THE apparatus for this experiment consists of a slit and a grating. A slit may be made by ruling a line on a piece of smoked glass. The grating is made by slightly greasing the thumb and forefinger ...

M. G. FOUSSERAU describes, in the Journal de Physique for October, a simple apparatus for viewing diffraction and interference phenomena, a modified form of which I have experimented on with success.

One of the coolest things about physics is that the same basic concept can pop up in several seemingly unrelated things: say, a CD, the seed shrimp’s antennae, certain fossils in the Burgess shale, ...

Diffraction gratings are curious things. Score a series of equally spaced tiny lines in a surface, and it will cause reflected or transmitted light to bend and separate into its component wavelengths.

What happens when a wave passes through some opening? It diffracts - or you like, you could say "bends". If the size of the opening is comparable to the wavelength of the wave, the bending can be ...