Diffraction of Waves

Diffraction of Waves Diffraction: A change in direction or bending of waves as they pass through an opening or around a barrier in their path.

Diffraction of Waves - Wavelength Wavelength: The smaller the wavelength, the less diffraction will occur. (The sharpness of the bending will be less) Smaller λ = Less Diffraction Larger λ = More Diffraction

Diffraction of Waves – Through an Opening Opening in a Barrier: The smaller the opening, the greater the diffraction. The larger the opening, the less diffraction

Diffraction of Waves – Two or More Openings Diffraction creates circular waves which interfere with each other. Constructive interference where 2 crests meet

Interference Pattern Diffraction creates a common pattern seen in experiments known as an interference pattern If a detector is placed after waves pass through an opening, it can detect the intensity of the wave at different points

Interference Patterns If there is only 1 opening, the pattern looks something like this

Interference patterns If there are 2 slits, the pattern changes The waves will interfere with each other (constructively and destructively) This creates a pattern that looks like this:

Double Slit Experiment Long standing belief was that electrons were tiny pieces of matter and did not behave as waves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc

Double Slit Experiment What did this tell us? The double slit experiment showed that electrons particles AND waves This lead to the understanding of Wave-Particle Duality All elementary particles are actually waves and particles