Question

Consider light with a wavelength of 519 nm is passing through a diffraction grating with 1208 lines per cm. At what distance from the central bright maximum will the 1^st order maximum be seen on a screen placed 1.20 m from the diffraction grating. Give your answer in centimeters (cm) with 3 significant figures please. :)

Answer 1

$\lambda$ = wavelength = 519 nm = 519 x 10^-9 m

d = slit width = 0.01/1208 = 8.3 x 10^-6 m

D = screen distance = 1.20 m

n = 1

y = distance from central bright maximum

using the equation

y = nD $\lambda$ /d

y = 1 (1.20) (519 x 10^-9) /(8.3 x 10^-6) = 0.075 m = 7.50 cm