Measuring Wavelength with a Ruler

In this experiment we will find that the wavelength of light from a laser can be measured fairly well with the clever use of a ruler. This is a fine way to introduce more advanced forms of error propagation, as well as some introductory statistical analysis tools, to students in an upper division physics lab who are looking to understand the appropriate ways to interpret and report data. The evaluation methods used come directly from John R. Taylor's " An Introduction to Error Analysis "