Projects / Diffraction Spectroscope
Diffraction Spectroscope
Build a keepable diffraction spectroscope: a laser-cut 3mm birch plywood light-tight tube, a razor-edge slit with a printed wavelength scale beside it, and a CD diffraction grating (DVD comparison included). Calibrate on a fluorescent lamp’s mercury lines and measure unknown sources to about ±5 nm — Max von Laue’s physics, on the desk. Never point it at the Sun.
Digital guide + cut files + BOM + code · Parts sourced separately · Ages 8–14 with adult help
Pack contents
- Build guide: assemble tube, make the slit, calibrate on fluorescent lines
- SVG cut files: tube panels, slit + scale plate, grating plate, printable scale
- First principles: grating equation, orders, calibration honesty
- Optional LED PWM illuminator sketch
- Verified BOM (~$8–23 optics only; $15–43 with the illuminator)
Typical hardware cost
Default structure is laser-cut birch plywood with real fasteners and hobby electronics you can source—honest BOM, not mystery modules.
- ~$15–43 in typical parts with the illuminator ($8–23 optics only) (makerspace cut toward the low end; mail-order toward the high end)
- Digital pack price ≠ hardware
The $7 pack is the digital guide + cut files + BOM + lessons + code, plus printable Builder's Corner build journal pages. Hardware is sourced separately — see Where to get kit materials. Buy with Stripe is live below.
Questions? Email us at lance.haney@gmail.com.
Pricing
- Home / Personal license $7
- Classroom license $29 — 1 teacher, up to 30 studentsOne $29 Classroom license covers one group of up to 30 students. Each additional group needs another license.
- Build materials available at cost + 10% — email for a quote
Learning outcomes
- State the grating equation and identify diffraction orders
- Assemble a birch spectroscope with controlled slit width
- Calibrate a scale on known mercury lines (λ = d·sin(arctan(x/L)))
- Estimate an unknown source wavelength from fringe position