 By the end of this lesson, the student

be able to:
 State the principle of superposition
 Explain the interference of waves
 Draw interference patterns
 Interpret interference patterns
 Solve problems involving λ = ax/D
 Whathappens to the surface of the
water when a stone is thrown into it?
 Circular
waves moving radially
outwards are produced.
 What may happen if two stones are
thrown into the water at the same
time?
 What happens when two pulses travel
simultaneously in opposite directions
along the same spring slinky?
 When two pulses
meet,

 they overlap

 then continue to
move in their
original
directions.
 Thecombination of two or more
waves to form a resultant wave is
referred to as superposition
 The principle of superposition states
that when two or more waves
combine at a point, the resultant
amplitude is the sum of the amplitudes
of the individual waves.
 When two or more waves meet, they
superpose or combine at a particular
point.
 The waves are said to interfere. This
phenomenon is called interference.
 Interferenceis the superposition of two
waves originating from two coherent
sources.
 Wave interference occurs when two
waves meet while propagating along
the same medium.
 The waves from coherent sources
have the same frequency (f), same
wavelength and same phase
difference.
 What may happen when two crests
travelling simultaneously in opposite
directions meet?
 When the two crests meet, they
superpose.
 The resulting wave has a bigger
amplitude which is equal to the sum of
the amplitudes of the individual waves.
 This is called CONSTRUCTIVE
INTERFERENCE
 What may happen when two troughs
travelling simultaneously in opposite
directions meet?
 When the two troughs meet, they
superpose.
 The resulting wave has a bigger
amplitude which is equal to the sum of
the amplitudes of the individual waves.
 This is called CONSTRUCTIVE
INTERFERENCE
 Constructive Interference occurs
when the crests or troughs of both
waves coincide to produce a wave
with crests and troughs of maximum
amplitude.
 Whathappens when a crest
propagating from left meet with a
troughs coming from the right?
 When a positive amplitude adds to the
negative amplitude, a zero amplitude
results.
 This is called DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE
 Occurs when crest of one wave
coincide with the trough of the other
wave, thus canceling each other with
the result that the resultant amplitude
is zero.
 Each crest has  When the two crests
an amplitude 1 meet, the resulting
unit. crest has an
 The two crests amplitude of 2
propagating in units.
the opposite  This is a
directions. CONSTRUCTIVE
INTERFERENCE.
 Each trough has  When the two
an amplitude 1 troughs meet, the
unit. resulting crest has
 The two troughs
an amplitude of 2
propagating in units.
the opposite  This is a
directions. CONSTRUCTIVE
INTERFERENCE.
 A crest has an  When a crest meet
amplitude +1 unit.
a trough, the
A trough has
resulting amplitude
amplitude -1 unit.
is zero.
 The crest & the
trough propagating  This is a
in the opposite DESTRUCTIVE
directions. INTERFERENCE.
 Two dippers are connected to the
same motor.
 The two sets of continuous circular
waves produced have the same
frequency and have same phase.
 Sources that produce waves of the
same frequency and have same
phase difference are called coherent
sources.
 The two sets interfere with each other.
 Bright and dark regions can be seen.
 The bright and dark regions are points
of interference.
Constructive
interference

Destructive
interference

 At these points, the water moves up

and down with a large amplitude.
 There are also regions where
destructive interference occurs. At
these point, the water is actually still.
 Points A, B, C and D represent points of
constructive interference. These
points are called antinodes.
 PointsW,X, Y and Z represent points of
destructive interference. These points
are called nodes.
 The points where constructive
interference occur are called antinodes.
 The imaginary lines that connect the
antinodes are called the anti nodal
lines
 The points where destructive
interference occur are called nodes
 Thelines that connect the nodes are
called the nodal lines.
 Solve problems involving
λ = ax
D
a= the separation between the two
coherent sources.
x = the distance between a nodal line
to the next nodal line or between an
antinodal line to the next antinodal
line
D = the distance between the source
and the position x.
Interference of light
 When two light waves interfere, an
interference pattern of bright and dark
fringes is seen on the screen.
 When a crest from one source meets a
crest from another source, or trough from
one source meets a trough from another
source, constructive interference occurs.
 Bright light is formed.
 When a crest from one source meets a
trough from another source,
destructive interference occurs.
 Dark fringes are formed.
Interference of
sound waves
 What happens when two sound waves
interfere?
 Alternate
loud and soft
sounds can
be heard as
one moves
from point X
to Y
 Factors affect the
interference patterns
 The interference pattern depend on
the value of x
 When x changes, the interference
pattern also changes
 Asa becomes
larger, x
becomes
smaller
 The distance between 1
2 consecutive anti x
nodal lines or nodal a
lines, x, is inversely
proportional to the
distance between 2
sources, a
 D and λ are contant
 AsD
increases, x
also will
increase.
 The distance between xD
two consecutive node
lines or anti nodal
lines, x is directly
proportional to the
distance from the two
sources to the point of
measurement of x, D
 a and λ are constant
 Low frequency,  Highfrequency,
large λ and x is small λ , so x will
larger become smaller.
 The distance between
two consecutive node
lines or anti nodal lines ,
x is directly proportional
to the wavelength of the
wave , λ .

D and a are constant

QUIZ 1
QUIZ 2
QUIZ 3
QUIZ 4
QUIZ 5
QUIZ 6
QUIZ 8
QUIZ 9
QUIZ 10