What Is Diffraction Photography?
Diffraction photography records the effects of the principle of physics wherein light bends as it passes through an opening. The smaller the opening, the more the light bends as it passes through. This results in less detail and a fuzzier image for normal photography, or in interesting patterns depending on what is used to diffract the light. This is used to best effect in spectroscopy.
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History
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Diffraction photography was used in spectroscopy to help record the chemical composition of objects studied by astronomers and was also used to determine the composition of different elements.
Function
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Diffraction photography can be used in scientific studies of elements. Artists also photograph interesting patterns that different diffraction gratings can produce.
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Benefits
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Diffraction photography was instrumental in the development of the spectrograph, which was more accurate than the spectroscope. In place of the viewing lens, there was a camera, which recorded the diffraction pattern.
Features
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Photographs of light diffraction are usually regular patterns of lines or dots. Scientists can use these to determine the chemical structure of the object being studied, such as a crystal or a star.
Fun Fact
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In 1842, a scientist in Paris named Edmund Becquerel photographed the spectrum of the sun using a prism, a slit to diffract the light, and a lens to focus the image onto a glass plate.
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