How Does White Light Affect Double Slit Interference Patterns?

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White light in the double slit experiment differs from monochromatic light by producing a superimposed pattern of multiple colors due to the presence of various wavelengths. Unlike single-wavelength light, which creates distinct interference fringes, white light results in a more complex pattern where individual colors overlap. This occurs because white light is composed of all visible wavelengths, leading to varying degrees of constructive and destructive interference. The interference pattern from white light will appear as a series of colored fringes rather than a single color. Therefore, white light does not represent a single wavelength, and its interference is a result of the combination of all visible wavelengths.
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Homework Statement


How would white light in the double slit experiment be different from the pattern of a normal monochromatic diffraction?



Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution


No idea
 
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Light of a single wavelength makes a certain type of pattern. If many different wavelengths are present at the same time, you should observe all those individule patterns superimposed. Think about what that will look like.
 
So is white light defined as "light from a single wavelength?" If this is so, there will be no interference and light through the slits would never interfere, right?
 
"white light" is an expression for light of all visible wavelengths. Light of a single wavelength will have a specific color (to our eye). Light of a single color produces interference patterns. In fact that is usually what you see in textbooks; a pattern of interference fringes due to a laser beam (single wavelength) passing through two narrow slits. To form an interference pattern, something must be interfering with something else, but it is not one color of light interfering with another.
 
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