Lesson Plan: Diffraction of Light Waves Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe the interference patterns produced by waves that are diffracted by passing through gaps and traveling different distances.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- identify the diffraction of a light wave as a change in its direction of travel that does not occur due to changes in the medium in which the wave travels,
- qualitatively describe the interference pattern produced by double slits in terms of alternating light and dark fringes symmetrical about a central bright fringe,
- qualitatively describe the path length conditions for constructive and destructive regions in overlapping waves that diffract through double slits,
- qualitatively relate the angle that light waves spread out after passing through a single slit to the ratio of the slit width to the light wavelength,
- qualitatively relate the angle that light waves spread out after passing through a single slit to the wavelength of the light.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- transverse wave properties,
- coherent light,
- constructive and destructive interference.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- ,
- slit interference.