Diffraction of light

              Diffraction of Light

When the light rays meet some obstacle in their path they will bend and travel. This process is called Diffraction of Light. Diffraction refers to various phenomena which occur when a wave encounters an obstacle. Italian scientist Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word "diffraction" and was the first to record accurate observations of the phenomenon in 1665.

Wonders of Diffraction of light

1.        Solar glory at the steam from hot springs. A glory is an optical phenomenon produced by light backscattered (a combination of diffraction, reflection and refraction) towards its source by a cloud of uniformly-sized water droplets.

2.        Colors seen in a spider web are partially due to diffraction, according to some analyses.

3.        Different colors appear on C.D surfaces due to diffraction of light.

4.   When seen from far different colors appear near holes due to diffraction.

5.        Streaks appear behind hills during sunrise and sunset due to diffraction.

6.        When we see a lamp with half open eyes different colors appear due to diffraction of light.