Senior High School

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General Physics 2
Quarter 4 - Module 4
Interference and Diffraction

Source: https://spiritualunderground.com/2017/01/30/time-and-space-are-not-what-you-think/

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

General Physics2 -Grade 12
Alternative Delivery Mode Self-Learning Module
Quarter 4 - Module 4: Interference and Diffraction
First Edition, 2020

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 Senior High School

General Physics 2
Quarter 4 - Module 4
Interference and Diffraction

This instructional material was collaboratively developed and reviewed by educators from public and
We value your feedback and recommendations.

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

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 Table of Contents

What This Module is About.................................................................................................. i

What I Need to Know........................................................................................................... i
How to Learn from this Module............................................................................................ i
Icons of this Module............................................................................................................. ii

What I Know......................................................................................................................... iii

Lesson 1: Huygen’s Principle

What’s In...................................................................................................... 1

What I Need to Know................................................................................... 1

What’s New.................................................................................................. 1

What I Have Learned................................................................................... 3

Lesson 2: Two-source interference of light

What’s In............................................................................................5

What I Need to Know.........................................................................5

What’s New:......................................................................................5

What Is..............................................................................................6

What I Have Learned........................................................................9

Lesson 3: Diffraction
What’s In.......................................................................................... 10

What’s New:......................................................................................10

What Is..............................................................................................11

What I Have Learned.......................................................................12

Assessment: (Post-Test).......................................................................................13

Key to Answers..................................................................................................... 15

References............................................................................................................16
What This Module is About
This module demonstrates your understanding the concept of Zeroth law of
Thermodynamics and temperature measurement and skills in solving thermal
expansion of solids and liquids.

This module has three (3) lessons:

 Lesson 1 – Huygens’ Principle
 Lesson 2 – Two-source interference of light
 Lesson 3 – Diffraction

What I Need to Know

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Determine the conditions (superposition, path and phase difference,

polarization, amplitude) for interference to occur emphasizing the properties of
a laser as a monochromatic and coherent light source (STEM_GP12OPTIVf-
32)

2. Relate the geometry of the two-slit experiment set up (slit separation, and
screen-to-slit distance) and properties of light (wavelength) to the properties of
the interference pattern (width, location, and intensity) (STEM_GP12OPTIVf-
33)

3. Relate the geometry of the diffraction experiment setup (slit size, and screen-
to-slit distance) and properties of light (wavelength) to the properties of the
diffraction pattern (width, location, and intensity of the fringes)
(STEM_GP12OPTIVf-35)

How to Learn from This Module

Below, are guide steps for you to attain the learning competencies in going about the
module.

1. Read the lessons and follow the instructions carefully.

2. Take the pretest to determine how much you know about the content. A multiple-
choice test was provided for you. Be honest.
3. Perform all the activities diligently to help you understand the topic.
4. Take the assessment test (post-test) at the end of the module.

i
Icons of this Module

Here are the Icons used as your guide in every part of the lesson:
What I Need to This part contains learning objectives that
Know are set for you to learn as you go along the
module.

What I know This is an assessment as to your level of

knowledge to the subject matter at hand,
meant specifically to gauge prior related
knowledge
What’s In This part connects previous lesson with that
of the current one.

What’s New An introduction of the new lesson through

various activities, before it will be presented
to you

What is It These are discussions of the activities as a

way to deepen your discovery and under-
standing of the concept.

What’s More These are follow-up activities that are in-

tended for you to practice further in order to
master the competencies.

What I Have Activities designed to process what you

Learned have learned from the lesson

What I can do These are tasks that are designed to show-

case your skills and knowledge gained, and
applied into real-life concerns and
situations.
i

ii
 What I Know

Pre-Test:
Multiple Choice. Answer the question that follows. Choose the best answer from the
given choices.

1. Which of the following describes Huygen's Principle?

a. Every point on a wavefront acts as a source of lots of secondary spherical
wavelets, which can therefore interfere with each other.
b. A wave can produce an interference pattern.
c. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
d. The speed of light is constant in every direction.

2. What is a monochromatic wave?

a. A wave of a single frequency
b. A wave of double frequency
c. A wave of half frequency
d. A wave of ¾ frequency

3. What are the two type of interference wave?

a. diffraction and construction
b. construction and diffuser
c. constructive and destructive
d. destructive and diffraction

4. From the double-slit, what are the quantities should be measured?

a. Slit separation c. slit-to-screen separation
b. Fringe separation d. all of the above

5. What do you call the interference pattern of light and dark bands on the
screen?
a. Graphical pattern c. light spectrum
b. Line spectrum d. fringes

iii
B. Crossword Puzzle

Horizontal

1. It occurs when two waves add together and the result is a smaller
displacement than would have been the case
2. It is the light or dark bands produced by interference or diffraction of
light
3. His famous experiment in physics is the double slit experiment.

Vertical

1. the tendency of a wave emitted from a finite source or passing through a finite
aperture to spread out as it propagates
4. it occurs when two waves occupy the same point (the wave at this point is found by
adding the two amplitudes of the waves

iv
 Lesson
1 Huygens’ Principle

What’s In

When you open your window in a room early in the morning, the light
enters through the window and spreads throughout the room. Do you
wonder why does this happen? The reason behind this is because the light has got
some wave nature, that spreads in the room in all the directions. To understand this
more let us study the Huygen’s Principle.

What I Need to Know

After this lesson, you should be able to:

 Determine the conditions (superposition, path and phase difference,

polarization, amplitude) for interference to occur emphasizing the properties of
a laser as a monochromatic and coherent light source

What It Is Huygen’s Principle

Huygen’s Principle states that every point of the wavefront is that

the source of the secondary wavelets which spread out in all direction with the
speed of a wave. So if we consider some extent source, it'll emit its wavefront
and nature of the wavefront are going to be spherical one.

. In the Huygen’s principle, all the points on the wavefront are going to become
a secondary source. So the wavefronts will in the forward direction. All the
secondary sources emit wavelets. Tangent
drawn to all or any the wavelets is that
the new position of the waveform.

Supposed you’re standing on the

mountain and you throw a stone within the
water from a height. What did you observe as
you throw the stoned in the water? You see
that the stone strikes the surface of the water
and waves are seen surrounding at that time.
Each point on the surface of water starts
oscillating. Source: https://tinyurl.com/nu9dvkey

1
 The waves spread in all the direction. Earlier the water was at rest. But the
instant we throw the stone within the water, within a couple of fractions of
seconds the disturbance spreads in all directions. There are ripples formed in the
water. The ripples form the concentric revolve around the disturbance
and spread out.
These ripples are nothing but the wavefront. The wavefronts gradually spread in
all the directions. So at all point, we have a wave coming out. The primary wavefront is
made and again from the primary wavefront, a secondary waveform is formed. The
disturbance doesn't last for an extended time. . It fades gradually because more
and more waveforms are formed

Superposition

Superposition occurs when two waves occupy an equivalent (the wave at

this point is found by adding the 2 amplitudes of the waves). Waves are most
ordinarily described by variations in some parameter through space and time—
height during a water wave, pressure in a sound wave, or the electromagnetic field in
a light wave. The value of this parameter is named as the amplitude of the wave; the
wave may be a function specifying the amplitude at each point. Superposition of
waves results in what's referred to as interference, which manifests in two types:
constructive and destructive.

Two Types of Wave Interference

Constructive Interference

When the two waves come close to one another, their effects add together. If
the crests, or highest parts of the waves, line up perfectly, then the crest of the
combined wave is going to be the sum of the heights of the two original crests.
Likewise, if the bottom parts of the waves
(the troughs) line up just right, then the
combined trough are going to be the depth
of the two original troughs combined. This
referred to as constructive interference, in
which two waves (of an equivalent
wavelength) interact in such
how that they're aligned, resulting in a
replacement wave that is bigger than the
original wave
S
Source: https://tinyurl.com/2avsvu2l

2
 Destructive Interference

Destructive interference
occurs when two waves add
together and the result is a
smaller displacement than would
have been the case. When the
waves have opposite amplitudes
at the point they meet they
will destructively interfere,
leading to no amplitude at that
time.

S
Source: https://tinyurl.com/4atobgg4

When waves are close, they will interfere constructively or destructively. To

set up a stable and clear interference pattern, two conditions must be met:
1. The sources of the waves must be coherent, which suggest that they emit
identical waves with a continuing phase difference.
2. The waves should be monochromatic - they ought to be of one wavelength.

For example, if two light bulbs are placed side by side there is no interference effect
are observed since the light waves of the bulbs are emitted independently of those
from the other light bulb so it does not meet the condition of the interference but if
you place a single frequency sound waves emitted by two side by side speaker
driven by a single amplifier it can interfere with each other because the two speakers
are coherent-that is they respond to the amplifier in the same way at the same time.

A. What I have Learned:

ACTIVITY 4.1: Crossword Puzzle

2 4

3
Horizontal

2. It occurs when two waves add together and the result is a

smaller displacement than would have been the case
3. It is a Principle states that every point of the wavefront is that the source
of the secondary wavelets which spread out in all direction with the speed
of a wave
5. A wave of a single frequency

Vertical
1. It is the highest surface part of a wave
4. It is when the two waves come close to one another, their effects add together

4
 Lesson
Two-Source Interference of Light
2

What’s In

In this lesson, we will make use of the Huygen's principle, the idea that each
point on a wave can be considered to be a source of secondary waves. Applying this
to the two slits, each slit acts as a source of light of the same wavelength, with the
light from the two slits interfering constructively or destructively to produce an
interference pattern of bright and dark lines.

What I Need to Know

In this lesson, you are expected to:

Relate the geometry of the two-slit experiment set up (slit separation, and
screen-to-slit distance) and properties of light (wavelength) to the properties of the
interference pattern (width, location, and intensity) (STEM_GP12OPTIVf-33)

What’s New

Activity 4.2

Double Slit

At the end of the activity, the students should be able to:

1. Explain the double slit

Materials:

Laser pointer, Lice comb (or, not quite as good, an eyelash comb with narrowly
spaced metal teeth), black tape, 5x7 inch index card, Two large binder clips { 1 inch
(2.5 cm) wide, 2 inches (5 cm) long}, Two medium binder clips, 1/2 in (1 cm) wide, 1
inch (2.5 cm) long, A single-edge razor blade or straight-edge knife

First step, use the black tape to cover the teeth on the lice comb, leaving
exposed only two slits between adjacent teeth.

5
 Second step, insert the handle of the comb into a large
binder clip and set the clip on its side on a table or other
flat surface so the teeth of the comb are vertical.

Third step, clip the two

medium binder clips to the barrel of the laser pointer and
position them so the laser pointer rests horizontally.

Fourth step, attach the remaining

large binder clip to the index card so
that it creates a stand for the card.

Lastly, Set up the laser pointer and

comb so that the laser beam shines through the two
open slits on the comb onto the white screen. Position
the screen so it is at least 4 feet (1.5 meters) from the
two slits.

Question:

1. What do you observe at the pattern produced when the light goes through
the two slits and shines on the distant screen?
2. What do you observe as you block the light from going through one of the
slits using the razor blade or knife?
3. What do you observe as you remove the razor blade or the knife that is
blocking the light?

What Is It
YOUNG’S DOUBLE-SLIT

Light, due to its wave properties, will show constructive and destructive
interference. This was first shown in 1801 by Thomas Young, who sent sunlight
through two narrow slits and showed that an interference pattern might be seen on
a screen placed behind the 2 slits. The interference pattern was a gooup of
alternating bright and dark lines, corresponding to where the light from one slit was
alternately constructively and destructively interfering with the light from the second
slit.

6
 Figure 1 . Schematic Diagram of a Double-Slit
source: Experimenthttps://www3.nd.edu/~amoukasi/CBE30361/Useful%20files/Interference%20of%20Light%20Waves.pdf

In the figure 1, it shows the schematic diagram of the Double slits experiment.
In the figure, a monochromatic light source is incident on the first screen which
contains a slit So. The emerging light then arrives at the second screen which has
two parallel slits S1 and S2. which serve as the sources of coherent light. The light
waves emerging from the 2 slits then interfere and form an interference pattern
on the viewing screen. The bright bands correspond to interference maxima, and
therefore the dark band interference minima. This pattern of bright and dark
lines is understood as a fringe pattern, and is straightforward to ascertain on a
screen to understand more about the double slit interference pattern, let’s consider
how two waves travel from the slits to the screen, as illustrated in Figure B. Each slit
is a different distance from a given point on the screen. Thus different numbers of
wavelengths fit into each path. Waves start out from the slits in phase (crest to
crest), but they may end up out of phase (crest to trough) at the screen if the paths
differ in length by half a wavelength, interfering destructively as shown in Figure 2a.
If the paths differ by a whole wavelength, then the waves arrive in phase (crest to
crest) at the screen, interfering constructively as shown in Figure 2b. More generally,
if the paths taken by the two waves differ by any half-integral number of wavelengths
[(1/2)λ, (3/2)λ, (5/2)λ, etc.], then destructive interference occurs. Similarly, if the
paths taken by the two waves differ by any integral number of wavelengths (λ, 2λ,
3λ, etc.), then constructive interference occurs.

FIGURE 2: source: https://tinyurl.com/15ihhs3d

7
 FIGURE 3: Geometry of the Double-Slit Interference

Figure 3, shows the geometry for the fringe pattern. For two slits separated
by a distance d, and emitting light at a specific wavelength, light will
constructively interfere at certain angles. These angles are found by applying the
condition for constructive interference, which in this case becomes:
bright fringes:

𝑑𝑠𝑖𝑛Θ = 𝑚𝜆 𝑚 = 0,1,2,3, ….

The angles at which dark fringes occur can be found be applying the condition
for destructive interference:
1
Dark fringes : 𝑑𝑠𝑖𝑛Θ = (𝑚 + )𝜆 𝑚 = 0,1,2,3, ….
2

The positions of the bright and dark fringes

Sample Problem:

1. A light source emits visible light of two wavelengths: λ = 430 nm and λ’= 510
nm. The source is used in a double-slit interference experiment in which
L=1.50m and d= 0.0250 mm. find the separation distance between the third-
order bright fringes.
8
 Solution:

Given: m = 3

𝑦𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 = 𝜆𝐿 𝜆𝐿 (4.30𝑥10−9 𝑚)(1.5𝑚)

𝑚= =3 = 7.74𝑥10−2 𝑚
𝑑 3 𝑑 0.0250𝑥10−3 𝑚

𝜆′𝐿 𝜆′𝐿 (510𝑥10−9 𝑚)(1.5m)

𝑦′𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 = 𝑚= =3 = 9.18𝑥10−2 𝑚
𝑑 3 𝑑 0.0250𝑥10−3 𝑚

Hence, the separation distance between two fringes is

Δ𝑦 = 9.18𝑥10−2 − 7.74𝑥10−2 = 1.40𝑐𝑚

What I Have Learned

Activity: 4.2.3 :
A. Direction: Solve the following problems. Show your complete solutions
legibly and concisely in a separate sheet of paper.

1. A viewing screen is separated from a double-slit source by 1.3 meter. The

distance between the two slits is 0.020 mm. The second-order bright fringe
(m = 2) is 2.5 cm from the center line. (a) Determine the wavelength of the
light and (b) Calculate the distance between adjacent bright fringes

2. A light source emits visible light of two wavelengths: λ = 400 nm and λ’ =

500 nm. The source is used in a double-slit interference experiment in
which L = 1.2 m and d = 0.030 mm. Find the separation between the third-
order bright fringes.

9
 Lesson
3 Diffraction

What’s in?
Diffraction is that the tendency of a wave emitted from a finite source
or passing through a finite aperture to opened up because it
propagates. Diffraction results from the interference of an infinite number of waves
emitted by endless distribution of source point, consistent with Huygens ‘ Principle
every point on a wave front of sunshine are often considered to be a secondary
source of spherical wavelets. These wavelets propagate outward with the
characteristic speed of the wave. The wavelets emitted by all points on the wave
front interfere with one another to supply the wave. Huygens ‘Principle also holds
for electromagnetic waves. When studying the propagation of sunshine, we will
replace any wave front by a set of sources distributed uniformly over the wave front,
radiating in phase.

What’s New

Activity 4.3.1: Diffraction

At the end of the activity, you should be able to explain diffraction.

Materials:

1. Two new pencils with eraser

2. Transparent scotch tape
3. Mini flashlight or a candle with matches or a lighter

Source: https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/diffraction

10
 Procedure:
1. Light the candle or, if you are using a Mini Maglite, unscrew the top of the
flashlight.

2. Wrap one layer of tape around the top of one of the pencils, just below the
eraser.

3. Place the light on a stable surface at least one arm’s length away from
you
4. Hold up the two pencils, side by side, with the erasers at the top. The
tape wrapped around one pencil should keep the pencils slightly apart,
forming a thin slit between them, just below the tape. Hold both pencils
close to one eye (about 1 inch [2.5 cm] away) and look at the light source
through the slit between the pencils. Squeeze the pencils together,
making the slit smaller.

Questions:
1. While holding the pencils close to your one eye and looking to the light
source you can notice that there is a line perpendicular to the slit.
What will happen position of line of the light if you rotate the pencil to
vertical?

2. What happen to the blob of light if you squeeze the slit together?

3. Notice that the blob has blue and red edges, which of two colours is closer
to the light source? What can you say about their wavelengths?

What Is It

Diffraction of light is commonly defined as the bending of light around

corners such that it spreads out and illuminates areas where a shadow is expected.
Diffraction can be observed using the single-slit experiment where when light passes through a
single slit whose width (w) is on the order of the wavelength of the light. Its pattern on the screen
will be at a distance L >> w away from the slit.

11
What is Single Slit Diffraction?
In the single-slit diffraction experiment, the bending phenomenon of light or
diffraction that causes light from a coherent source interfere with itself and produce a
distinctive pattern on the screen called the diffraction pattern can be observed.
Diffraction is manifested when the sources are small enough that they are relatively
the size of the wavelength of light.

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

In the figure above, it shows the diffraction effect. When light passes through a small
opening or a narrow slit which is comparable in size to the wavelength λ of the light, the wave
front on the other side of the opening resembles or behave like a point source of waves.

What I Have Learned

Activity 4.3.2
Directions: Identify the term/s being referred to in each blank. Choose
from the box your answer

of light is commonly define as the of light around

corners such that it spreads out and illuminates areas where a shadow is
expected. Diffraction can be observed using the experiment
where when passes through a single slit whose width (w) is on the
order of the of the light.

Bending
Diffraction
Single-slit
Light
Wavelengt
h
12
 ASSESSMENT
A. What I have Learned: Crossword Puzzle

2 4

Horizontal

2. It occurs when two waves add together and the result is a

smaller displacement than would have been the case
3. It is a Principle states that every point of the wavefront is that the source
of the secondary wavelets which spread out in all direction with the speed
of a wave
4. A wave of a single frequency

Vertical
1. It is the highest surface part of a wave

4.It is when the two waves come close to one another, their effects add
together.

B. Multiple Choice. Answer the question that follows. Choose the best answer
from the given choices.

1. Which of the following describes Huygen's Principle?

a. Every point on a wavefront acts as a source of lots of secondary
spherical wavelets, which can therefore interfere with each other.
b. A wave can produce an interference pattern.
c. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
d. The speed of light is constant in every direction.

13
2. What is a monochromatic wave?
a. A wave of a single frequency
b. A wave of double frequency
c. A wave of half frequency
d. A wave of ¾ frequency

3. What are the two type of interference wave?

a. diffraction and construction
b. construction and diffuser
c. constructive and destructive
d. destructive and diffraction

4. From the double-slit, what are the quantities should be measured?

a. Slit separation c. slit-to-screen separation
b. Fringe separation d. all of the above

5. What do you call the interference pattern of light and dark bands on the
screen?
a. Graphical pattern c. light spectrum
b. Line spectrum d. fringes

14
15
REFRENCE:

Book Resources
 Young, H., Freedman, R., Ford, A., & Young, H. (2012). Sears and Zemansky's
University physics. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions.
 Serway / Jewett. Physics for Scientists & Engineers with Modern Physics. Cengage
2014.

Electronic Resources

 https://www.toppr.com/guides/physics/wave-optics/huygens-principle/ , Accessed February

10, 2021
 https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/two-slit-experiment , Accessed February 10, 2021
 .https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/two-slit-experiment, Accessed
February 10, 2021
 https://byjus.com/physics/the-huygens-principle-and-the-principle-of-a-wave-
front/, Accessed February 10, 2021

For inquiries and feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Bureau of Learning Resources (DepEd-BLR) DepEd Division of Cagay
Fr. William F. Masterson Ave Upper Balulang Cagayan de Oro Telefax:((08822)855-0048
E-mail Address:

FAIR USE AND CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This SLM (Self Learning Module) is for educational purposes on

16