Original Scirpt For Diffration

Script for Diffraction (Paraphrase/Improve this pa)
Kenneth: Imagine passing a monochromatic light beam passing through a narrow opening—a slit just a little wider
than the wavelength of the light. Instead of a simple shadow of the slit on the screen—you will see that an
interference pattern appears, even though there is only one slit.
Angel: In the topic of interference, which Bernadette and friends discussed, we saw that you need two sources of
waves for interference to occur. How can there be an interference pattern when we have only one slit? In the
nature of light (briefly explain this to the class), we learned that due to Huygen’s Principle (ask them if they still
remember this principle), we can imagine a wave front as equivalent to infinitely many point of sources of waves.
Kenneth: Thus, a wave from a slit can behave not as one wave but as an infinite number of point sources. Now,
this may sound complicated, and trust me, it did at first for me, but as we go further with this topic, you’ll see that
it’s as simple as 1,2,3. Well, not that very simple, but I think you get the point.
Angel: Another way to view what Kenneth said is to recognize that a slit has a small but finite width. During the
previous discussions, we implicitly regarded slits as objects with positions but no size. The widths of the slits were
considered negligible. When the slits have finite widths, each point along the opening can be considered a point
source of light—a foundation of Huygen’s principle.
Kenneth: Because real-world optical instruments must have finite apertures (otherwise, no light can enter),
diffraction plays a major role in the way we interpret the output of these optical instruments. For example,
diffraction places limits on our ability to resolve images or objects. This is a problem that we will study later in this
discussion.
II. Single Slit Diffraction
Kenneth: Our first topic is about Single-Slit Diffraction. Bago tayo magstart, let me tell you the learning objectives
for this topic. So, by the end of this lesson, you guys should be able to explain the phenomenon of diffraction and
the conditions under which it is observed. Another thing is you should be able to describe diffraction through a
single slit.
Angel: After passing through a narrow aperture (opening), a wave propagating in a specific direction tends to
spread out. For example, sound waves that enter a room through an open door can be heard even if the listener is
in a part of the room where the geometry of ray propagation dictates that there should only be silence. Similarly,
ocean waves passing through an opening in a breakwater can spread throughout the bay inside. The spreading
and bending of sound and ocean waves are two examples of diffraction, which is the bending of a wave around
the edges of an opening or an obstacle—a phenomenon exhibited by all types of waves.
(show this image)
Because of the diffraction of waves,

ocean waves entering through an
opening in a breakwater can spread
throughout the bay.
Kenneth: The diffraction of sound waves is apparent to us because wavelengths in the audible region are
approximately the same size as the objects they encounter, a condition that must be satisfied if diffraction effects
are to be observed easily. Since the wavelengths of visible light range from approximately 390 to 770 nm, most
objects do not diffract light. However, situations do occur in which apertures are small enough that the diffraction
of light is observable. For example, if you place your middle and index fingers close together and look through the
opening of a light bulb, you can see a rather clear diffraction pattern, consisting of light and dark lines running
parallel to your fingers.
III. Diffraction through a Single Slit
Kenneth: Light passing through a single slit forms a diffraction pattern somewhat different from those formed by
double slit or diffraction gratings, which has been discussed in the chapter of Interference. [This image] shows a
single-slit diffraction pattern. Note that the central maximum (elaborate on this term) is larger than maxima
(explain this term) on either side and that the intensity decreases rapidly on either side. In contrast, a diffraction
grating produces evenly spaced line that dim on either side of the center.
Single-slit diffraction pattern. (a) Monochromatic light

passing through a single slit has a central maximum and
many smaller and dimmer maxima on either side. The central
maximum is six times higher than shown. (b) The diagram
shows the bright central maximum, and the dimmer and
thinner maxima on either side.
Kenneth: The analysis of single-slit diffraction is illustrated in [this image].
Here, the light arrives at the slit, illuminating it uniformly and is in phase across its width. We then consider light
propagating onwards from different parts of the same slit. According to Huygen’s principle, every part of the wave
front in the slit emits wavelets, as we discussed on “The Nature of Light” (discuss this part first). These are like
rays that start out in phase and head in all directions. (Each ray is perpendicular to the wave of a wavelet).
Assuming the screen is very far away compared with the size of the slit, rays heading toward a common
destination are nearly parallel. When they travel straight ahead, as in part (a) of the figure, they remain in phase,
and we observe a central maximum (so, does anyone know what central maximum is?). However, when rays travel
at an angle  relative to the original direction of the beam, each ray travels a different distance to a common
location, and they can arrive in or out of phase. In part (b), the ray from the bottom travels at a distance of one
wavelength  farther than the ray from the top. Thus, a ray from the center travels at a distance of /2 less than
the one at the bottom edge of the slit, arrives out of phase, and interferes destructively. A ray from slightly above
the center and one from slightly above the bottom also cancel one another. In fact, each ray from the slit
interferes destructively with another ray. In other words, a pair-wise cancellation of all rays’ results in a dark
minimum in intensity at this angle. By symmetry, another minimum occurs at the same angle to the right of the
incident direction (toward the bottom of the figure) of the light.

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Script for Diffraction (Paraphrase/Improve this pa)

II. Single Slit Diffraction

(show this image)

Because of the diffraction of waves,

III. Diffraction through a Single Slit

Single-slit diffraction pattern. (a) Monochromatic light

Kenneth: The analysis of single-slit diffraction is illustrated in [this image].

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