Re: Diffraction

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

> Could someone give me an explanation that could be understood by high
> school students as to what the wavelength has to do with the amount of
> diffraction.

I have the radical opinion that an explanation of the effects
should not be attempted until it can be approached with appropriate
mathematics, and that is beyond high school in most cases. The
students should still be introduced to the phenomena, but it should
not be necessary to "explain" them in some lame fashion crippled by
the lack of the right tools.

As a shocker, let me say that I feel the same way about explanation
of the phenomenon of the rainbow, which certainly requires calculus
and some physical intuition!

There is an excellent popular science book which touches this topic
and is a excellent choice for the bright, interested high school
science student. It is Richard Feynman's "QED the strange theory of
light and matter".

Leigh