What is the width of the single slit used in the experiment?

[2Pac]

A single slit diffracts laser light of wavelength 610 nm onto a screen 2.25 m away. The distance between the two first-order maxima on either side of the central peak is 4.00 mm. How wide is the slit?

Anyone give me some help? i got an answer of .001029m and apparently this isn't correct. i used the formula for locating the minima a\cdot \sin(\theta) = (\lambda) . Since the second minima is located where (\lambda) is multiplied by 2. i multiplied the equation on the right side by 3/2 assuming the maxima would be found between both minima.

 

[quantumdude]

Since the second minima is located where (\lambda) is multiplied by 2.

The question doesn't ask you about the second minima. It asks about the first minima.

 

[2Pac]

No, the question asks about the first order maxima and it would not make sense for it to be asking about the center maxima because it is in the center. The intensity graph would look something like this (where the large hump is in the centerline of the slit):

 

[Doc Al]

i multiplied the equation on the right side by 3/2 assuming the maxima would be found between both minima.

The maxima are not found exactly in the middle between the minima. See here for details: http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/FraunhoferDiffractionSingleSlit.html