- #1
Cheman
- 235
- 1
Beams of light and wave effects...
Let us first think of a ripple tank and how this is used to demonstrate diffraction nad interference- this is one wave front so when passes through small gap curves the wavefront, spreads the wave out and thus causes diffraction. We often use this analogy to describe light.
But surely a beam of light is very different to a water wave for the simple reason that it is not just one wave but lots of wave chains traveling together in a beam. So how do we explain why diffraction of a beam of light is the same as you would expect from 1 single wave like a water wave?
Thanks in advance. :-)
Let us first think of a ripple tank and how this is used to demonstrate diffraction nad interference- this is one wave front so when passes through small gap curves the wavefront, spreads the wave out and thus causes diffraction. We often use this analogy to describe light.
But surely a beam of light is very different to a water wave for the simple reason that it is not just one wave but lots of wave chains traveling together in a beam. So how do we explain why diffraction of a beam of light is the same as you would expect from 1 single wave like a water wave?
Thanks in advance. :-)