Physics › Section S · Vision, instruments, and wave optics › Topic S.5
Single-slit diffraction and resolution limits
Send light through one narrow opening and it does not make a sharp image of the opening: it spreads into a bright central band edged by dark and dim fringes. The same spreading sets the finest detail that any eye, camera or telescope can ever see.
In this topic
- One slit, many fringes
- Where the dark fringes fall
- Not the double-slit rule
- The width of the central maximum
- Worked example: measuring a slit with a laser
- Round openings and the Rayleigh criterion
- Worked example: a backyard telescope
- Worked example: two headlights
- Diffraction limits everywhere
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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