Consider laser light passing through a single narrow slit. What happens to the w

Question

Consider laser light passing through a single narrow slit. What happens to the width of the central maximum of the diffraction pattern if the slit were now half as wide? Destructive Interference for the first dark spot can be determined by the equations below. In the first equation, theta dark is the angle to the first dark fringe measured from the center of the central maximum, lambda is the wavelength of laser light, and a is the aperture width. In the second equation,y is the height of the first dark fringe on the screen and L is the distance from the slit to the screen. sin( theta dark )= lambda/a tan (theta dark )= y/L

Explanation / Answer

for small angle sin = tan

lambda/a = y/L

y = lambda L/a

if you halve a, you will double y

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