Tanya Hanson (1213424)

203-NYC-005 Waves Optics and Modern Physics Andrew Stewart

Lab #3: Diffraction Grating

Dawson College

Questions For Lab #3 1. The color of the central zero order maximum is white because when m=0 when one tries to calculate the angle at which this color occur d sin = 0 since at the central order maximum the light goes straight through and is not bent at a certain angle ie no diffraction occurs at this area thus producing no wavelength since all the colors in the spectrum are expressed at once. 2. The color that deviated the least in each order was the violet line. This agrees with the theory such that for any given value of m shorter wavelengths ie violet lines lie at smaller angles (deviate less from the central zero order maxima) than do colors with longer wavelengths such as those in the red family, which produce larger angles that deviate more from the central order maxima. 3. From the lab data there was no overlapping of orders since only 2 orders of the spectrum were visible. Third order violet line

m=3, = 404.7;
second order red line:

= 46.78

m=2, = 623.4;

= 48.45

Thus showing that as the orders of the lines increase their prospective angles also increase which in turn causes a greater deviation from the central zero order maxima. 4. Only 2 complete orders of the spectrum could be seen. In order to calculate the theoretical number of complete orders the maximum values of theta (90) and lambda (623.4nm) are needed for the calculation.

= 2.6 complete orders

5. Angular separation for first order yellow doublets (m=1) : Angular separation= Angular separation = Angular separation for second order yellow doublets (m=2): Angular separation= Angular separation = According to the calculations yes the second order yellow doublet is more separated than the first order because the angular measurements of the second order are much larger than that of the first order. Thus the intensity of the second order doublet is less intense than that of the first order yellow doublet because in a diffraction grating with multiple slits as the order of the color increases their angular separation becomes larger and thus deviates further away from the central zero order maxima, which is the brightest spot in the diffraction pattern causing the colors to become less intense as their wavelength increases.

Sample Calculations:

Diffraction Grating: d= ( ) ( )

Average Angle (violet line): | Where: | | |

Computed Wavelength (Blue line) = 408.2nm Where:

Percent Error for Blue Green line

| | | |

*100