Single slit

Have you ever seen a tiny ray of sunlight coming through a small opening in a window or curtain? That's like a single slit.

Now, imagine a piece of cardboard with a small, narrow opening in it. When you shine a light through that opening, like a flashlight or a laser pointer, you'll see a bright spot on a wall or surface behind it.

But if you move the cardboard closer or farther away from the surface, you'll notice that the bright spot gets bigger or smaller. That's because when the light goes through the narrow opening or "single slit," it starts to spread out and interfere with itself, creating bright and dark bands of light.

This happens because light behaves like a wave, and when the waves pass through the single slit, they bend and diffract. The diffracted waves creating a pattern of interference, which results in the bright and dark spots.

Scientists use this phenomenon to study the properties of light and to make precise measurements of objects. It's amazing how much we can learn just by using a little cardboard and a flashlight!