Question

What is diffraction when light passes through a single narrow slit?

Options

• The production of only dark fringes

• The cancellation of all light at the centre of the screen

• The spreading of light that produces alternating bright and dark bands

• The equal intensity of all bright regions

Answer 1

Light spreads out after passing through a single narrow slit; this spreading is called diffraction. The resulting pattern contains alternating bright and dark bands.