Diffraction produces a bright spot where Poisson believed there would be darkness.
What It Shows
Edge diffraction around a 1/8" diameter steel ball bearing results in a visible spot in the center of its shadow. In 1818 this result—to the chagrin of Siméon D...
A point light source will produce seemingly sharp shadows which turn out to be not at all sharp when viewed under magnification. Narrow interference bands are seen within the shadow of a straight edge while more complicated shapes yield...
What it shows: A room-size laser interferometer with audio signal output. A standing wave is produced whenever a wave is reflected back on itself. A resonant cavity requires a second reflection so that the twice reflected wave has the opportunity to be...
A device to measure distances to an accuracy of fractions of the wavelength of light, it also provided the critical experiment for the non-existence of the ether and for the constancy of the speed of light in all inertial frames.
Waves reflecting from two surfaces can interfere constructively and destructively. In this case it is light waves that are being reflected from the front and rear surfaces of thin soap or oil films. The interference produces a pattern of...
Waves reflecting from two surfaces can interfere constructively and destructively. In this case it is light waves that are being reflected at glass/air and air/glass interfaces. The interference produces a concentric ring pattern of rainbow...
In quantum mechanics, it is possible for a particle to tunnel through a potential barrier because its wave function has a small but finite value in the classically forbidden region. Here we use FTIR as an optical analog of this quantum...
