One day, after pulling down your window shade, you notice that sunlight is passi

Question

One day, after pulling down your window shade, you notice that sunlight is passing through a pinhole in the shade and making a small patch of light on the far wall. Having recently studied optics in your physics class, you're not too surprised to see that the patch of light seems to be a circular diffraction pattern. It appears that the central maximum is about 7 cm across, and you estimate that the distance from the window shade to the wall is about 3 m .

Knowing that the average wavelength of sunlight is about 500 nm, estimate the diameter of the pinhole.

Explanation / Answer

D=(2.44**L)/W
D= diameter of the apparatus
= wavelength
W= Central max
L= length from the screen
D= (2.44*5E^-7*3)/0.07
D=5.23E^-5 m

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse O
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.