Please explain your thought process. 6. An aquarium light bulb has a long, strai

Question

Please explain your thought process.

6. An aquarium light bulb has a long, straight glowing filament surrounded by a tubular, clear glass bulb. This lighted bulb, with its filament oriented vertically, is placed 1.0 m froma screen in an otherwise dark room. A thin sheet of cardboard is placed halfway between the filament and the screen so that no light can reach the screen. If a small hole, shaped like an equilateral triangle, is cut through the center of the card board sheet, describe the pattern of light that appears on the screen

Explanation / Answer

Diffraction occurs when light hits an obstacle, and then bends around the edge of the object. Light is also a wave, so if it goes through a narrow slit or small hole, it changes from a plane wave to a spherical one. As the light wave becomes spherical, it spreads, and weakens after surrounding a small object or passing through a slit, making it seem to fade.

So, Light Passing through a Hole Forms Ripples   of brightness and darkness. The sharpest bright spot is at the center, and ripples expand further out around the center. This is called the diffraction image.

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