PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

Diffraction of waves is caused whenever a wave or waves encounters some obstacle in its (their) path.
You can easily get a sense of this by viewing the patterns produced on the surface of water when waves
encounter obstacles. The figure to the below shows large scale diffraction of waves on the surface of the
ocean as the waves encounter islets and barriers along the shore.
Diffraction is often described as the
self-interference of a wave as it
encounters a barrier. The patterns
produced are accentuated by regions
of constructive and destructive
interference. Where the amplitude of
the wave pattern is large, the
diffracted waves are constructively
interfering and where the amplitudes
are small or zero, the diffracted waves
are destructively interfering.
The phenomena of diffraction is
extremely common. We encounter it
not only in fluids, but it is an every
moment occurrence in normal hearing.
Much of what we hear comes to our
ears by way of diffracted waves.
Indeed, it is diffraction that allows
sound to bend around corners and go
through doors.
Diffraction is also an extremely useful phenomena in science. By making use of controlled diffraction,
physicists can make extremely sensitive distance and time measurements. X-ray and electron diffraction
is routinely used to work out the structure of materials, even for things as complex as proteins and DNA.
In this lab we will explore the use of simple diffracting systems to measure the wavelength of light and to
measure the width of small objects such as slits or even fine wires.
The idea of constructive interference is simple. The figure below illustrates the process for a double-slit
diffraction experiment. As the incoming wave encounters the barrier slits, two wavelets are created. Each
wavelet spreads out independently of the other. Any one point to the right of the barrier slits will
experience the arrival of wavelets from both slits. If the path difference between the two slits is equal to
one wavelength of the wave, or integer multiples of the wavelength, the waves will add together giving a
maximum amplitude at that point. In the figure, two paths are drawn to one such point. The paths are of
length L and L + . But the paths can also differ by any integer multiple of the wavelength n and still
give an interference maximum.

PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

Using d as the slit spacing, (not p as in the figure) the formula for finding the angles at which
one can find constructive interference maxima is
d sinn = n
There will be n possible angles or positions at which you will find a constructive maximum. For
the examples in this lab, that corresponds to n possible laser spots on a screen. See, for example
the figure to the immediate right in which there is one central bright spot (n=0, = 0) surrounded
by the n =1 spot to the immediate top and the n=-1 spot to the bottom, then by the n= 2 and n=-2
spots, etc.
However there are just a finite number of n that will work, since -1<= sinn <=+1, so
-1<= nd

<=+1, or the maximum value of n that you can see is the nearest integer fit to

nmax < d/ .
Suppose for example that the slit with was d = 2 x 10-4 m and the wavelength was = 6.5 x 10-7 m, then
the maximum number of spots would be nmax = 307. In practice, the number of spots that you see is much
much less than this because the amplitude of each successive spot decreases with increasing n as can
easily be seen in the figure above.

PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

If there are more than just a pair of slits, then the formula for find the interference maxima does not
change. It is still d sinn = n . But the pattern becomes sharper with each success slit.
Even a single slit gives rise to a diffraction pattern. The analysis is a little more complicated, but the result
is that the DESTRUCTIVE dark fringes are spaced at a sinn = n , a is the width of a single slit.
Since there is no such thing as an infinitely thin slit, then any two slits of width a and spacing d
will have the combined diffraction pattern of a double slit modulated by a single slit pattern. The
intensity of such a system follows the somewhat messy
formula:
I = Io cos2((2d/)sin) [sin((2a/sin)/((2a/sin]2
This formula is illustrated in the figure to the right and
photographed in the figure to the left. It is easy to see in the
photograph the fine spacing of spots owing to the slit spacing
d and the broader modulation imposed by the slit width a. The combination of the slit width and
slit spacing gives rise to the phenomena of missing orders where the constructive spot of the
double slit coincides with the destructive location of the single slit: This is illustrated in the figure to
the immediate left. The break in the spot pattern is where the width of each slit as a mimimum.
Experimental set up:
Please inspect each of the wheel figures below along with the optical table set up. Notice that there is one
wheel for investigating single slit diffraction and another wheel for looking at multiple slit diffraction.

PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

Set up your optical table as shown in the figures with the white screen on one end and the diode laser and
slit ring on the other. we will use this to do a variety of experiments.
Experiment 1: Measuring the wavelength of light using multiple slit interference.
Find the part of the MULTIPLE SLIT SET showing MULTIPLE SLITS 2, 3, 4 and 5. You are
given that the slit spacing is d = 0.125 millimeters. Place the slit set precisely at 1 meters distance
from the screen.
First illuminate the 2 slit configuration and measure the distance x between the furthest set of spots
that you can. For example, in the figure to the right, one can easily measure out to spots numbers
n = +5 and n= -5. Take this distance, x, as measured across the screen and apply it using the
Pythagorean theorem to find sinn .
sinn = (x/2)/(x2/4+(1)2)1/2

= nd

From this you can get the wavelength (d/n) (x/2)/(x2/4+(1)2)1/2.

Now repeat the exercise for the 3, 4 and 5 slit sets. Make a table of these values in Excel. Find the average
wavelength of the light and copy your Excel table and wavelength value into a Word document. Describe
any change in the spot pattern that you observe in changing the number of slits.
Experiment 2 Qualitative comparison of double and single slit arrangements.
The MULTIPLE SLIT SET has a set of double slits and COMPARISONS
slits. There are 8 settings. Make a table of a, d for each and qualitatively
describe the patterns you see in each case, i.e., note whether the spacing of the
spots in closer or wider, and whether the pattern is sharper or fuzzier, etc. Note
the phenomena of missing orders if you can.
For the comparison, youll have to carefully aim the laser to illuminate both
sets of slits. Record your observations in your Word document.

Experiment 3: Measuring the width of a Hair

Using the SINGLE SLIT SET ring, illuminate the vertical line with a = 0.08 millimeters,
and notice the pattern. Then rotate the ring to illuminate the unlabeled line. Think of this
as a single hair. Whether the wave is incident on a wall with a single slit of width a in
it, or incident on an otherwise open gap with a single hair of width a, the diffraction
pattern remains the same! This is quite remarkable. Measure the distance between the
dark rings of the pattern and using the same sort of analysis as in Experiment 1 to find the
sine of the angle and then, find the width, a of the hair by using the single slit formula
a sinn = nReport your result in your Word document. If you have time, you might
want to tape one of your own hairs across the ring older and measure the width a of one
of your own hairs. If you want a surprise, you might try finding the width in one

PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

orientation and then carefully rotate your hair by 90 degrees and see if the pattern changes. If it does, then
the cross section of your hair is not circular!

Experiment 4: Play Time with other slits:

Consider the pattern for circular holes on the CIRCULAR APERTURE section of the SINGLE SLIT
SET: These patterns are the same patterns that single stars produce in the focal planes of telescopes. The
stars do not appear as images but as diffraction patterns from single point sources, such as a small
circular hole. The pattern of light and dark fringes is called the Airy disc. The resolution of a telescope
is defined by how fine of a pattern can be discerned. The larger the opening of the telescope, the finer the
resolution.
Another name for this pattern is the point
spread function of the optical column that
produced the pattern. For less than ideal
systems, the pattern becomes distorted and
fuzzier.
Crystallographers must untangle very
complex diffraction patterns from three
dimensional arrays of atoms. The spacings
between the atoms act as diffractions gratings.
To get a flavor for this examine the patterns
caused by the PATTERNS section of the
SINGLE SLIT SET. Examine how the
symmetry of the pattern is reflected in the set
of spots. A crystallographer can use this sort
of information to work out the spacing and
type of atoms in the crystal.
Record your observations in your Word
document.
Experiment 5 Measure the spacing of grooves in a CD.
A diffraction grating is an optical element that essentially has many hundreds or thousands of slits in a
small space. The same formula d sinn = n is used for finding constructive maxima. Use your laser to
scatter the beam of a CD and measure the distance between spots as you did in Experiment one, but this
time solve for the spacing d of the slits.
Record your results in your Word Document. Email your Word document to phil.matheson@uvu.edu
with the your names and section number in the subject line of the email.

PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

PHYS 2225 Lab 14: Final Review of MATLAB (Octave) elements:
NEED EXTRA CREDIT? MISSING TOO MANY LAB POINTS? THEN DO THIS:
Finally, Lets review what we know of MATLAB (or Octave). We didnt do as many of these as I had
wanted, but by the end of the term, I figure that most of us have forgotten what we did know! Here are
the lists of some of the codes that we used in previous labs:
From Lab 1 & 2
% Notice that any text after a percent sign is
% not registered by the computer as an
%instruction.
% This lets you make comments.
% This code can be used to visualize the electric
% Potential in a plane. Please modify it as
%instructed in your lab.
clear all; close all;
%Makes an array of 101 points %from 0 to 1
%Do it again for the y points
x = 0:0.01:1;
y = 0:0.01:1;
%Makes a two-d grid for calculations
[X,Y] = ndgrid(x,y);
q1 = 100 ; q2 = -100 ; q3 = 1; q4 = -1;
% Defines our charges
% R1, R2 and R3 are locations of q1, q2 and q3
% I staggered they off the (x,y) grid points to
% avoid infinities when finding 1/r in the
%potential
R1 = [0.455,0.5255];
R2 = [0.655,0.52505];
R3 = [0.255,0.555];
R4 = [0.1555, 0.56055];
% Now define the electric constant
k = 8.99E-3;
% units of nano coloumbs and femto meters
%make a grid of x,y points that we will use to
%calculate the electric potential at all x,y points
potential = zeros(101,101);
%Now Find the Electric Potential at every
%(x,y) point --- Don't forget the semicolons!
for i = 1:101
for j = 1:101
R=[x(i),y(j)];
r1=norm(R-R1);
r2=norm(R-R2);
r3=norm(R-R3);
r4=norm(R-R4);
potential(i,j)=k*(q1/r1+q2/r2+q3/r3+q4/r4);
end;

end;
% Now lets make a fancy plot of it all
% 'surf' gives a surface plot of values
figure
surf(X,Y,potential);
title('Electric Potential')
xlabel('x'); ylabel('y');
% Lets make another fancy plot
% 'contour' gives lines of equipotential values
figure
N = 100;
contour(X,Y,potential,N);
% The ELECTRIC FIELD can be visualized as
% the quickest way down the potential surface
% are going to use the 'quiver' routine to
% visualize it. We will use the simple definition
% Ex = -Delta(potential)/Delta x and
% Ey = -Delta(potential)/Delta y
%Delta x and Delta y
dx = 2*0.01; dy = 2*0.01;
Ex = zeros(101,101) ; Ey = zeros(101,101);
%Notice how the indexing works
%Why do we go from 2 to 100, not 1 to 101
for i = 2:100
for j = 2:100
Ex(i,j) = -(potential(i+1,j)-potential(i-1,j))/dx;
Ey(i,j) = -(potential(i,j+1)-potential(i,j-1))/dy;
end;
end;
figure
quiver(X,Y,Ex,Ey,3);
title('Electric field vectors in x-y plane')
equal axes;

PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

% This code can be used to visualize the electric

% field of a line charge in a plane. Please
%modify it as instructed
% in your lab.
clear all; close all;
%Makes an array of 101 points from 0 to 1
x = 0:0.0025:1;
%Do it again for the y points
y = 0:0.0025:1;
%Makes a two-d grid for calculations
[X,Y] = ndgrid(x,y);
% I staggered the (x,y) grid points to
% avoid infinities when finding 1/r in the
%potential
Rs = zeros(50,2);
for i = 1:50
Rs(i,2) = 0.00125+0.0125*i;
Rs(i,1)=0.50125;
end;
% Now define the electric constant
k = 8.99E-3; q=1
% using units of nano coloumbs and femto
%meters
%Now make a grid over the x,y points that we
%will use to
Ex = zeros(401,401) ; Ey = zeros(401,401);
%Now Find the Electric Potential at every
%(x,y) point --- Don't forget the semicolons!
for i = 1:401
for j = 1:401
R=[x(i),y(j)];
for m = 1:50
RS = R-[Rs(m,1),Rs(m,2)];
RShat = RS/norm(RS);
r3=norm(RS)^3;
Ex(i,j) = Ex(i,j) + k/r3*RShat(1);
Ey(i,j) = Ey(i,j) + k/r3*RShat(2);
end;
end;
end;
figure
quiver(X,Y,Ex,Ey);
title('Electric field vectors in x-y plane')

From Lab 3:
% This code can be used to visualize the
%Contour of a function
clear all; close all;
%Makes an array of 101 points from 0 to 1
%Do it again for the y points
x = 0:0.06:6;
y = -6:0.12:6;
[X,Y] = ndgrid(x,y);
%Makes a two-d grid for calculations
pdf = zeros(101,101);
beta=-0.6
%(x,y) points --- Don't forget the semicolons!
for i = 1:101
for j = 1:101
%Define the function you want plotted here:
s=(x(i)^2+y(j)^2)^(1/3);
pdf(i,j)=x(i)*exp(-s)*(1+beta*y(j));
end;
end;
figure
surf(X,Y,pdf);
title('pdf contours')
xlabel('x'); ylabel('y');
figure
N = 30;
contour(X,Y,pdf,N);

PHYS 2225 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference:

From Lab 4: This show how to solve a set of
equations using a matrix Think, solve n
equations in n unknowns
clear all
close all
R1 = 50
R2 = 100
R3 = 470
R4 = 2000
R5 = 100
I1=0.025
m = [0 1 -1 0 1 0
0 0 1 -1 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 1
1 0 -R2 0 0 -R5
1 0 -R2 -R3 0 0
0 0 -R2 0 -R4 0]
b = [0; I1; I1 ; I1*R1; 0; I1*R1];
Ianswers= inv(m)*b

PHYS 2225/2025 Lab 14 Diffraction and Interference.

Remember that to run Octave you must first set the paths correctly at boot up.
Using these codes as a reminder, design a program that can be used to model the wave interference for the
intensity of a two slit diffraction pattern that has a spacing d, and a single slit width a. Produce plots
of the resulting patterns.
I() = Io cos2((2d/)sin) [sin((2a/sin)/((2a/sin]2
Suppose the slit width a is very tiny, then the width of the single slit maximum is very wide. The
figures below show the effect of having an extremely narrow slit width:.
Hint: Substitute sin = y/sqrt(x^2+y^2) and cos =x/sqrt(x^2+y^2) in the above formula to produce a
MATLAB code that will give you the intensity I(x,y) as a function of x and y. You can then use this to
make a grid of intensity values in the x-y plane that you can plot with surf for contour command.
Play with d and a to see how the pattern varies as the ratio and magnitudes of a to d change.
Copy your code and your best graphs to a Word Document and mail it in to me for credit!