DELHI PUBLIC

SCHOOL ALIGARH
https
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2024-25

INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
ON-
“Phenomenon of Diffraction of Light”

FOR CBSE 2024 EXAMINATION

[AS A PART OF THE PHYSICS (042)]

Submitted To: MR. ALOK

CHATURVEDI
(Dept. Physics)

Submitted By: VEDANT MIDDHA

Class/Section: XII-A
Roll No.: __________________________
 Acknowledgement:
I VEDANT MIDDHA undertook this Project work, as the part of my XII-
Physics (042). I had tried to apply my best of knowledge and experience,
gained during the study and class work experience

I would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to my teacher

MR.ALOK CHATURVEDI, for giving valuable time and moral support to

develop this software.

I also feel indebted to my friends for the valuable suggestions during the
project work.

Name: Vedant
Middha
Class: XII-A
Roll No.: ___________

DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL

ALIGARH
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2024-25
 Certificate:
This is to certify that Vedant Middha of Class XII A has prepared the

report on the project entitled “Phenomenon of Diffraction of Light”,

in partial fulfillment of CBSE’s

AISSCE Examination 2024 and has been carried out under my direct

supervision and guidance. This report or a similar report on the topic has

not been submitted for any other examination and does not form a part of

any other course undergone by the candidate.

--------------- --------------- ---------------

Mr. Alok Chaturvedi Examiner Mrs. Arti Jha
(Physics Teacher) (Principal)

Index
 S. NO. DESCRIPTION

01 Introduction

02 Diffraction

03 Diffraction Patterns

04 Single Slit Diffraction

05 Single Slit Interference

06 Diffraction Grating

07 Bibliography

Introduction:
The phenomenon of diffraction was first documented in 1665 by

the Italian Francesco Maria Grimaldi. The use of lasers has only

become common in the last few decades. The laser’s ability to

produce a narrow beam of coherent monochromatic radiation in

the visible light range makes it ideal for use in diffraction

experiments: the diffracted light forms a clear pattern that is

easily measured. As light or any wave, passes a barrier, the

waveform is distorted at the boundary edge. If the wave passes

through a gap, more obvious distortion can be seen. As the gap

width approaches the wave length of the wave, the distortion

becomes even more obvious. This process is known as

diffraction. If the diffracted light is projected onto a screen some

distance away, then interference between the light waves create

a distinctive pattern (the diffraction pattern) on the screen. The

nature of diffraction pattern depends on the nature of the gap

(or mask) which diffracts the original light wave. Diffraction

pattern can be a calculated from a function representing the

mask. The symmetry of the pattern can reveal useful

information on the symmetry of the mask. For a periodic object,

the pattern is equivalent to the reciprocal lattice of the object. In

conventional image formation, a lens focuses the diffracted

waves into an image. Since the individual ` sections (Spots) of

the diffraction pattern each contains information, by forming an

image from only particular parts of the diffraction pattern, the

resulting image can be used to enhance particular features. This

is used in bright and dark field imaging.

Diffraction:
When parallel waves of light are obstructed by a very small
object (i.e. sharp edge, slit, wire, etc.), the waves spread around
the edges of the obstruction and interfere, resulting in a pattern
of dark and light fringes. When light diffracts off of the edge of
an object, it creates a pattern of light referred to as a diffraction
pattern. If a monochromatic light source, such as a laser, is used
to observe diffraction, below are some examples of diffraction
pattern that are created by certain objects.

WHAT DOES DIFFRACTION LOOK LIKE?

When light diffracts off of the edge of an object, it creates a
pattern of light referred to as a diffraction pattern. If a
monochromatic light source, such as a laser, is used to observe
diffraction, below are some examples of diffraction pattern that
are created by certain objects.

Diffraction Patterns:
 Single Slits Diffraction:
In our consideration of the young’s double-slit experiments, we
have assumed the width of the slits to be so small that each slit
is a point source. In this section we shall take the width of slit to
be finite and see how Fraunhofer diffraction arises. Let a source
of monochromatic light be incident on the slit of finite width, as
shown in figure 1

FIGURE: Diffraction of light by a slit of

width a
In the diffraction of Fraunhofer type, all rays passing
through a slit are approximately parallel. In addition,
each portion of the slit will act as a source of light waves
according to Huygen’s principle. For simplicity we divide
the slit into two halves. At the first minimum, each ray
from the upper half will be exactly 180 out of phase with
a corresponding ray form the lower half. For ` example
suppose there are 100-point sources, with the first 50 in
the lower half, and 51-100 in the upper half. Source 1
and Source 51 are separated by a distance and are out of
phase with the path difference. Similar observation
applies to source 2 and source 52, as well as any pair
that are a distance a / 2 apart. Thus, the condition for the
first minimum is
Apply the same reasoning to the wave fronts from 4
equally spaced points a distance a / 4 apart, the path
difference would be , and the condition for
the destructive interference is

The argument can be generalized to show that

destructive interference will occur when

Figure 2 illustrates the intensity

distribution for the single slit
diffraction.
 Note that Q = 0 is the maximum

B
y comparing Eq. (14.5.4) with Eq. (14.2.5), we see that
the condition for minima of the single slit diffraction
becomes the condition for maxima of the double slit
interference when the width of the single slit is replaced
by the separation between the two slits d. The reason
that in the single slit case, the slits are taken to be very
small that each one is considered as the single light
source, and the interference of waves originating within
the same slit can be neglected. On the other hand the
minimum condition for the single slit diffraction is
obtained preciously by taking into consideration the
interference of waves that originate within the same slit.

Single Slit Interference:

How do we determine the intensity distribution for the
pattern produced by a single slit diffraction? To calculate
this, we must find the total electric field by adding the
field contributions from each point.

Let’s divide the single slit into N small zones each of

width as shown in Figure 14.6.1. The convex lens is
used to bring parallel light rays to a focal point P on the
screen. We shall assume that so that all the light
from a given zone is in phase. To adjacent zones have a
relative path length The relative phrase shift is
given by the ratio

Figure 3: Single slit Fraunhofer

diffraction
Suppose the wave front from the first point (counting
from the top) arrives at the point P on the screen with an
electric field is given by

The electric field from point 2 adjacent to point 1 will

have a phase shift , and the field is

Figure: Intensity of the single-slit

Fraunhofer diffraction pattern
 Diffraction
Grating:
If we assume that the incident light is planar and
diffraction spreads the light from each slit over a wide
angle so that the light from all the slits will interfere with
each other. The relative path difference between each
pair of adjacent slits is sin (Q), similar to the calculation
we made for the double-slit case. If this path difference is
equal to an integral multiple of wavelengths, then all the
slits will constructively interfere with each other and a
bright spot will appear on the screen at an angle Q. Thus,
the condition for the principal maxima is given by

If the wavelength of the light and the location of the morder

maximum are known, the distance d between slits may be
readily deduced. The location of the maxima does not depend
on the number of slits, N. However, the maxima become sharper
and more intense as N is increased. The width of the maxima
can be shown to be inversely proportional to N. In Figure 14.8.2,
we show the intensity distribution as a function of B / 2 for
diffraction grating with N =10 and N=30. Notice that the
principal maxima become sharper and narrower as N increases.
 Figure 14.8.2 Intensity distribution for a
diffraction grating for (a) and (b) . N =10 N = 30

The observation can be explained as follows: suppose an angle θ

(recall that β = 2πa sinθ / λ) which initially gives a principal
maximum is increased slightly, if there were only two slits, then
the two waves will still be nearly in phase and produce maxima
which are broad. However, in grating with a large number of
slits, even though θ may only be slightly deviated from the value
that produces a maximum, it could be exactly out of phase with
light wave from another slit far away. Since grating produces
peaks that are much sharper than the two-slit system, it gives a
more precise measurement of the wavelength.

Bibliography
In order to work on this project titled – “PHENOMENON OF
DIFFRACTION OF LIGHT”, the following books and literature
are referred by me during the various phases of development of
the project:
1)PHYSICS TEXTBOOK CLASS 12
2)GOOGLE.COM
3) Youtube.com
4) Google Drive
Other than the above-mentioned books, the suggestions and
supervision of my teacher and my classmates also helped me to
make this project.