Physics 202 Lecture 8 Wave Interference
When the disturbances from two sources combine the instantaneous amplitudes add
Reflection and refraction of waves provide a mechanical model for light and sound http://www.falstad.com/ripple/ http://www.falstad.com/ripple/ http://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html
Reflection off a boundary acts as a second source that can produce standing waves Hard Fixed Soft Open http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/ http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/reflect/reflect.html http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/SWR/SWR.html
Three-dimensional standing waves are used to build microphones, antenna, and atoms http://www.falstad.com/wavebox/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hydrogen_Density_Plots.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_bond
Double slit experiment provides definitive evidence for the wave nature of light
Single slit diffraction can be understood as the interference of a series of single sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Airy-pattern2.jpg
Iridescence in nature is usually from thin-film interference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_bubble http://www.ytca.com/anti_reflective_coating_technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin-film_interference
The difference between incandescent and laser light is the coherence of the waves http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/optmod/qualig.html#c4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wire-grid-polarizer.svg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarization_(waves)