Exam-style question
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What effect does increasing the wavelength of light have on the diffraction pattern produced by a grating?.
- A.The fringes become closer together
- B.The fringes become further apart
- C.The intensity of the fringes increases
- D.The number of fringes decreases
Model answer
What a good answer should say
- The fringes become further apart
Explanation
Why this works
Increasing the wavelength of light results in a larger angle of diffraction for each order of maximum, leading to fringes that are further apart. This is a direct consequence of the relationship defined by the diffraction grating equation, d sin(θ) = nλ.
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