FACULTY OF SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS, STATISTICS AND

MATHEMATICS

Mechanics and Waves for Biosciences

Code 1000023-1
Sebastián Echeverri Flores, Edwar Méndez Novoa, Luis Moreno Pérez

DOUBLE SLIT EXPERIMENT OF YOUNG

SUMMARY Diffraction is the phenomenon that occurs

when the waves (mechanical, electromagnetic or
To determine the nature of light, and to know the associated with particles) reach an obstacle or
method in which it transports energy, since it opening of dimensions comparable to its own
it can basically only be transported by a wavelength, which manifests in the form of
arbitrary movement of particles, or by perturbations in the propagation of the wave, good
wave transmission in which nothing is transported sea surrounding the obstacle, either producing
if it is not a signal in the medium, it has been carried out
a divergence from the opening.
this experiment, resembling the one carried out by
Thomas Young in 1801, which consisted of making For Newton, light is composed of particles
pass a beam of light through a pair of lines materials or corpuscles, which move to
very thin made in an opaque body short very high speeds that can traverse media
distance between them, and observe the behavior of transparent and can be reflected by
the light after passing through these lines, the opaque materials, this theory is limited to explaining
The objective of this report is to analyze the results. concepts of rectilinear propagation, reflection
obtained from the behavior of light under these refraction, falling short to explain the
conditions and empirically verify the current Newton's rings nor the interference phenomena
theory of the nature of light and its the diffraction.
behavior.
In 1801, Young's experiment was conducted.
also known as the double experiment
gap, was made in an attempt to discern about
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
the particle or wave nature of light.
Interference is the phenomenon produced by the Young observed a pattern of interferences in the
superposition of two or more waves, which can light coming from a distant source when diffracted
in the passage through two grids, a result that contributed
to meet in the same place
to the theory of the wave nature of light.
light rays that come from the same
source, but they have followed different paths Subsequently, the experience has been considered
until reaching their goal. fundamental when demonstrating duality
wave particle, a characteristic of mechanics
quantum. The experiment can be conducted with It should be noted that the conditions are difficult
electrons, atoms or neutrons, producing to guarantee for what mistakes could be made
interference patterns similar to those obtained that can be reflected in the final values.
when done with light, showing, therefore, the
dual wave-particle behavior of the On the screen after the diffraction of the slit there
matter. form the interference pattern with points
luminosity dependent on the slit used, they
With this experiment, Young demonstrated that light I place on that screen a graph paper of
it was a wave or at least it behaved and had the way the imaginary line that results coincides
this wave property, later on León with some of the lines of the graph paper.
Foucault in the mid-19th century found that the
the speed of light in water is lower than in Subsequently, the paper is fixed on the screen and it
air, which contradicts Newton's hypotheses. proceed to measure the distance between the bright point
Later Maxwell (1831 - 1879), inspired by central and each minimum of intensity, can be
Faraday's work theorized that light is a indicate that it is indifferent which side it is taken on
high frequency electromagnetic wave. Without the measures because the points must be
embargo even further ahead new ones were found symmetrically arranged on either side of the
properties of light that could not be explained center point, as long as the screen is flat and
assuming this were a wave, like by that is situated parallel to the slit and
example the photoelectric effect, which consists of the perpendicular to the ray.
electron emission from the surfaces of solids
and liquids when they are illuminated, then it was reached
to a very complicated point, since there had been
RESULTS
phenomena that could only be explained
determining light as a wave and others Data
considering it a particle movement.
Type of Rendija Double Quadruple
Therefore, we currently have the theories slit simple Notch crack
Planck and De Broglie in which it is established that the Distance 2.84 m 2.84 m 2.84 m
since the
energy changes between matter and light, only laser up to
they are possible in finite amounts (how many), the screen
light atoms that we currently call Distance 0.178 m 0.178 m 0.178 m
since the
photons and the other establishes the corpuscular nature laser up to
of light in its interaction with matter in its the crack
Distance 2,662 m 2,662 m 2,662 m
emission and its absorption and nature
since the
electromagnetic in its propagation. slit
until the
screen (D)
Length of 700 nm 700 nm 700 nm
wave del
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD laser

In the experiment, a beam of light is directed at

Table 1. This table represents the distance from the
laser beam on a screen through a slit
slit to the screen (D) and other properties
simple, double, and quadruple width a. it is measured the
as the wavelength of the laser in relation to the
distance D between the screen and the slit that should
to position oneself parallel and perpendicular to the ray.
different types of slits (single, double and minimums of the maximum in comparison with the
quadruple refraction of the single slit it seems to be
closer, just like in the quadruple slit in the
Simple slit Four slit same projection distances of the beam and occupying
the same area of refraction on the screen is
N Ym (cm) n Ym (cm)
observe greater number of points (minimums), the
0 0,0 0 0,0
which are related to the maximum and
1 3.1 1 1,1
compared to the other slits in a way
2 4.3 2 1.3
closer, here becoming evident the
3 1.6
3 5.5 wave nature of light due to the
4 1.9
properties of interference and diffraction,
Table 2 5 2.1
sustaining the description of light as a
6 2,3
wave property.
7 2.6
8 2.9
Double crack
9 3.2 35
N Ym (cm) 10 3.5 y = 1.77x + 0.57
30
0 0,0 11 3.8 R² = 0.9353
1 0.9 12 4.1 25
2 1.7 13 4.3 Ym (cm) simple
20
3 2.5 14 4.6
4 3,3 15 4.9 15 y = 0.82x + 0.04 Ym (cm) double
5 4.1 R² = 0.9994
16 5.1 10
Table 3 y = 0.2848x + 0.6123 Ym (cm)
17 5.3 5 R² = 0.9871 quadruple
0
Table 4
0 10 20
These tables show the distances we found. n
in the different types of slits from the maximum
towards the other points, making the measurement
Graph N. 1. Linear dependence obtained for the
either of the extremes due to determination
different slits used in the experiment
that they are not different. Ym is the distance that
(simple, double, and quadruple), the graphed data
there from the center according to the maximum m to the
they show the visible highs and lows
minimums and n the number of points presented in
dependent on each type of slit.
the screen by the effect of the beam (only one of the
sides). Starting from the equation

The qualitative characteristics that could be

observe in the experiment and above all of the
displayed on the screen where it was possible to see the We can clear up and replace in mm:
laser diffraction dependent on the slit was the
next in the simple slit the laser passes through
through a single slit according to the obtained data and the
pattern reflected on the screen the maximum and the
minimums in relation to the other two types of slit
(double and quadruple), are found in a way
far away. in the double slit, it was possible to observe that the
distance where the points were located
 CONCLUSIONS

This experiment has helped us understand the

duality of the nature of light by understanding that
it behaves just like a wave (of type
electromagnetic), and as a flow of matter of
linear manner.

It is striking how, with the simple method of the

observation, impressive achievements are already being made
that the experiment is relatively simple,
considering the times, but it gives a great
information about behavior type
wave motion of light.

For the assembly, as there is no laser in a

totally static position, it could have been
errors presented in the indicated measurements
previously.

The obtained frequency did not correspond to the color of

laser used during the practice, this could
should be due to some error in the measurements, since the
experiment has many variables that can
to change the results of committing some
type of error.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol III, Chapter

by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew
Sands 2002.

[2].[Link]
[Link]

Physics
Ed. Reverté. (2007)