Methodology

In observing the diffraction and interference patterns of the single slit and the
double slit respectively, a setup was needed where the diode laser was positioned
at the edge of the optical bench. For the single slit experiment, the single slit disk
was placed on the optical bench such that the laser passes through the slit in the
single slit disk. The distance between the slit disk and viewing screen was adjusted
until the diffraction pattern observed was easier to measure. Afterwards, the
diffraction pattern was sketched and the separation between the first minima was
measured. These procedures were repeated for different slits with varying widths.
For the double slit experiment, the double slit disk replaced the single slit disk
in the setup from the previous experiment whilst making sure the light source
strikes the double slit on the disk. By repeating the procedure from the single slit
experiment, the interference pattern from the double slit was observed. The
separation between the adjacent maxima was then measured. These procedures
were repeated for different double slits with varying combinations of slit width and
slit separation. Using the data gathered for both the single slit and double slit
experiment, the wavelength of the laser was solved for different trials and these
computed wavelengths were compared to the theoretical wavelength of the laser to
calculate for the percent deviation.
For the CD diffraction experiment, the slit disk from the previous setup was
replaced with a CD. The laser was positioned so that it was perpendicular to the disk
and the viewing screen that in this case was the wall. To achieve this, the 0 th order
maxima was reflected back to the laser diode aperture. The distance between the
laser diode and the adjacent maxima was measured for the observed diffraction
pattern. To compute for the diffraction angle, the distance between the viewing
screen and the disk was also measured. Using the data gathered, the slit separation
between the CD gratings was computed.