Diffraction Grating Lab

Objective

Determine the spacing of grooves on a compact disc using a laser and the laws of diffraction.

Equipment

1) cd

2) meterstick

3) helium neon laser

4) whiteboard

Procedure

Set up a cd and a whiteboard parallel to eachother. Shine the laser beam perpendicularly to the cd so that the primary reflected beam falls back onto the laser. Measure the distance between the two second order maxima. Also measure the distance from the cd to the whiteboard and the wavelength of the laser beam.

Data and Calculations