Single Slit Diffraction

• in a double slit interference pattern, all of the fringes are the same width

  but in the single slit diffraction pattern, the central fringe is double the width of the adjacent fringes
• in single slit diffraction, the central fringe has a much greater intensity than all of the other bright fringes. This is not the case for the double slit interference pattern
• for single slit diffraction patterns

  where a is the width of the slit

  A) fringe spacing

  B) distance

  C) wavelength

  
• using white light in the single slit diffraction experiment

  blue light has a shorter wavelength and so will have a narrower central maximum

  red has a longer wavelength and so will have a wider central maximum

  white central fringe with high intensity and double width, with outer rainbow fringes with lower intensity