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ThinFilmInterference
WavelikeBehaviorsofLight
TwoPointSourceInterference
ThinFilmInterference
Polarization

TheemphasisofLesson1ofthisunitistopresentsomeevidencethathashistoricallysupportedthe
viewthatlightbehavesasawave.Thereflection,refractionanddiffractionoflightwavesisonestrand
ofevidence.Theinterferenceoflightwavesisasecondstrandofevidence.Intheearlynineteenth
century,ThomasYoungshowedthattheinterferenceoflightpassingthroughtwoslitsproducesan
interferencepatternwhenprojectedonascreen.InthissectionofLesson1,wewillinvestigateanother
exampleofinterferencethatprovidesfurtherevidenceinsupportofthewavelikebehavioroflight.
Perhapsyouhavewitnessedstreaksofcoloronacarwindshieldshortlyafterithasbeenswipedbya
windshieldwiperorasqueegeeatagasstation.Themomentarystreaksofcoloraretheresultof
interferenceoflightbytheverythinfilmofwaterorsoapthatremainsonthewindshield.Orperhaps
youhavewitnessedstreaksofcolorinathinfilmofoilrestinguponawaterpuddleorconcrete
driveway.Thesestreaksofcoloraretheresultoftheinterferenceoflightbytheverythinfilmofoilthat
isspreadoverthewatersurface.Thisformofinterferenceiscommonlycalledthinfilm
interferenceandprovidesanotherlineofevidenceforthewavebehavioroflight.
Lightwaveinterferenceresultswhentwowavesaretravelingthroughamediumandmeetupatthe
samelocation.Sowhatexactlyiscausingthisthinfilminterference?Whatisthesourceofthetwo
waves?Whenawave(lightwavesincluded)reachestheboundarybetweentwomedia,aportionofthe
wavereflectsofftheboundaryandaportionistransmittedacrosstheboundary.Thereflectedportion
ofthewaveremainsintheoriginalmedium.Thetransmittedportionofthewaveentersthenew
mediumandcontinuestravelingthroughituntilitreachesasubsequentboundary.Ifthenewmediumis
athinfilm,thenthetransmittedwavedoesnottravelfarbeforeitreachesanewboundaryand
undergoestheusualreflectionandtransmissionbehavior.Thus,thereare
twowavesthatemergefromthefilmonewavethatisreflectedoffthetop
ofthefilm(wave1inthediagram)andtheotherwavethatreflectsoffthe
bottomofthefilm(wave2inthediagram).
Thesetwowavescouldinterfereconstructivelyiftheymeettwoconditions.
Oneconditionisthatthetwowavesmustberelativelyclosetogethersuch
thattheircrestsandtroughscanmeetupwitheachotherandcausethe
interference.Tomeetthiscondition,thelightmustbeincidentatanglesclosetozerowithrespectto
thenormal.(Thisisnotshowninthediagramaboveinordertospaceoutthewavesforclaritysake.)A
secondconditionthatmustbemetisthatthewavethattravelsthroughthefilmandbackintothe
originalmediummusthavetraveledjusttherightdistancesuchthatitis inphase
withtheother
reflectedwave.Twowavesthatare inphase
arewavesthatarealwaysatthesamepointontheirwave
cycle.Thatis,thetwowavesmustbeformingcrestsatthesamelocationandatthesamemomentin
timeandformingtroughsatthesamelocationandatthesamemomentintime.Inorderforthesecond
conditiontooccur,thethicknessofthefilmmustbe justperfect
.
Ifwave1andwave2meetthesetwoconditionsastheyreflectandexitthefilm,thentheywill
constructivelyinterfere.AswillbelearnedinLesson2,lightthatisvisibletooureyesconsistsofa
collectionoflightwavesofvaryingwavelength.Eachwavelengthischaracterizedbyitsowncolor.Soa
redlightwavehasadifferentwavelengththananorangelightwavethathasadifferentwavelength
thanayellowlightwave.Whilethethicknessofafilmatagivenlocationmaynotallowaredandan
orangelightwavetoemergefromthefilm inphase justperfect
,itmaybe toallowayellowlightwave
toemerge inphase .Soatagivenlocationonthefilm,theyellowlightwaveundergoesconstructive
interferenceandbecomesbrighterthantheothercolorswithintheincidentlight.Assuch,thefilm
appearsyellowwhenviewedbyincidentsunlight.Otherlocationsofthefilmmaybejustperfectto
constructivelyreinforceredlight.Andstillothersareaofthefilmmaybeofperfectthicknessforthe
constructivereinforcementofgreenlight.Becausedifferentlocationsofthefilmmaybeofappropriate
thicknesstoreinforcedifferentcolorsoflight,thethinfilmwillshowstreaksofcolorwhenviewedfrom
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson1/ThinFilmInterference 1/2
above.
3/2/2017 ThinFilmInterference

Whilethemathematicsofthinfilminterferencecanbecomequitecomplicated,itisclearfromthis
discussionthatthinfilminterferenceisanotherphenomenonthatcanonlybeexplainedusingawave
modeloflight.

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