Modern Physics > Quantum Effects > X-Ray and Electron Diffraction DCS# 6D20.55(2)

OPTICAL TRANSFORM SLIDES

 

APPARATUS
laser 202-21-B5
optical transform slides 202-21-E-4
8x loupe
101-06-C3


DESCRIPTION
Shine a laser through various periodic arrays of dots to show the resulting diffraction patterns.  Compare patterns produced by arrays with different spacings, symmetries, etc.

There are four slides with eight patterns on each.  The manual has enlarged images of the patterns for use with the document camera, or one can view the slides with the loupe.

Brief descriptions of slides:
unit cell (black):
arrays represent 2-D versions of simple cubic, body-centered cubic, orthorhombic, monoclinic, and hexagonal close-packed structures

discovery (green):
horizontal and vertical lines of different spacings, square arrays of different spacings.

VSEPR (red):

arrays represent triatomic molecules with different bond angles.

plane groups (blue):

arrays have same size unit cells with different symmetries.

Student can view the slides themselves using the loupe or, for a large group, they can be projected with a slide projector.

NOTE

This set of slides is intended as an optical analog of x-ray diffraction, as are the Bergsten "optical crystal" slides.  We have another set of optical transform slides from the Metrologic Physical Optics Kit that demonstrates aspects of image processing, spatial filtering, etc.

REFERENCE
J. Chem. Educ., 1991, 68, 91-96