What is the relationship between the wavelength of light and the angle of diffraction in a diffraction grating?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the relationship between the wavelength of light and the angle of diffraction in a diffraction grating?
Longer wavelengths diffract less
Longer wavelengths diffract more
Wavelength has no effect
Only the slit width matters
Longer wavelengths diffract more, leading to larger angles of diffraction in a diffraction grating.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: What is the relationship between the wavelength of light and the angle of diffraction in a diffraction grating?
Solution: Longer wavelengths diffract more, leading to larger angles of diffraction in a diffraction grating.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand what a diffraction grating is. It is a tool that spreads light into its different colors (wavelengths).
Step 2: Know that light travels in waves, and each color of light has a different wavelength. For example, red light has a longer wavelength than blue light.
Step 3: When light hits the diffraction grating, it bends or 'diffracts' at different angles depending on its wavelength.
Step 4: Realize that longer wavelengths (like red light) bend more than shorter wavelengths (like blue light).
Step 5: Conclude that because longer wavelengths diffract more, they create larger angles of diffraction when passing through the grating.