TO DETERMINE THE WAVELENGTH OF A LASER

BEAM BY DIFFRACTION
A Project Report

Submitted by
Akshith Reddy Gongireddy
In partial fulfillment of
CBSE Grade XII
IN
PHYSICS
AT

EMERALD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Venkatapura, Bairegowdanahalli Bus Stop, Sondekoppa Road,
Nelamangala, Bengaluru, 562123

2024-25
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that _______________________________________
of Grade XII, Emerald International School, Bangalore with Roll
Number
________________________________________________________
has satisfactorily completed the project in Chemistry on “To
Determine the Wavelength of a Laser Beam by Diffraction” in partial
fulfilment of the requirements as prescribed by the CBSE, in the year
2024 - 2025.

Signature of the Signature of the

Teacher In- Charge Candidate

Signature of the Signature of the

Principal External Examiner

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I warmly acknowledge the continuous encouragement and timely suggestions

offered by our dear Principal Mrs. Madhusmita Bezbaruah. I extend my hearty
thanks for giving the opportunity to make use of the facilities available in the
campus to carry out the project successfully.

I am highly indebted to Mrs. Arthi Abirami S for her constant supervision, for
providing us with necessary information and for supporting in the completion of
the project. I would like to express my gratitude for her kind co-operation and
encouragement.

Finally, I extend my gratefulness to one and all who are directly or indirectly
involved in the successful completion of this project work.

Signature of the candidate

 INTRODUCTION

Wave Theory of Light

In the late 17th century, scientists were embroiled in a debate about
the fundamental nature of light – whether it was a wave or a
particle. Sir Isaac Newton strongly advocated the particle nature of
light.
But, the Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens believed that light was
made up of waves vibrating up and down perpendicular to the
direction of the wave propagation and therefore formulated a way of
visualizing wave propagation. This became known as ‘Huygens’
Principle‘.
In 1678, Huygens proposed that every point that a luminous
disturbance meets turns into a source of the spherical wave itself. The
sum of the secondary waves, which are the result of the disturbance,
determines what form the new wave will take.
Using the above-stated principle, Huygens successfully derives the
laws of reflection and refraction of light. He was also successful in
explaining the linear and spherical propagation of light using this
theory. However, he wasn’t able to explain the diffraction effects of
light. Later, in 1803, the experiment conducted by Thomas Young on
the interference of light proved the Huygens wave theory of light to
be correct. Later in 1815, Fresnel provided mathematical equations
for Young’s experiment.
Diffraction
Diffraction of light is defined as the bending of light around corners
such that it spreads out and illuminates areas where
a shadow is expected. In general, it is hard to
separate diffraction from interference since both
occur simultaneously. The silver lining which we
witness in the sky is caused due to diffraction of
light. When the sunlight passes through or
encounters the cloud, a silver lining is seen in the
sky.
A diffraction pattern of a red laser
When the double-slit in Young’s experiment is beam projected onto a plate after
replaced by a single narrow slit, a broad pattern with passing through a small circular
aperture in another plate
a bright region at the centre is seen. On both sides of
the centre, there are alternating dark and bright
regions. The intensity becomes weaker away from
the centre.
There are two types of diffraction,
 Fresnel Diffraction
 Fraunhofer Diffraction

Single Slit Diffraction

In the single-slit diffraction experiment, we can observe the bending
phenomenon of light or diffraction that causes light from a coherent
source to interfere with itself and produce a distinctive pattern on the
screen called the diffraction pattern. Diffraction is evident when the
sources are small enough that they are relatively the size of
the wavelength of light. For large slits, the spreading out is small and
generally unnoticeable.
Examples of Diffraction in Everyday Life
The effects of diffraction are often seen in everyday life. The most
striking examples of diffraction are those that involve light; for
example, the closely spaced tracks on a CD or DVD act as
a diffraction grating to form the familiar rainbow pattern seen when
looking at a disc.

Diffraction in the atmosphere by small particles can cause a corona - a

bright disc and rings around a bright light source like the sun or the
moon. At the opposite point one may also observe glory - bright rings
around the shadow of the observer. In contrast to the corona, glory
requires the particles to be transparent spheres (like fog droplets),
since the backscattering of the light that forms the glory
involves refraction and internal reflection within the droplet.
 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this experiment is to find out the wavelength of a

laser beam by diffraction.
 THEORY

If a parallel beam of light of wavelength λ falls normally on a single

slit width d, the central maxima of the diffraction pattern occur at θ =
0 and subsequent maxima appear at,

Consider now, many such ‘slits’ equally spaced as in a shiny steel.

Also, the angle of incidence of the light beam may be close to 90°.
Referring to the figure, the path difference between the incident and
diffracted beam is,
(N1B – AN2 ) = d (sin i – sin θ)
i is the angle between incident ray and the perpendicular.
If the engravings on a metal scale are used for diffraction of light of
wavelength λ incident at an angle of incidence i ≤ 90°, for the mth
order maximum, diffracted at an angle θm as shown, we have,
d(sin i – sin θm ) = mλ
Where the spacing d between consecutive engravings is consant.
If d = 1mm, α = Angle between incident ray and the steel scale.

The above equation can be written as, d (cos α − cos βm) = m λ

For the zero order (m = 0), the beam is peculiarly reflected and α =
βm. Let D be the distance between the region of incidence at the scale
and the screen. The diffraction spots lie along the y-axis, and the
position of the mth spot is represented by ym
 EXPERIMENT
AIM:
To determine the wavelength of laser beam using diffraction

APPARATUS REQUIRMENTS:
1. A He-Ne or semiconductor laser
2. A shining steel scale with mm graduations
3. One meter scale
4. Clamp stand
5. A graph paper sheet mounted on a card board
 PROCEDURE

1. Clamp the metal scale in the horizontal position on a stand.

2. Clamp the laser source on another stand, near the edge of the scale.
3. Place both stands on the table keeping the distance between them
about 20 cm, also both should be at the same height.
4. Fix a graph sheet on a wall facing the laser source and at a distance
of 3-4 m from the scale.
5. Turn on the laser source and incline the same such that the laser
beam strikes the grooves on the scale at a grazing angle such that
diffraction spots are observed on the graph. (You may need to adjust
the position and orientation of the scale and the source to observe the
spots on the graph sheet).
6. Now keep the position and orientation of laser and the scale fixed.
7. Mark position of various diffraction spots on the graph paper.
8. Remove metal scale and observe the spot directly coming from the
laser source on the graph paper. Mark this position as (–y0).
9. Find the mid-point of direct beam position (–y0) and first spot (y0)
on the graph and mark it as M.
10. Now measure the distance of the second spot (y1) from M.
11. Repeat steps 7 to 10 for obtaining readings for 2nd and 3rd order
of diffraction pattern
 OBSERVATIONS

For First Order d = 1mm

D = ... m
Distance of 1st spot from M (y0) = ... y0
Distance of 2nd spot from M (y1) = ... y1
Observations for 2nd and 3rd order - Same as for 1st order.

CALCULATIONS

Calculate the value of (y12 – y02) for each set and then find the average
value of (y12 – y02)
Use the average value in the formula,
λ = d(y12 – y02)/2mD2
Find the value of λ.
 RESULT

Wavelength of laser beam = ... m