Diffraction physics3/5/2023 In Figure 17.2, both the ray and wave characteristics of light can be seen. Interference is the identifying behavior of a wave. However, when it interacts with smaller objects, it displays its wave characteristics prominently. As is true for all waves, light travels in straight lines and acts like a ray when it interacts with objects several times as large as its wavelength. The range of visible wavelengths is approximately 380 to 750 nm. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.Where c = 3.00 × 10 8 c = 3.00 × 10 8 m/s is the speed of light in vacuum, f is the frequency of the electromagnetic wave in Hz (or s –1), and λ λ is its wavelength in m. No images, graphics, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Davidson and The Florida State University.Īll Rights Reserved. Davidson - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310.īACK TO LIGHT AND COLOR Questions or comments? Send us an email. This behavior is analogous to water waves that wrap around the end of a raft, instead of reflecting away. Like waves in water, light waves encountering the edge of an object appear to bend around the edge and into its geometric shadow, which is a region that is not directly illuminated by the light beam. This fundamentally important observation lends a significant amount of credibility to the wave theory of light. When light is passed through a narrow slit, the beam spreads and becomes wider than expected. On a macroscopic scale, this observation is almost correct, but it does not agree with the results obtained from light diffraction experiments on a much smaller scale. If the particles encounter the edge of a barrier, then they will cast a shadow because the particles not blocked by the barrier continue on in a straight line and cannot spread out behind the edge. This concept is consistent with the particle theory, which proposes that light particles must always travel in straight lines. Newton was quick to point out in his 1704 book Opticks, that "Light is never known to follow crooked passages nor to bend into the shadow". Particles and waves should behave differently when they encounter the edge of an object and form a shadow (Figure 1). The mouse cursor can be employed to drag the opaque light stop back and forth in front of the oncoming waves or particles. Light waves interact with the light stop by diffracting (or bending) into the shadowed region behind the opaque barrier. Prior to becoming a wave, the particles align themselves in waves. The Particle/Wave slider, located beneath the light stop, can be utilized to morph the beam of particles into a planar wavefront. Upon encountering the stop, particles are either deflected (not illustrated) or pass by the object undeviated. The tutorial initializes with particles of monochromatic red light (photons) impacting the surface of a opaque light stop with an incident angle of approximately 90 degrees. This interactive tutorial explores how particles and waves behave when diffracted by an opaque surface. The opposing view holds that light is composed of a steady stream of particles, much like tiny droplets of water sprayed from a garden hose nozzle. One point of view envisions light as wave-like in nature, producing energy that traverses through space in a manner similar to the ripples spreading across the surface of a still pond after being disturbed by a dropped rock. Interactive Tutorials Particle and Wave Diffraction Molecular Expressions Microscopy Primer: Physics of Light and Color - Particle and Wave Diffraction: Interactive Tutorial
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |