OPTICS - DIFFRACTION - DIFFRACTION THROUGH ONE SLIT	NC State University Faculty Access
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Description: The optimal size of the facet of a compound eye is determined by a tradeoff between the competing effects of angular resolution between neighboring facets and the limits to resolution imposed by diffraction of a single facet. This tradeoff is demonstrated by bringing two nearly co-linear laser beams through a single slit. For two beams of fixed angular separation Q incident on the same slit, the ability to resolve the two beams decreases as the slit size decreases. For decreasingly small slit size d, two single slit diffraction patterns overlap so as to make resolution of the two sources impossible. Similarly, for a fixed slit size d, as the angular separation Q increases, the two sources become clearly resolved. The demo projects beams of two lasers through a slit with an ability to control the slit size d and the angular separation of the two sources Q. Purchased/Built: built Setup Time: 1 day Quant. in Demo Room: 1
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