Senior Secondary School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of
AISSCE Certificate Under the guidance of Mr. M.PURUSHOTHAM, M.Sc.(Physics),
PGT Physics, Department of Science, Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary
School, Coimbatore, during the period of 2024 -2025 is a bonafide work done by me.

Place: Coimbatore Name : BALAMURUGAN A

Date: Signature :
 Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Coimbatore.

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project work entitled “DIFFRACTION” submitted in

partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of AISSCE Certificate is a bonafide
work submitted by BALAMURUGAN A, with Reg.No…….………. of Class XII
Science during the year 2024 -2025.

Place: Coimbatore
Date: Project Guide

Internal Examiner

Principal:

(Office Seal) External Examiner

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I thank almighty, without whose grace, my work would not have been completed.

I express my sincere gratitude to The Principal, Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior

Secondary School, Coimbatore for extending her support in completing this project.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. M. PURUSHOTHAM, M.Sc.

(Physics), PGT Physics, Department of Science for his valuable guidance and kind
advice, encouragement and creative suggestion at every stage of this project work,
without his advice this project would have been incomplete.

I also extend my sincere thanks to all faculty members of the department for their
appropriate suggestions and sustained cooperation.

I acknowledge a deep sense of gratitude to my respondents, librarians, well-wishers

and friends for their earnest support in all aspects.

Eventually, I express my heartfelt thanks to my beloved parents for their blessings and
continued support & encouragement in fulfilling this project.

Place: Coimbatore Name : BALAMURUGAN A

Date: Signature:
 CONTENTS

Sl. No LIST OF CONTENTS PG. NO.

1 INTRODUCTION TO DIFFRACTION 1

2 UNDERSTANDING DIFFRACTION 4

3 EXPERIMENT ANALYSIS OF DIFFRACTION 14

4 CONCLUSION 18

5 BIBLIOGRAPHY 19
 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION TO DIFFRACTION

A. 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.”

Diffraction refers to various phenomena that occur when a wave encounters an obstacle

or a slit. It is defined as the bending of light around the corners of an obstacle or aperture

into the region of geometrical shadow of the obstacle.

In classical physics, the diffraction phenomenon is described as the interference of waves

according to the Huygens–Fresnel principle. These characteristic behaviors 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,

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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.

Since wavelength of light is much smaller than the dimensions of most of the obstacles,

we do not generally encounter the effects of diffraction of light in the everyday life

observations. However the finite resolution of our eye or of the optical fiber instruments

such as telescopes or microscopes is limited due to the phenomenon of diffraction

Since physical objects have wave-like properties, diffraction also occurs with matter and

can be studied according to the principles of quantum mechanics. Italian scientist

Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word "diffraction" and was the first to record

accurate observations of the phenomenon in 1660.

B. History of Diffraction

The effects of diffraction of light were first carefully observed and characterized by

Francesco Maria Grimaldi, who also coined the term diffraction, from the Latin

diffringere, 'to break into pieces', referring to light breaking up into different directions.

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Isaac Newton studied these effects and attributed them to inflexion of light rays. Thomas

Young performed an experiment in 1803 demonstrating interference from two closely

spaced slits. Explaining his results by interference of the waves emanating from the two

Different slits, he deduced that light must propagate as waves.

C. 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. If the obstructing object provides multiple,

closely spaced openings, a complex pattern of varying intensity can result.

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. The

formalism of diffraction can also describe the way in which waves of finite extent

propagate in free space.

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 CHAPTER-2

UNDERSTANDING DIFFRACTION

A. Mechanism

In traditional classical physics diffraction

arises because of the way in which waves

propagate; this is described by the

Huygens–Fresnel principle and the

principle of superposition of waves. The

propagation of a wave can be

visualized by considering every particle of the transmitted medium on a wave front as a

point source for a secondary spherical wave. The wave displacement at any subsequent

point is the sum of these secondary waves. When waves are added together, their sum is

determined by the relative phases as well as the amplitudes of the individual waves so

that the summed amplitude of the waves can have any value between zero and the sum of

the individual amplitudes. Hence, diffraction patterns usually have a series of maxima

and minima.

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B. Types of Diffraction

a) Single-slit diffraction

A long slit of infinitesimal width which is illuminated by light diffracts the light into a

series of circular waves and the wave front which emerges from the slit is a cylindrical

wave of uniform intensity.

A slit which is wider than a wavelength

produces interference effects in the space

downstream of the slit. These can be

explained by assuming that the slit behaves

as though it has a large number of point

sources spaced evenly across the width of

the slit. The analysis of this system is

simplified if we

consider light of a single wavelength. If the incident light is coherent, these sources all

have the same phase.

Light incident at a given point in the space downstream of the slit is made up of

contributions from each of these point sources and if the relative phases of these

contributions vary by 2π or more, we may expect to find minima and maxima in the

diffracted light. Such phase differences are caused by differences in the path lengths over

which contributing rays reach the point from the slit.

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When the double slit in young’s double slit

experiment is replaced by a single narrow slit

illuminated by a monochromatic source, a broad

pattern with a central bright region is seen. On

both sides there are alternate bright and dark

fringes and regions, the intensity becoming

weaker away from the center.

We can find the angle at which a first minimum is obtained in the diffracted light by the

following reasoning. The light from a source located at the top edge of the slit interferes

destructively with a source located at the middle of the slit, when the path difference

between them is equal to λ/2.

Similarly, the source just below the top of the slit will interfere destructively with the

source located just below the middle of the slit at the same angle. Along the entire height

of the slit, the condition for destructive interference for the entire slit is the same as the

condition for destructive interference between two narrow slits a distance apart that is

half the width of the slit.

If light consisted strictly of ordinary or classical particle, and these particles were fired in

a straight line through a slit and allowed to strike a screen on the other side we would

expect to see a pattern corresponding to the size and shape of the slit. However, when the

single slit experiment is actually performed the pattern on the screen is a diffraction

pattern in which the light is spread out.

The smaller the slit, the greater the angle of the spread.

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b) Double Slit Diffraction

If light consisted of classical particles and we

illuminated two parallel slits, the expected pattern

on screen simply be the sum of the two single slit

patterns. In reality however, the pattern changes to

one with a series of light and dark bands.

When this phenomenon was studied, it indicated that light consists of waves as

distribution of brightness can be explained by the alternately constructive and destructive

interference of wave fronts.

The modern double - slit experiment is a

demonstration that light and matter can display

characteristics of both classically defined waves

and particles. A simpler form of the double-slit

experiment was performed originally by Thomas

Young in 1801. He believed it demonstrated that

the wave theory of light was correct, the

experiment in which a wave is split into two

separate waves that later combine into a single

wave. Changes in the path lengths of both waves

result in a phase shift, creating an interference

pattern.

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In the experiment, a coherent light source, such as a laser beam, illuminates a plate with

two parallel slits, and the light passing through the slits is observed on a screen behind the

plate. The wave nature of light causes the

light waves passing through the two slits to

interfere, producing bright and dark bands

on the screen. However, the light is always

found to be absorbed at the screen at

discrete points, as individual particles (not

waves), the interference pattern appearing

via the varying density of these particle hits

on the screen Other entities, such as

electrons, are found to exhibit the same

behavior when fired towards a double slit.

The experiment can be done with

entities much larger than electrons and

photons, although it

becomesmore difficult as size increases.

The largest entities for which the

double-slit experiment

has been performed were molecules that

each comprises 810 atoms, whose total

mass was over 10,000 atomic mass

units.

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The double slit experiment for its clarity in

expressing the results of quantum mechanics.

Because it demonstrates the fundamental

limitation of the ability of the observer to

predict experimental results, Richard Feynman

called it "a phenomenon which is

impossible to explain.

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c) Diffraction Events

The amount of bending which occurs is based on the wavelength of the light or the

objects size in relation to light's wavelength. In addition to bending, light is sometimes

broken into its basic components. These components are the colors of the rainbow red,

orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (ROYGBIV).Red light has the longest

wavelength, while violet has the shortest. This is why red is typically the prominent color

in a rainbow and appears to be wider than violet light.

Full lunar eclipses permit light waves to bend

around the edges of the moon to let the side

facing earth remain visible, albeit an

orangebrown color instead of the white color.

This is a due to the distance of the moon from

earth, allowing the moon to completely cover

the sun.

d) Diffraction and Interference

Diffraction is the bending of waves around an obstacle, while Interference is the meeting

of two waves during the diffraction process and usually happens when there are two or

more slits. Interference of the light waves with each other causes the diffracted light to

become brighter or dimmer during the diffraction process because of what we call

destructive and constructive interference. Also in diffraction and interference, light

energy is redistributed. If it reduces in one region, producing a dark fringe, it increases in

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another region producing a bright fringe. Hence there is no gain or loss of energy which

is consistent with the principle of conservation of Energy.

e) Examples
and
Applications of Diffraction

The effects of diffraction are often seen in

everyday life.

i. 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.

ii. This principle can be extended to engineer a grating with a structure such that

it will produce any

diffraction pattern

desired;

the hologram on a book is an example.

iii. Iridescent clouds are a diffraction

phenomenon caused by small water

droplets or small ice crystals individually

scattering light.

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iv. The setting sun appears to be red

because of the diffraction of light from

the dust particle in the atmosphere.

v. DJ/ Party Lights, Diffraction glasses, for

Fireworks, Light shows, 3d movies,

Lasers are based on diffraction.

vi. Twinkling stars are another example of

diffraction of light. As light from stars

pass through the earth's atmosphere

which is laden with water vapor, the

light bends around the water droplets

causing the twinkling effect. The light

waves become brighter or dimmer and

the colors constantly change due to

constructive and destructive

interference.

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vii. When light passes through solid

objects like diamonds, it diffracts

giving diffraction patterns which

depend upon the type, nature and

shape of the material.

Diffraction in the atmosphere by small particles can cause a bright ring to be

visible around a bright light source like the sun or the moon. A shadow of a solid

object, using light from a compact source, shows small fringes near its edges. The

speckle pattern which is observed when laser light falls on an optically rough

surface is also a diffraction phenomenon

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 CHAPTER-3

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF
DIFFRACTION

1. Single Slit Diffraction

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

Requirements: Two Razor Blade, One glass electric Bulb, Filter, Black Paper

Procedure:

a) 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.

b) Keep the slit parallel to the filament

of the bulb which plays the role of
first slit, right in front of eye.

c) Adjust the width of the slit and the

parallelism of the edges the pattern
the pattern of light and dark bands is
visible.

d) As the position of the bands (except

the central one) depends on the
wavelength, they will show some
colours.

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 e) 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.

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 2. Double Slit Experiment

Aim: To observe diffraction and interference patterns produced by light passing through two slits.

Requirements: Laser pointer (monochromatic light

source), Double slit or a piece of opaque material with
two closely spaced slits, White screen or wall, Ruler or
measuring tape.

Procedure:

a) Set up the light source: Place the laser pointer so

that it shines directly onto the double slit. Make
sure the laser is pointed at the slits, which should
be at a small distance from each other.

b) Position the screen: Place a white screen or set a

blank wall at a distance (about 1 meter or more)
from the slits to observe the diffraction pattern.

c) Observe the pattern: When the laser light passes

through the slits, it will produce alternating bright
and dark fringes on the screen due to interference.
The bright fringes are where the light waves
constructively interfere, and the dark fringes are
where they destructively interfere.

d) Measure the spacing: Use a ruler to measure the

distance between adjacent bright or dark fringes on
the screen.

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Result:

You’ll observe a series of light and dark bands.

By adjusting the slit separation or the distance
to the screen, you can see how these changes
affect the fringe spacing

Conclusion:

This quick experiment demonstrates

demonstrates the wave nature of light through
diffraction and interference, providing a direct
observation of the phenomenon

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 CHAPTER -4

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the study of diffraction has provided valuable insights into the wave

nature of light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. Through the analysis of

diffraction patterns, we have deepened our understanding of how waves interact

with obstacles and apertures, which has significant implications in various fields,

from optics to materials science. The experiments conducted have demonstrated the

principles of diffraction and its dependence on wavelength, aperture size, and the

geometry of the setup. These findings not only validate fundamental concepts in

wave theory but also pave the way for further exploration into advanced

applications, such as diffraction in modern technologies like X-ray crystallography,

optical instruments, and communication systems. Thus, diffraction remains a key

phenomenon in both theoretical and applied physics.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

NCERT Part II Class XII

SL ARORA Class XII Part II

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction

https://byjus.com/physics/single-slit-diffraction/

https://byjus.com/jee/youngs-double-slit-experiment/

https://phys.libretexts.org/

https://www.britannica.com/

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