Laser Diffraction Experiment

We are working with four different patterns. The left 2 patterns consist of vertical lines and the right 2 pattern consist of horizontal lines. When the laser projected through the patterns, we saw something like this:

(This is not to scale)

The lasers were placed 1 m away from a sheet a paper.

Red laser:

The top two patterns created a line of dots 1 cm apart and the bottom two patterns created a line of dots 1.5 cm apart.

Green laser:

The top two patterns created a line of dots 1 cm apart and the bottom two patterns created a line of dots 1.25 cm apart.

Therefore the distance between the top pattern's lines are 160 nm and 60 nm thick.

And the  distance between the top pattern's lines are 130 nm and 60 nm thick.

Wave Interface Simulation

1) A drop at 50% amplitude and a frequency at 20% has a wave length of 3.7 cm

    A drop at 100% amplitude and a frequency at 20% has a wave length of  cm 3.15 cm

2)  A drop at 50% amplitude and a frequency at 20% has a wave length of 3.7 cm

     A drop at 50% amplitude and a frequency at 50% has a wave length of 1.63 cm

3) Therefore:

      - When frequency is constant, an increase in amplitude causes a minor decrease in wave length.

      - When amplitude is constant, an increase in frequency causes a significant decrease in wave length.

4) There are now two faucets and both are set at a at 50% amplitude and a 50% frequency.

       - Wave length 1.6.

Refer to the picture so the following information makes sense. Also note that the top faucet will be referred to as "Faucet A" and the bottom faucet will be referred to as "Faucet B". We will be measuring the distance from where the drops enter the water to eight color-coded points which represent the high points of the water created by the waves.

Color of Dot	Black	Red	Grey	Brown	Green	Blue	Purple	White
Distance from “Faucet A”	6 cm	3 cm	4.5 cm	3 cm	5.5 cm	6 cm	6 cm	7.5 cm
Distance from “Faucet B”	9 cm	6 cm	6 cm	5 cm	3 cm	5 cm	3 cm	6 cm

The important thing to notice here is that while each point has a different distance from each faucet they are all divisible or close to divisible by 1.5. This is important because it reemphasizes the fact that wave lengths are consistent enough to be considered a unit of measurement.

* The measurements that are not divisible by 1.5 are technical errors due to inaccuracies in the program.
* I am working on adding a picture of the program I was using to make it easier to understand what I'm talking about.