SPERSION,SCATTERING,INTERFEREN

AND DIFFRACTION
ELECTRON AS A WAVE
1. Cite experimental evidence showing
that electrons can behave like
waves (S11/12PS-IVg-64)
2. Differentiate dispersion, scattering,
interference, and diffraction
(S11/12PS-IVh-65)
1. Diffraction of light means that
a. light is a transverse wave.
b. light is reflected from a film.
c. light bends as it enters a different medium.
d. light bends as it passes through a small opening.
2. The sun appears to be more reddish at sunset than at noon. Which of
the
following phenomena is responsible for this effect?
a. dispersion b. interference c. reflection d. scattering
3. Which property of light produces bright and dark bands on a screen
after light from a source passes through two very narrow slits that are
near each other?
a. dispersion b. interference c. polarization d. refraction
4. When sunlight falls on soap bubble, the band of colors seen is due
to
a. dispersion. b. interference. c. pigments of soap. d. refraction.
5. Which of the following defines wave – particle duality?
a. Not only do waves like light behave as particles, but particles can
also behave as waves.
b. Waves can act like particles, but not the other way around.
c. Particles can act like waves, but not the other way around.
d. Particles always behave like waves, no matter the circumstances.
Diffraction – the bending of light as it passes through an
obstruction such as a small slit.
Dispersion - the splitting of white light into its constituent
colors due to the refractive index of the surface and the
wavelength of the light.
Interference of light – property of light that occurs
when two beams of light superimposed with one
another.
Photon – a particle of light defined as a discrete bundle (or
quantum) of electromagnetic (or light) energy.
Scattering of light - the phenomenon in
which light rays get deviated from its straight
path on striking an obstacle like dust or gas
molecules, water vapors and other particles
suspended in a medium.
Wave – Particle duality – the exhibition of
both wave-like and particle-like properties by a
single entity.
 PRACTICAL WORK #1: Let’s Make a RAINBOW!

Materials:
• Strong sunlight/flashlight
• 1 Glass prism/small mirror/glass/bottle half-filled with water
• 1 White cardboard/paper (optional)
Procedure:
1. Place a piece of white paper on the ground under the sunlight.
2. Put the prism on or above the paper. In the absence of prism, a bottle
half – filled with water or a transparent glass can be used as a
substitute. (Please see Figure 1&2)
3. Rotate and move prism around until you see rainbow colors on the
paper. Figure 1 show
sample result of this step.
4. If you do not have prism, use a small mirror, flashlight and
water to make a rainbow on the wall similar to the one shown
in Figure 3 & 4.

Figure 1. Rainbow Prism. The white light from the
sun forms a rainbow. This shows dispersion.
Photo Source:
https://www.rookieparenting.com/make-yourown-
rainbow-science-experiment/
Figure 2. Rainbow can be produced using a
transparentglass with water. Photo Source:
https://mariaisaac.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/
build-thepentaprism-
get-the-rainbow/
PRACTICAL WORK #2: Let there be LIGHT!
(The Tyndall Effect Activity)

Materials:
• Flashlight
• 300 mL Water
• 3 drinking glasses
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 2 tablespoon of flour
Procedure:
1.Pour 100 mL water in each glass. If there are no
measuring devices, you can estimate the amount of
water in each glass
provided that the amount of water will be the same.
2. Label the glasses using the following guide:
Glass A: Water only
Glass B: Water with milk
Glass C: Flour and Water
3. Use the flashlight to observe the scattering of light.
Guide Questions:
1. Differentiate your observation of how
light reacts with the three set-ups.
2. Which glass(es) shows Tyndall Effect?
Recall that Tyndall Effect is the scattering
of light by particles in colloid or
suspension.
3. Explain why Tyndall Effect can be
observed in your answer in number 2.
 PRACTICAL WORK #3: SIMPLE EXPERIMENT on
DIFFRACTION and INTERFERENCE of LIGHT WAVES

Materials:
• Strong white light source (fluorescent or incandescent bulb at
home)
• Single slit
• Double slits (slit separation d= 0.10mm, 0.15mm, 0.20mm, 0.25mm,
slit width a= 0.05mm)
Note: Single and double slit can be made from a piece of used cardboard
Procedure:
1. Look through a single slit close to your eye. Describe and
draw what you see.
2. Hold two single slits about 30 cm apart, as shown in Fig. 4. This slit
should be aligned and parallel. Look through a single slit under bright
white light (fluorescent light or a straight filament lamp). Draw what you
see.
3. Hold a single slit with one hand. Hold a double slit (d=0.1mm)
with the other hand, bring it close to the eye and look through this at
about 30 cm away from the single slit as shown in Figure 5. The
slits should be aligned and parallel. Describe and draw what you see.
Compare your observation with what you observed in Step 2. Repeat
Step 3 using the other double slits (d=0.15mm, d=0.20 mm, d=0.25mm)
one at a time. Draw what you observed for each double slit.
Guide Questions:
1. Describe what happens to the white light in Steps 1 and 2 when a single slit
and two single slits are used. What property of waves is being demonstrated
in this procedure?
2. Describe what happens to white light in Step 3 when a single slit and a
double slit are used. What property of waves is manifested in this set – up?
What is the important Characteristic of the light source for it to exhibit this
property of waves?
3. Compare the interference fringes formed in the different double slits.
4. Predict what will happen to the diffraction and interference pattern when the
width of the single slit were increased.
 Dispersion happens when light is refracted when it passes
through another medium.

Sir Isaac Newton, while studying the image of a heavenly body

formed due to refraction of white light by a lens, found that the image
is colored at its edges. He thought that the colored image is due to
some defect in the lens. He then repeated the experiment with a
carefully polished lens, but the image was still colored. Newton then
thought that the fault is not in the lens, but there is something in the
nature of white light itself due to which the image is colored at its
edges. Toinvestigate it further, he performed another experiment with
a prism.
Newton observed white light from sun to enter a dark
room through a small aperture in a window. He placed a
glass prism in the path of light rays. The light coming out
of the prism was received on a white screen which
registered a colored patch like rainbow that was called
spectrum.
The Tyndall effect is the
scattering of light which can be
observed as a light beam passes
through a colloid. The suspended
particles in the colloid makes the
beam visible. This was first
described by 19th-century
physicist John Tyndall.
Scattering of light is the
phenomenon in which light
rays get diverged from its
straight path after hitting an
obstacle like dust or gas
molecules, water vapors and
other particles suspended in
a medium. Scattering of light
is responsible for some
phenomena such as Tyndall
effect and the red sunrise and
sunset.
The double-slit experiment was first performed in
1800s by the English scientist Thomas Young to
explain whether light is a particle or a wave.
Using sunlight diffracted with a small slit, Young
projected the light rays from the slit into another
screen with two slits placed side by side. Light
passing through the pair of slits was
then allowed to fall into another screen.
In 1905, Albert Einstein proved that light is consist of
discrete particles which he called "photons." The
double-slit experiment conducted using single photons
showed an interference pattern also despite of the
premise that single particle shot toward the screen
should not be able to interfere with itself. This showed
that light sometimes behaves as a wave and sometimes
behaves as a particle. This is known as the wave-
particle duality.
In 1924, a French physicist, Louis de Broglie
(pronounced “de broy”) proposed that if light is
dualistic in nature, matter should also exhibit this
duality trait. He said that electron can also exhibit a
similar wave – particle duality. This means that
electrons should show the properties of waves like
diffraction. His bold ideas were verified by a
diffraction experiment with electrons in 1927 with
Clinton J. Davisson and Lester H. Germer from the
United States by shooting electron particles onto a
crystal of nickel.
In 1927 George P. Thomson from Scotland conducted an
experiment by firing electrons towards thin metal foil
which gave him the same result as Davisson and Germer.
As a historical note, the wave – particle duality of
electrons was demonstrated by father and son tandem.
George P. Thomson is the son of JJ Thomson who won
Nobel Prize in 1906 for discovering electron. The father
showed that electron is a particle while the son proved
that it is a wave
SCIENTIST ON PARADE
Directions: Prepare a poster which illustrates or describes the role of the
scientists listed below in the establishment of the concept of electron behaving
like a wave. Output
must be compiled in your portfolio.Also, reflect on the lives of these scientists
and relate what you liked in the life story of the scientists and what attributes did
they possess that are worthy to emulate. You are given about 1 to 2 weeks to
work on the project. Your output will be graded using the rubric on the next page.
1. Max Planck
2. Albert Einstein
3. Louis de Broglie
4. Thomas Young
5. Clinton J. Davisson
6. Lester H. Germer
7. George P. Thomson
PART A. PHYSICS in DAILY LIFE
Directions: Learning is more fun when applied on
a daily basis.. Determine the phenomena
responsible for the following:
1. CD reflecting rainbow colors
2. Tyndall Effect
3. Holograms
4. Different colors when fuel mixes with water
5. Sun appears red during sunset
6. Bending of light at the corner of the door
7. Blue Sky
8. Formation of rainbow
9. Colors in soap bubbles
10. Security system in museum