Every earlier reflection ledger in this book fixed diffraction order at one and scanned the Miller family; this scan holds spacing and ray geometry fixed and scans the order itself. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.

highlighted = computed this step

Every earlier reflection row held diffraction order fixed at one

Every earlier reflection ledger in this book fixed the diffraction order at 1 and only ever varied the Miller family or the ray geometry. Here spacing stays 5 m and the ray triangle stays fixed, but order itself is 1, giving wavelength 6 m.

6/1=6 m6/1=6\ \text{m}
Diffraction order oneThis row is every earlier reflection ledger's own checked order.spacing=5 morder=1wavelength=6 maccepted=1

The diffraction order itself sets the accepted wavelength

Spacing and the ray triangle never change across these rows. The diffraction order alone divides the same path difference into a different accepted wavelength.

6/2=3 m6/2=3\ \text{m}
Diffraction order twoA second-order reflection accepts half the first-order wavelength.spacing=5 morder=2wavelength=3 maccepted=1

A third-order reflection accepts a third of the path difference

At order 3, the same path difference gives wavelength 2 m. Three rows separate diffraction order from the Miller-family factor already scanned in chapter six.

6/3=2 m6/3=2\ \text{m}
Diffraction order threeThe final row is rendered as the checked highest-order case.spacing=5 morder=3wavelength=2 maccepted=1