Unit 4 - Oscillations

and Waves
4.5 Wave Properties

Huygenss Principle

All points on a given wave front

are taken as point sources for
the production of spherical
secondary waves, called wavelets,
which propagate outward through a
medium with speeds characteristic
of waves in that medium
After some time has passed, the
new position of the wave front is
the surface tangent to the
wavelets

Huygenss Construction
for a Plane Wave

At t = 0, the wave front

is indicated by the
plane AA
The points are
representative sources
for the wavelets
After the wavelets have
moved a distance ct, a
new plane BB can be
drawn tangent to the
wavefronts

Huygenss Construction
for a Spherical Wave

The inner arc

represents part of
the spherical wave
The points are
representative points
where wavelets are
propagated
The new wavefront is
tangent at each point
to the wavelet

Law of Reflection

The normal is a
line perpendicular
to the surface

It is at the point
where the incident
ray strikes the
surface

The incident ray

makes an angle of 1
with the normal
The reflected ray
makes an angle of
1 with the normal

Law of Reflection,
cont.

The angle of reflection is

equal to the angle of incidence
1= 1

This relationship is called the

Law of Reflection

The incident ray, the reflected

ray and the normal are all in
the same plane

Frequency Between
Media

As waves travels
from one medium to
another, wave
frequency does not
change

Both wave speed and

wavelength do change
The wavefronts do
not pile up, nor are
created or destroyed
at the boundary, so
must stay the same

Snells Law of
Refraction

n1 sin 1 = n2 sin 2

1 is the angle of incidence

2 is the angle of refraction

The experimental discovery of

this relationship is usually
credited to Willebrord Snell
and is therefore known as
Snells Law of Refraction

Refraction Details, 1

Light may refract

into a material
where its speed
is lower
The angle of
refraction is
less than the
angle of
incidence

The ray bends

toward the normal

Refraction Details, 2

Light may refract

into a material
where its speed
is higher
The angle of
refraction is
greater than the
angle of
incidence

The ray bends away

from the normal

The Index of
Refraction

The speed of a wave in any

material is less than its
speed in vacuum
The index of refraction, n,
of aspeed
medium
can be defined
as
of a wave in a vacuum
c
n
speed of a wave in a medium
v

Index of Refraction
Extended

The frequency stays the same as

the wave travels from one medium
to the other
v =

1 = 2 but v1 v2 so 1 2

The ratio of the indices of

refraction ofc the two media can
n2
n1 various
1 v1
be expressed
as
ratios

c
n1
2 v 2

n2

More About Index of

Refraction

The previous relationship can

be simplified to compare
wavelengths and indices: 1n1
= 2n2
In air, n1 1 and the index of
refraction of the material can
be defined
terms of the
in
in vacuum
n

wavelengths
n in a medium

Snells Law Example

Light is
refracted into a
crown glass slab
1 = 30.0o, 2 = ?
n1 = 1.00 and n2 =
1.52
2 = sin-1(n1 / n2)
sin 1 = 19.2o
The ray bends
toward the
normal, as
expected

Diffraction

Light of wavelength comparable to or

larger than the width of a slit
spreads out in all forward
directions upon passing through the
slit
This phenomena is called diffraction

This indicates that light spreads

beyond the narrow path defined by the
slit into regions that would be in
shadow if light traveled in straight
lines

Huygenss Principle
and the Concept of
As the wave fronts approach
Diffraction
the
barrier, the opening in
the barrier becomes a new
point source of the waves
When the wave front hits the
barrier, the wavelets bend,
creating a new series of
wave fronts emanating
spherically away from the
opening
This effect is called
diffraction

Diffraction

From Huygenss
principle we know
the waves spread
out from the
slits
This divergence
of light from its
initial line of
travel is called
diffraction

Youngs Double-Slit
Experiment: Schematic

Thomas Young first

demonstrated
interference in light
waves from two sources
in 1801
The narrow slits S1 and
S2 act as sources of
waves
The waves emerging from
the slits originate from
the same wave front and
therefore are always in
phase

Resulting Interference
Pattern

The light from the two

slits forms a visible
pattern on a screen
The pattern consists of
a series of bright and
dark parallel bands
called fringes
Constructive
interference occurs
where a bright fringe
occurs
Destructive interference
results in a dark fringe

Interference Patterns

Constructive
interference occurs
at point P
The two waves travel
the same distance

Therefore, they arrive

in phase

As a result,
constructive
interference occurs
at this point and a
bright fringe is
observed

Interference Patterns,
2

The upper wave has

to travel farther
than the lower
wave to reach
point Q
The upper wave
travels one
wavelength farther

Therefore, the waves

arrive in phase

A second bright
fringe occurs at
this position

Interference Patterns,
3

The upper wave

travels one-half of
a wavelength
farther than the
lower wave to reach
point R
The trough of the
bottom wave
overlaps the crest
of the upper wave
This is destructive
interference

A dark fringe occurs

Youngs Double-Slit
Experiment: Geometry

The path difference,

, is found from the
tan triangle
= r2 r1 = d sin

This assumes the

paths are parallel
Not exactly true, but
a very good
approximation if L is
much greater than d

Interference Equations

For a bright fringe produced by

constructive interference, the path
difference must be either zero or some
integral multiple of the wavelength
= d sin bright = m

m = 0, 1, 2,
m is called the order number

When m = 0, it is the zeroth-order maximum

When m = 1, it is called the first-order
maximum

Interference
Equations, 2

When destructive interference

occurs, a dark fringe is
observed
This needs a path difference
of an odd half wavelength
= d sin dark = (m + )

m = 0, 1, 2,

Interference
Equations, 4

The positions of the fringes can be

measured vertically from the zerothorder maximum
Assumptions

Approximation:

L >> d
d >>
is small and therefore the small angle
approximation tan ~ sin can be used

y = L tan L sin


L
y
(d

,Ld
m

1
2

)
i y
tdark
b
r
g
h
1
m
2(m
0
,12

Interference
Equations, final

For bright fringes

For dark fringes

Superposition
Principle

If two or more traveling waves are

moving through a medium, the resultant
value of the wave function at any point
is the algebraic sum of the values of
the wave functions of the individual
waves
Waves that obey the superposition
principle are linear waves

For mechanical waves, linear waves have

amplitudes much smaller than their
wavelengths

Superposition and
Interference

Two traveling waves can pass

through each other without being
destroyed or altered

A consequence of the superposition

principle

The combination of separate waves

in the same region of space to
produce a resultant wave is
called interference

Superposition Example

Two pulses are traveling

in opposite directions

The wave function of the

pulse moving to the right
is y1 and for the one
moving to the left is y2

The pulses have the same

speed but different shapes
The displacement of the
elements is positive for
both

Superposition Example,
cont

When the waves start

to overlap (b), the
resultant wave
function is y1 + y2

When crest meets

crest (c ) the
resultant wave has a
larger amplitude
than either of the
original waves

Superposition Example,
final

The two pulses

separate
They continue
moving in their
original
directions
The shapes of
the pulses
remain unchanged