Chapter 38, Problem 74AP

Light of wavelength 632.8 nm illuminates a single slit, and a diffraction pattern is formed on a screen 1.00 m from the slit. (a) Using the data in the following table, plot relative intensity versus position. Choose an appropriate value for the slit width a and, on the same graph used for the experimental data, plot the theoretical expression for the relative intensity

$\frac{I}{I_{\text{max}}}=\frac{{\sin }^2\varphi }{{\varphi }^2}$

where ϕ = (πa sin θ)/λ. (b) What value of a gives the best fit of theory and experiment?