Appreciable diffraction only occurs if the gap is no bigger than the wavelength
of the wave. The narrower the slit, the greater the diffraction for a particular
wavelength .
The longer the wavelength for a constant slit width, the greater the diffraction
Diffraction
When waves pass an edge of an obstacle, or through a gap, they spread out
and change shape. The wavelength, frequency and velocity remains constant.
The extent of the spreading depends on the size of the gap, as shown below:
Phase difference
Phase difference is a way of measuring how far ahead one wave is of another
3. Partial interference (eg half a wavelength, quarter of a wavelength etc). It is given as an angle, with
a whole wavelength corresponding to 360o. So if one wave leads another by a
Wave 1 quarter of a wavelength, this is a phase difference of ¼ 360o = 90o. If the This interference results from the fact that light from the different slits travels a
Interference
phase difference is zero (example 1 above), they are in phase. If the phase different distance to reach a given point on the screen; this is referred to as the
difference is 180o (= half a wavelength), they are completely out of phase path difference.
When two sets of waves combine, we use:
Wave 2
Double slit diffraction The fringe spacing between two adjacent bright fringes is given by
Principle of Superposition The resultant displacement at a point is equal to the
Diffraction of light and the single slit This produces a difference in intensity within each bright fringe seen in the
vector sum of the individual displacements at that point. 2. Destructive Interference
single slit pattern. This results from interference between light from one slit the y=
1. Constructive Interference Produces Diffraction of light through a slit onto a screen leads to the production of light other
Wave 1
Wave 1 and dark fringes. The brightness and width of the fringes can be represented D = distance to screen; = wavelength; d = slit spacing
In this case, peaks and troughs do not exactly coincide. graphically:
Wave 2 In between the light and dark fringes, the interference is not perfectly
Wave 2
constructive or destructive, so the intensity of the light changes gradually.
Produces
Produces
In this case, the peaks in one wave coincide with the troughs in the other, to
produce no resultant displacement – the two cancel.
In this case, the peaks and troughs in the two waves coincide, and hence
reinforce each other.
The fringe pattern has the following properties:
1) It is symmetrical
2)The central bright fringe is much brighter than the other fringes
3)It is twice as wide as the other fringes
4)The brightness (intensity of light) decreases with distance from the central
fringe – so the outer fringes are the faintest. n = number of fringes
= wavelength
d = slit width
Polarisation
Normally, the oscillations in a transverse wave may be in many different
directions. For example, for a wave travelling out of this page towards you, the
oscillations will be in the plane of the page, and could be left to right, up and
down, diagonally etc. Transverse waves may undergo polarisation. A polarised
wave oscillates in one direction only. Longitudinal waves cannot be polarised
because the oscillations are already in one direction only.
Polarised light is most easily produced using a piece of Polaroid (as used in
sunglasses). Polaroid works by only allowing through light which oscillates in a
particular direction If the light is passed through a vertical piece of Polaroid,
then the emerging ray will be polarised vertically. It will have half the intensity
of the original beam – this is why sunglasses work. If this ray then meets a
horizontal piece of Polaroid, no light will pass