Wavefronts, Interference and Young's Experiment

Name: Wavefronts, Interference and Young's Experiment
Author: StemPy Lab

Why a ripple spreads in a circle, and why two ripples make a pattern. Huygens' principle and the laws of reflection and refraction, then coherent sources and the interference of two waves, and Young's double slit with its fringe width. It serves the Indian syllabus (NCERT, JEE Main, NEET) and the matching topic of A-Level, IB and AP.

3 lessons, about 1 h 45 min3 simulations10 problems7 practice questionsPython in every lesson

Created by StemPy Lab

Course outline (3 lessons)

Lesson 1about 35 min
Wavefronts and Huygens' principle
A wavefront joins all the points of a wave that are in the same phase. Huygens' principle says every point of a wavefront sends out new small waves, and the new wavefront is the surface that touches them. With it we prove the laws of reflection and refraction, and we see that light keeps its frequency but changes its speed and wavelength in a medium.
1 simulation2 practice questions1 Python program3 problems
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Lesson 2about 35 min
Coherent sources and interference
When two waves meet, their displacements add. The result depends on the phase difference, which comes from the path difference. The intensity of two equal waves goes from zero to four times that of one wave. A steady pattern needs coherent sources, which keep a fixed phase difference.
1 simulation3 practice questions1 Python program3 problems1 Python lab
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Lesson 3about 35 min
Young's double slit experiment
In Young's experiment, light from one narrow slit falls on two close slits, and bright and dark fringes appear on a screen. The path difference at a point at height $y$ is $yd/D$ . The fringes are equally spaced with the width $\beta = \lambda D/d$ . White light gives a white centre and coloured edges.
1 simulation2 practice questions1 Python program4 problems1 Python lab1 question set1 note
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Interference of Light: Practice Paper

15 questions · 20 min

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Wavefronts, Interference and Young's Experiment

Course outline (3 lessons)

Wavefronts and Huygens' principle

Coherent sources and interference

Young's double slit experiment

Test Your Learning

Your teacher

Discussion (0)