Red Laser Light Passes Through a Single Slit to Form $\theta$

question 25

Multiple Choice

Red laser light passes through a single slit to form a diffraction pattern. If the width of the slit is increased by a factor of two, what happens to the width of the central maximum? Note: Assume that the angle $\theta$ is sufficiently small so that (sin $\theta$ ) is nearly equal to $\theta$ .

• A)The width of the central maximum increases by a factor of 4.
• B)The width of the central maximum decreases by a factor of 2.
• C)The width of the central maximum decreases by a factor of 4.
• D)The width of the central maximum increases by a factor of 2.
• E)The width of the central maximum does not change.

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