In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this particle model gave way to a wave model of light because waves could explain reflection, refraction, and everything else that was known about light at that time.

Apr 10, 2025 · Diffraction describes a specialized case of light scattering in which an object with regularly repeating features (such as a diffraction grating) produces an orderly diffraction of light in a diffraction pattern.

•analyze and interpret the properties of two-dimensional mechanical waves in a ripple tank and relate them to light •derive and apply equations involving the speed, wavelength, frequency, and refractive

1. Light must be monochromatic, i.e., involve just a single frequency (single wavelength). 2. Light sources must be coherent, the relative phase is always the same. 3. Light sources must have the same amplitudes. If these conditions do not hold, one still gets constructive and destructive interference but the

Nov 13, 2015 · This interactive tutorial explores how particles and waves behave when diffracted by an opaque surface. 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.

Mar 3, 2025 · Here, we use water waves (pictured as waves in a plane parallel to the double slit apparatus) and observe what happens when they impinge on the slits. Each slit then becomes a point source for spherical waves that subsequently interfere with each other, giving rise to the light and dark fringes on the screen at the bottom.

Jan 19, 2023 · Furthermore, we can answer many questions about light by using the particle model or the wave model of light; both of these simpler models correctly capture aspects of light’s behavior. Many books perpetrate confusion by claiming that light is …

In today’s exercise, you will perform experiments that illustrate the wave-like nature of light. Diffraction is the bending of a wave around an obstacle, while interference is the result of the superposition (combining the amplitudes) of two or more over-lapping waves.

Diffraction of Light Waves diffract as they pass through openings or around barriers, bending into the space behind the barrier. The amount of diffraction is dependent on the wavelength of the wave relative to the size of the obstacle. Longer waves have greater diffractive ability. Laser light can be observed diffracting through a circular ...

Hence Einstein is proposing that light has simultaneously particle-like and wave-like properties (often referred to as wave – particle duality). Some experiments reveal the wave-like properties (interference effects) and others the particle-like properties (photoelectric effect, pair creation).