A light is shone through a diffraction grating of slit spacing 4.5x10^5 lines per metre. The incident wavelength is 650nm. Find the angle produced by the incident light and the 2nd order maximum.

In the question you are given the slit spacing of the diffraction grate. To find the fringe spacing of this grate you can use d=1/N where N is the slits per metre. In this question this would be 1/4.5x10^5 = d = 2x10^-6 m. To find the angle provided by the second order maximum, rearrange the equation nλ=dsinθ to make sinθ the subject.This would then become nλ/d = sinθ.To find sinθ, sub in the values given to you in the question; i.e. n=2, λ=650nm and d=2x10^-6 m.This gives sinθ=0.65.Use your calculator to find sin-1(0.65) to find θ=40.5°.

SC
Answered by Sarah C. Physics tutor

5080 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

What does a stress-strain curve for a metal look like and what does each part mean?


How do I find an area in m^2 when I'm given lengths in cm?


What is a vector quantity


a ball is dropped from rest off a cliff of height 50m, determine the final velocity of the ball assuming no air resistance.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning