What property of light waves causes the bending of rays around corners in a diffraction experiment?
**Single-slit diffraction** central maximum width W =2λ D/a, a slit width, D distance, angular width θ =2λ/a, first minimum at a sinθ = λ, fourth minimum a sinθ=4λ, sinθ=4λ/a, for a=5.0 μm λ=500 nm sinθ=4×0.5/5=0.4 θ≈23.6°, central maximum width increases when slit width reduced to half doubles width, when wavelength quadrupled width quadruples, when slit tripled width one-third. Light’s wave nature allows it to spread and bend around obstacles when encountering apertures comparable to its wavelength, unlike particle-like straight paths. Using Δ = d sinθ, y = n λ D/d, a sinθ = n λ, I = I₀ cos²
Ref: NCERT > Physics Book > Wave Optics > Diffraction - Single-Slit and Central Maximum