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ThePhysicsClassroomPhysicsTutorialLightWavesandColorTwoPointSource
Interference

LightWavesandColorLesson1HowDoWeKnowLightisaWave?

TwoPointSourceInterference
WavelikeBehaviorsofLight
TwoPointSourceInterference
ThinFilmInterference
Polarization

Waveinterferenceisaphenomenonthatoccurswhentwowaves
meetwhiletravelingalongthesamemedium.Theinterferenceof
wavescausesthemediumtotakeonashapethatresultsfromthenet
effectofthetwoindividualwavesupontheparticlesofthemedium.
Waveinterferencecanbeconstructiveordestructivein
nature.Constructiveinterferenceoccursatanylocationalongthe
mediumwherethetwointerferingwaveshaveadisplacementinthe
samedirection.Forexample,ifatagiveninstantintimeandlocation
alongthemedium,thecrestofonewavemeetsthecrestofasecond
wave,theywillinterfereinsuchamannerastoproducea"super
crest."Similarly,theinterferenceofatroughandatroughinterfere
constructivelytoproducea"supertrough."Destructive
interferenceoccursatanylocationalongthemediumwherethetwo
interferingwaveshaveadisplacementintheoppositedirection.For
example,theinterferenceofacrestwithatroughisanexample
ofdestructiveinterference.Destructiveinterferencehasthetendencyto
decreasetheresultingamountofdisplacementofthe
medium.InterferenceprincipleswerefirstintroducedinUnit10ofThe
PhysicsClassroomTutorial.Theprinciplesweresubsequentlyappliedto
theinterferenceofsoundwavesinUnit11ofThePhysicsClassroom
Tutorial.
Adefiningmomentinthehistoryofthedebateconcerningthenature
oflightoccurredintheearlyyearsofthenineteenthcentury.
ThomasYoungshowedthataninterferencepatternresults
whenlightfromtwosourcesmeetsupwhiletravelingthroughthesame
medium.TounderstandYoung'sexperiment,itisimportanttobackup
afewstepsanddiscusstheinterferenceofwaterwavesthatoriginate
fromtwopoints.
InUnit10,thevalueofarippletankinthestudyofwaterwave
behaviorwasintroducedanddiscussed.Ifanobjectbobsupanddown
inthewater,aserieswaterwavesintheshapeofconcentriccircleswill
beproducedwithinthewater.Iftwoobjectsbobupanddownwiththe
samefrequencyattwodifferentpoints,thentwosetsofconcentric
circularwaveswillbeproducedonthe
surfaceofthewater.Theseconcentric
waveswillinterferewitheachotheras
theytravelacrossthesurfaceofthe
water.Ifyouhaveeversimultaneously
tossedtwopebblesintoalake(or
somehowsimultaneouslydisturbedthe
lakeintwolocations),youundoubtedly
noticedtheinterferenceofthese
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waves.Thecrestofonewavewill
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interfereconstructivelywiththecrestofthesecondwavetoproducea
largeupwarddisplacement.Andthetroughofonewavewillinterfere
constructivelywiththetroughofthesecondwavetoproducealarge
downwarddisplacement.Andfinallythecrestofonewavewillinterfere
destructivelywiththetroughofthesecondwavetoproduceno
displacement.Inarippletank,thisconstructiveanddestructive
interferencecanbeeasilycontrolledandobserved.Itrepresentsa
basicwavebehaviorthatcanbeexpectedofanytypeofwave.

TwoPointSourceInterferencePatterns
Theinterferenceoftwosetsofperiodicandconcentricwaveswiththe
samefrequencyproducesaninterestingpatterninarippletank.The
diagramattherightdepicts
aninterferencepatternproducedbytwo
periodicdisturbances.Thecrestsare
denotedbythethicklinesandthetroughs
aredenotedbythethinlines.
Thus,constructiveinterferenceoccurs
whereverathicklinemeetsathicklineora
thinlinemeetsathinlinethistype
ofinterferenceresultsintheformationofanantinode.
Theantinodesaredenotedbyareddot.Destructiveinterferenceoccurs
whereverathicklinemeetsathinlinethistypeofinterferenceresults
intheformationofanode.Thenodesaredenotedbyabluedot.The
patternisastandingwavepattern,characterizedbythepresenceof
nodesandantinodesthatare"standingstill"i.e.,alwayslocatedatthe
samepositiononthemedium.Theantinodes(pointswherethewaves
alwaysinterfereconstructively)seemtobelocatedalonglines
creativelycalledantinodallines.Thenodesalsofallalonglines
callednodallines.Thetwopointsourceinterferencepatternis
characterizedbyapatternofalternatingnodalandantinodallines.
Thereisacentrallineinthepatternthelinethatbisectstheline
segmentthatisdrawnbetweenthetwosourcesisanantinodalline.
This centralantinodalline
isalineofpointswherethewavesfromeach
sourcealwaysreinforceeachotherbymeansofconstructive
interference.Thenodalandantinodallinesareincludedonthediagram
below.
Atwopointsourceinterferencepatternalwayshasanalternating
patternofnodalandantinodallines.Therearehoweversomefeatures
ofthepatternthatcanbemodified.First,achangeinwavelength(or
frequency)ofthesourcewillalterthenumberoflinesinthepattern
andaltertheproximityorclosenessofthelines.Anincreasein
frequencywillresultinmorelinespercentimeterandasmallerdistance
betweeneachconsecutiveline.Andadecreaseinfrequencywillresult
infewerlinespercentimeterandagreaterdistancebetweeneach
consecutiveline.

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Second,achangeinthedistancebetweenthetwosourceswillalso
alterthenumberoflinesandtheproximityorclosenessofthelines.
Whenthesourcesaremovedfurtherapart,therearemorelines
producedpercentimeterandthelinesmoveclosertogether.Thesetwo
generalcauseeffectrelationshipsapplytoanytwopointsource
interferencepattern,whetheritisduetowaterwaves,soundwaves,or
anyothertypeofwave.

ChangingSourceSeparation ChangingWavelength

TwoPointSourceLightInterferencePatterns
Anytypeofwave,whetheritbeawaterwaveorasoundwaveshould
produceatwopointsourceinterferencepatternifthetwosources
periodicallydisturbthemediumatthesamefrequency.Suchapattern
isalwayscharacterizedbyapatternofalternatingnodalandantinodal
lines.Ofcourse,thequestionshouldariseandindeeddidariseinthe
earlynineteenthcentury:Canlightproduceatwopointsource
interferencepattern?Iflightisfoundtoproducesuchapattern,thenit
willprovidemoreevidenceinsupportofthewavelikenatureoflight.
Beforeweinvestigatetheevidenceindetail,let'sdiscusswhatone
mightobserveiflightweretoundergotwopointsourceinterference.
Whatwouldhappenifa"crest"ofonelightwaveinterferedwitha
"crest"ofasecondlightwave?Andwhatwouldhappenifa"trough"of
onelightwaveinterferedwitha"trough"ofasecondlightwave?And
finally,whatwouldhappenifa"crest"ofonelightwaveinterferedwith
a"trough"ofasecondlightwave?
Wheneverlightconstructivelyinterferes(suchaswhenacrestmeeting
acrestoratroughmeetingatrough),thetwowavesacttoreinforce
oneanotherandtoproducea"superlightwave."Ontheotherhand,
wheneverlightdestructivelyinterferes(suchaswhenacrestmeetsa
trough),thetwowavesacttodestroyeachotherandproduce
nolightwave.Thus,thetwopointsourceinterferencepatternwould
stillconsistofanalternatingpatternofantinodallinesandnodallines.
Howeverforlightwaves,theantinodallinesareequivalenttobright
linesandthenodallinesareequivalenttodarklines.Ifsuch
aninterferencepatterncouldbecreatedbytwolightsourcesand
projectedontoascreen,thenthereoughttobeanalternatingpattern
ofdarkandbrightbandsonthescreen.Andsincethecentrallinein
suchapatternisanantinodalline,thecentralbandonthescreen
oughttobeabrightband.
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In1801,ThomasYoungsuccessfullyshowedthatlightdoesproduce
atwopointsourceinterferencepattern.Inordertoproducesucha
pattern,monochromaticlightmustbeused.
Monochromaticlightislightofasinglecolorbyuseofsuchlight,the
twosourceswillvibratewiththesamefrequency.Itisalsoimportant
thatthetwolightwavesbevibratinginphasewitheachotherthatis,
thecrestofonewavemustbeproducedatthesameprecisetimeas
thecrestofthesecondwave.(Thisisoftenreferredto
ascoherentlight.)Toaccomplishthis,ThomasYounguseda
singlelightsourceandprojectedthelightontotwopinholes.
Thelightfromthesourcewillthendiffractthroughthepinholesandthe
patterncanbeprojectedontoascreen.Sincethereisonlyonesource
oflight,thesetoftwowavesthatemanatefromthepinholeswillbein
phasewitheachother.Asexpected,theuseofa
monochromaticlightsourceandpinholestogenerateinphaselight
wavesresultedinapatternofalternatingbrightanddarkbandsonthe
screen.Atypicalappearanceofthepatternisshownbelow.

Young'stwopointsourceinterferenceexperimentisoftenperformedin
aPhysicscoursewithlaserlight.Itisfoundthatthesameprinciples
thatapplytowaterwavesinarippletankalsoapplytolightwavesin
theexperiment.Forinstance,ahigherfrequencylightsourceshould
produceaninterferencepatternwithmorelinespercentimeterinthe
patternandasmallerspacingbetweenlines.Indeedthisisobservedto
bethecase.Furthermore,agreaterdistancebetweenslitsshould
produceaninterferencepatternwithmorelinespercentimeterinthe
patternandasmallerspacingbetweenlines.Again,thisisobservedto
bethecase.

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MostastoundingofallisthatThomasYoungwasabletousewave
principlestomeasurethewavelengthoflight.Detailsonthe
developmentofYoung'sequationandfurtherinformationabouthis
experimentareprovidedinLesson3ofthisunit.Fornow,theemphasis
isonhowthesamecharacteristicsobservedofwaterwavesinaripple
tankarealsoobservedoflightwaves.ThomasYoung'sfindingsprovide
evenmoreevidenceforthescientistsofthedaythatlightbehavesasa
wave.Afterall,canastreamofparticlesdoallthis?

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