Wave Interactions

Examples of diffraction

Being able to hear someone speaking around a corner, "rainbow" glasses

Examples of refraction

Rainbows, prisms, difficulty catching fish with your hands, legs appear "cut" when standing in water

Examples of resonance

Tacoma Narrow's bridge collapse, musical instruments, color

antinode

a point of MAXIMUM amplitude on a standing wave

node

a point of ZERO amplitude on a standing wave

standing wave

a wave that appears to stand in one place, even though it is really two waves interfering as they pass through each other

echo

caused by sound reflecting

diffraction experiment

double-slit experiment

hard, smooth surface

needed for reflection

Examples of interference

static on radio or TV signals, "beats" caused by out of tune instruments, noise canceling headphones

refraction

the bending of waves as they enter a new medium at an angle

diffraction

the bending of waves as they move around a barrier or pass through an opening

reflection

the bouncing back of an object or a wave when it hits a surface through which it cannot pass

resonance

the increase in the amplitude of a vibration that occurs when external vibrations match an object's natural frequency

interference

the interaction between waves that meet

destructive interference

the interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a smaller amplitude

constructive interference

the interference that occurs when waves combine to make a wave with a larger amplitude

law of reflection

the rule that the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence