5/21/2017 AnatomyofaTwoPointSourceInterferencePattern

AnatomyofaTwoPointSourceInterferencePattern
AnatomyofaTwoPointSourceInterferencePattern
ThePathDifference
Young'sEquation
Young'sExperiment
OtherApplicationsofTwoPointSourceInterference

Lesson1ofthisunitofThePhysicsClassroomTutorialfocusedonthenatureoflightasawave.
Evidencethatledscientiststobelievethatlighthadawavelikenaturewaspresented.Onepieceof
evidencecenteredaroundtheabilityofonelightwavetointerferewithanotherlightwave.This
interferenceismostobviousifmonochromaticlightfromtwocoherentsourcesisallowedtointerfere.In
Lesson3ofthisunit,wewillfocusuponthemathematicalnatureoftwopointsourcelightinterference.
Therelationshipbetweenthewavelengthoflightandthespecificfeaturesofatwopointsource
interferencepatternwillbedescribed.ThemeansbywhichThomasYoungusedthisrelationshipto
measurethewavelengthoflightwillbediscussed.
InLesson1,thenatureoftheinterferencepatternproducedbytwobobbingsourcesinarippletank
(watertank)wasdiscussed.Thediagramattherightdepictsthepattern
resultingfromthepropagationofwaterwavesacrossthesurfaceofthe
water.Thewavespropagateoutwardfromthepointsources,forminga
seriesofconcentriccirclesaboutthesource.Inthediagram,thethicklines
representwavecrestsandthethinlinesrepresentwavetroughs.Thecrests
andtroughsfromthetwosourcesinterferewitheachotherataregularrate
toproducenodes(picturedinblueonthediagram)andantinodes(pictured
inred)alongthewatersurface.Thenodalpositionsarelocationswherethe
waterisundisturbedtheantinodalpositionsarelocationswherethewaterisundergoingmaximum
disturbancesaboveandbelowthesurroundingwaterlevel.Oneuniquefeatureofthetwopointsource
interferencepatternisthattheantinodalandnodalpositionsallliealongdistinctlines.Eachlinecanbe
describedasarelativelystraighthyperbola.Thespatialseparationbetweentheantinodalandnodal
linesinthepatternisrelatedtothewavelengthofthewaves.Themathematicalrelationshipwillbe
exploredlaterinthislesson.Fornow,wewillinvestigatetheunderlyingcausesofthisuniquepattern
andintroducesomenomenclature(namingconventions)thatwillbeutilizedthroughoutthelesson.

Theanimationbelowshowsaseriesofconcentriccirclesabouttwopointsources(labeledasS1andS2).
Thepatterncouldbetheresultofwaterwavesinarippletankresultingfromtwovibratingsourcesor
theresultofsoundwavesfromtwospeakerstravelingthrougharoomortheresultoftwolightwaves
movingthrougharoomafterpassingthroughtwoslitsorpinholesinasheetofpaper.Likethediagram
above,thethicklinesrepresentwavecrestsandthethinlinesrepresentwavetroughs.Thereddotsin
theanimationrepresenttheantinodalpositionsthebluedotsrepresentthenodalpositions.Thered
linesdrawnthroughtheantinodalpoints(reddots)arereferredtoasantinodallinesandthebluelines
drawnthroughthenodalpoints(bluedots)arereferredtoasnodallines.

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5/21/2017 AnatomyofaTwoPointSourceInterferencePattern

Anamingandnumberingsystemisusedtorefertotheseantinodalandnodallines.Anantinodalline
extendsoutwardfromthesourcesintheexactcenterofthepattern.Thisantinodallineisreferredtoas
thecentralantinodalline.Moreantinodallinesarepresenttotheleftandtotherightofthecentral
antinodalline.Thesearereferredtoasthefirstantinodalline,thesecondantinodalline,thethird
antinodalline(ifpresent),etc.Eachantinodallineisseparatedbyanodalline.Thenodallinesarealso
namedthefirstnodallinetotheleftortotherightofthecentralantinodallineisreferredtoas
thefirstnodalline.Thesecondnodallineandthethirdnodallinearefoundasonemovesfurther
totheleftandtotherightofthecenterofthepattern.
Eachlineinthepatternisassignedanumber,knownastheordernumberandrepresentedbythe
letterm.Thenumberingsystemassociatedwiththispatternisjustascreativeasthenamingsystem.
Thecentralantinodallineisassignedanordernumberof0.Thefirstantinodallineisassignedanorder
numberof1thesecondantinodallineisassignedanordernumberof2thethirdantinodallineis
assignedanordernumberof3etc.Nodallinesareassignedhalfnumbers.Thefirstnodalline,located
betweenthecentralantinodalline(m=0)andthefirstantinodalline(m=1)isassignedtheorder
numberof0.5.Thesecondnodalline,locatedbetweenthefirstantinodalline(m=1)andthesecond
antinodalline(m=2)isassignedtheordernumberof1.5.Finally,thethirdnodalline,locatedbetween
thesecondantinodalline(m=2)andthethirdantinodalline(m=3)isassignedtheordernumberof
2.5.Subsequently,ifoneweretostartinthecenterofthepatternandobservethelines(bothantinodal
andnodal)andassociatednumberstotheleftortotherightofthecentralantinodalline,thenumbers
wouldstartat0andincreasebyonehalf:
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 etc.
Eachwholenumberisassociatedwithanantinodallineandeachhalfnumberisassociatedwithanodal
line.(Thenumberingandnamingsystemsusedherefornodallinesdiffersslightlyfromthatusedin
manytextbooks

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