AMITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

PHYSICS PROJECT

By: ______________
Class: ____________
Roll No: __________

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge the valuable contribution of

………………… in providing me the proper guidance
to complete the physics project. The experiments
would not have been completed without his support
and kind help. I would also like to thank the Physics
Laboratory Assistant ……………

Name of Student

*********************

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 CERTIFICATE

AMITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL,MAYUR

VIHAR

This is to certify that ___________________, Roll

number _______ of Class _____ has successfully
completed the _____________ under my
supervision according to the guidelines laid down by
CBSE.

Teacher Incharge HOD Science

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 CONTENTS

1) Aim
2) Apparatus
3) Circuit Diagram/ Experimental set up
4) Theory
5) Observations/ Observation Table
6) Result
7) Bibliography/ References

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 AIM

To observe the effects of changing the

distance between screen and slit on the width
of central maxima in diffraction

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 APPARAT
US
1. Laser Source
2. Single Slit
3. Optical Bench
4. Screen
5. Scale & Pencil

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 THEORY
Diffraction
Diffraction of light is the phenomenon of bending of light around corners
of an obstacle or aperture in the path of light. On account of this
bending, light penetrates into the geometrical shadow of the obstacle.
The light thus deviates from its linear path. Or in other words, Diffraction
is normally taken to refer to various phenomena which occur when a
wave encounters an obstacle. It is described as the apparent bending of
waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves past
small openings.

Diffraction of light through single slit

(Graph)

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Diffraction of light through single slit
(Pattern Observed)

Single Slit Experiment

In this experiment, light coming from a monochromatic source, falls on a
convex lens and a parallel beam of light is obtained. This parallel beam
of light falls on the single slit. The rays of light bend through the edge
and superimpose in the different phase on a different point in the screen.

As a result alternate dark and bright bands are obtained. These are
called secondary bands i.e. secondary maxima or secondary minima.
The central point has the maximum intensity and maximum width called
Central Maxima.

Condition for Secondary Minima

Path difference = nλ (n=1, 2, 3…)
= asinθ
Where,
a = width of slit
Therefore,

asinθ = nλ

It is because path difference between the waves coming from two paths
of same wave front is λ/2 each. Hence, minima is obtained when path
difference is a multiple of λ.

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Phase Difference

Φ = 2nπ

Thus

xn = nλD
a

Condition for Secondary Maxima

λ
Path Difference = asinθ = ( 2n+1 ) 2

Phase Difference = ( 2n +1 )π = φ
Thus,

(2 n+1)λD
Xn = 2a

Width of Central Minima

It is the distance between two first secondary minima on both sides of
central point.

For secondary minima : asinθ = n

For n=1
asinθ = λ
λ
sinθ = a ……( 1 )

Xn
For small angle : sinθ = θ = D ……( 2 )

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From 1 and 2:
λ Xn
=
a D

Thus,

λD
Xn = a

Width of Central Maxima

2 λD
β = 2Xn = a
If lens are very close to the slit , then D ≈ f
2 λf
β= a

Angular Width of Central Maxima

λ Xn
Sinθ ¿ a = D

λ Xn
θ ¿ a= D

2λ 2 X n
Angular width = 2θ = a = D

Factors affecting Width of Central Maxima

λD
Considering the expression xn = a

Width of central maxima varies with the following parameters:

It varies directly with the wavelength of light.
It varies directly with the distance between the screen and the slit.
It is inversely proportional to the width of slit.

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 OBSERVATI
S.no ONS
Distance of screen Width of central maxima
( cm ) ( cm )
1.
2.
3.

RESUL
T
The observations obtained show that width of central maxima increases
with increase in the distance between the slit and the screen.

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 BIBLIOGRAPH
Y
1. Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia
2. Physics NCERT Class XII
3. Textbook of Physics – Pradeep’s
4. Encarta Encyclopedia
5. Britannica Encyclopedia

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