You are on page 1of 7

1.

The wave-like nature of Light

The distance between any two identical points is called the wavelength  .


Variation

Frequency
The frequency of the wave determines the pitch of the sound. Frequency is a measure of how rapidly the
source of the wave is vibrating. The frequency (f) is defined as the number of complete waves that pass a
point in one second. The units for frequency are Hertz, Hz, which are cycles per second.

Wave equation
The wave equation links the velocity of the wave to the frequency and the wavelength. v = f  where v is
the velocity in m/s, f is the frequency in Hz and  is the wavelength in metres. When we do this with light
we replace v with c to get c = f  .

Prefixes
Just thought I’d put these in to remind you of the range that you could be dealing with.
Name Symbol Size
Peta P 1015
Tera T 1012
Giga G 109
Mega M 106
Kilo K 103
- - 1
milli m 10-3
micro µ 10-6
nano n 10-9
pico p 10-12
femto f 10-15

Worked example 1
Find the frequency of red light with a wavelength of 640 nm. Give your answer in THz.

Worked example 2
Find the wavelength of a 1.5×1017 Hz x-ray. Give your answer in nm.
Diffraction
In sound you gain an appreciation of the effects of diffraction, and the relationship with the wavelength and
gap size. Light can also diffract, though we need very small gaps to observe this since the wavelengths of
visible light are 400 – 700nm.
The amount of diffraction (bending) is given by the value of the ratio  where w is either the width of the
w
object or the width of the opening.
If the ratio  ≥ 1, then it is complete diffraction, i.e. bending through 1800.
w

If the ratio  << 1, then there is very little diffraction.


w
For light we don’t actually want complete diffraction, we would like it to just have some diffraction. So
having 0.01<  < 0.1 as a rough guide.
w

Worked example 3
Explain why you are unlikely to observe any diffraction from a red light source being shone through
a door way.

Worked example 4
If a human hair is 4.0 µm, are you likely to see any diffraction effects when light from a 640 nm
LASER is projected onto the hair?

Worked example 5
Why is it that the AM signal of 777 kHz is more likely to be heard around buildings than the 103 MHz
of the FM signal?
Effect of wavelength (Single Slit Diffraction)
Small
Wavelength
420nm

Medium
wavelength
570nm

Large wavelength
680 nm

As the wavelength is increased the pattern spreads out.

Effect of the gap size (keep the wavelength 570nm)

Small Gap

Med. Gap

Large Gap

As the gap size is increased the line width and separation decreases.
Young’s Double Slit Experiment
Young allowed the light from a distant source to pass through two
narrow parallel slits with a screen placed some distance behind them.
If light was a particle you would predict two bright lines will be formed
on the screen, one for each slit. In fact, Young actually observed a
series of alternating bright and dark lines or fringes.

Young explained this result, using Huygens’ principle and assuming


that each narrow slit acted as a source of secondary waves which
spread out behind the slits and interfered with each other to form the
bright and dark bands. Antinodes where crests met crests and
troughs met troughs and constructively interfered with each other to
form the bright lines. Nodes were formed where crests met troughs
and troughs met crests and the displacements cancelled each other
out by deconstructive interference, producing lines of minimum
intensity.

This experiment showed that light would


produce an interference pattern, because
the light diffracted when passing through
the two very small slits. The light from
each source then interfered with the light
from the other source. This produced a
pattern of bright (antinodes) and dark
(Nodes) bands. Just like diffraction
interference pattern setup by sound or
water. Dark lines correspond to point
where peaks meet troughs. The bright
bands correspond to points where peaks
meet peaks and troughs meet troughs.

Interference
When waves pass through each other, they can add together so that the reinforce each other; or they can
cancel each other out. When the waves add together this is called constructive interference, and will
lead to a bright point. When the cancel each, this is called destructive interference and this leads to a
dark point. On the diagram below the blue lines represent the bright spots and the red lines represent the
dark areas.
This is a diagram of two point sources in
phase. The green lines represent crests,
coming through the slits and them
diffracting.

The central violet line


The central violet line in the middle is the
central antinode. There will be a bright
spot anywhere along this line, because the
path from one source is equal to the path
from the other source. The path difference
anywhere along this line is zero.

The red lines


The red lines are the first nodal lines. It is along these that the path difference between the two sources is
½  , this means that a peak from one source will always meet a trough from the other. These two will
destructively interfere and cause a dark spot or an absence of light. Anywhere along this line is known as a
node.

The blue lines


Along the two blue lines the path difference is 1  . So the peak from one source will always meet the peak
from the other. The trough from one source will always meet the trough from the other. The light will
constructively interfere and it will be a bright spot. Anywhere along this line is known as an antinode.

The Brown lines


Anywhere along the brown lines there will be a dark spot. This is because the path difference is 1.5  , so a
peak from one source will meet the trough from the other. They will destructively interfere with each other
and result in a dark spot. Anywhere along this line is known as a node.

General rules for finding Antinodes


Because antinodes occur where peaks meet peaks and troughs meet troughs, the general rule for finding
an antinode is when the Path difference is a whole multiple of the wavelength.
For the anti-nodal lines the path difference P.D. = n  where n= 0, 1, 2….. 0 is the central antinode.

General rules for finding nodes


Because nodes occur where peaks meet troughs and troughs meet peaks, the general rule for finding a
node is when the Path difference is a whole and a half multiple of the wavelength.
For any nodal line the path difference is summarise by P.D. = (n - ½)  where n = 1, 2, 3….

The distance between the slits


You want the distance between the slits to be in the order of 10 wavelengths, this will mean that there are
enough lines on the screen to make the image clear.
Red light with a wavelength of 640nm is projected
onto two slits and a pattern is shown on the screen.

Worked example 6
What is the path difference at the second dark
band out from the centre band?

Centre band

Worked example 7
What would happen to the pattern if the blue light was used?

Worked example 8
What would happen to the pattern if the slits were closer together?

Worked example 9
What would happen to the pattern if the whole prac was done underwater?

Worked example 10
What would happen to the pattern if the screen was taken further back?

You might also like