Introduction: The purpose of this lab is to observe the optical concepts known as diffraction and interference. Theory: Light is a wave and thus has a wavelength. White light consists of a continuous spectrum of all visible colors (ROYGBIV), each with a distinct wavelength. Lasers have one specific wavelength; the laser used in this lab has He-Ne gases, which produce a wavelength of approximately 634 nm. In this experiment, we will look at different slit combinations …showed first 75 words of 341 total…

…showed last 75 words of 341 total…will use several slits for which both d (distance between slits) and a (width of slit) are known. Then we will sketch out the diffraction pattern we observe on a piece of blank paper. Next, we will measure the distance out from the central max for a specific secondary max (n = 1, 2, 3, 4…). After obtaining all of our measurements we will use the equations for interference and diffraction to calculate the wavelength of the light. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**