Diffraction of light at a slit and an edge

Principle

Monochromatic light is incident on a slit or an edge. The intensity distribution of the diffraction pattern is determined.

Benefits

• learn that the transition region from light to shadow is not a sharp line, but a diffraction pattern
• you can make use of diffraction patterns to determine properties of the objects causing them
• simple setup with very few components

Tasks

1. Measurement of the width of a given slit.
2. Measurement of the intensity distribution of the diffraction pattern of the slit and of the edge.

Learning objectives

• Intensity
• Fresnel integrals
• Fraunhofer diffraction