Chapter 36, Problem 103P

Light containing a mixture of two wavelengths, 500 and 600 nm, is incident normally on a diffraction grating. It is desired (1) that the first and second maxima for each wavelength appear at θ ≤ 30°, (2) that the dispersion be as high as possible, and (3) that the third order for the 600 nm light be a missing order. (a) What should be the slit separation? (b) What is the smallest individual slit width that can be used? (c) For the values calculated in (a) and (b) and the light of wavelength 600 nm, what is the largest order of maxima produced by the grating?