This week in year 10 we are looking at wave interference : That is the combining of two or more waves that meet at one point in space.
Terminology:
Terminology:
SUPERPOSITION OF WAVES:
When two or more waves interfere, the resultant wave's amplitude equals the sum of the signed amplitudes of the interfering waves.
CONSTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE occurs when waves interfere in such a way that the amplitude of the resulting wave shows positive growth.
DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE occurs when two or more waves interfere in such a way that the amplitude of the resulting wave shows negative growth.
When two or more waves interfere, the resultant wave's amplitude equals the sum of the signed amplitudes of the interfering waves.
CONSTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE occurs when waves interfere in such a way that the amplitude of the resulting wave shows positive growth.
DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE occurs when two or more waves interfere in such a way that the amplitude of the resulting wave shows negative growth.
There are two special cases of interference where the wavelength, and amplitude are the same for both the original waves.
IN PHASE: Wave 1 and wave 2 are said tobe in phase both waves have the same wavelength and rise and fall together.
This leads to constructive interference, and the resultant wave's amplitude equals the sum of the individual wave amplitudes. Here, the resultant amplitude is twice as large as wave 1's (or wave 2's).
OUT OF PHASE: Here wave 1 and wave 2 are out of phase, because wave 2 looks like wave 1 shifted half of its wavelength to the right. This leads to deconstructive interference, and since wave 1 and wave 2 also have the same amplitude, the waves completely cancel each other out and the resultant wave has an amplitude of zero.
IN PHASE: Wave 1 and wave 2 are said tobe in phase both waves have the same wavelength and rise and fall together.This leads to constructive interference, and the resultant wave's amplitude equals the sum of the individual wave amplitudes. Here, the resultant amplitude is twice as large as wave 1's (or wave 2's).
OUT OF PHASE: Here wave 1 and wave 2 are out of phase, because wave 2 looks like wave 1 shifted half of its wavelength to the right. This leads to deconstructive interference, and since wave 1 and wave 2 also have the same amplitude, the waves completely cancel each other out and the resultant wave has an amplitude of zero.
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