High School

A laser produces a beam a few millimeters wide, with uniform intensity across its width. A hair is stretched vertically across the front of the laser to cross the beam.

(b) How could you determine the width of the hair from measurements of its diffraction pattern?

Answer :

To determine the width of the hair from measurements of its diffraction pattern, you can utilize the principles of diffraction. By observing the pattern formed by the laser beam after passing through the hair, you can measure the distance between adjacent bright or dark fringes in the diffraction pattern. This distance is known as the fringe spacing.

The fringe spacing is related to the width of the hair and the wavelength of the laser light used. The narrower the hair, the wider the fringe spacing will be. By knowing the wavelength of the laser and measuring the fringe spacing, you can calculate the width of the hair using the formula:

Hair width = (Fringe spacing * Distance to screen) / (Distance between hair and screen)

Where the distance to the screen is the distance between the hair and the screen on which the diffraction pattern is observed, and the distance between the hair and the screen is the distance between the hair and the laser beam source.

Please note that this method assumes the diffraction pattern is formed in the Fraunhofer regime and that the hair is sufficiently thin compared to the laser's wavelength.

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