Guest

what is diffraction and what are its causes?

what is diffraction and what are its causes?

Grade:12

1 Answers

Aman Bansal
592 Points
12 years ago

Dear Viraj,

  Diffraction of light occurs because of its transverse wave nature.  We have already said that when light hits an object, it is diffracted.  This phenomenon is best understood by an examination of Huygens Principle. In 1678, the Dutch pysicist Christiaan Huygens wrote a treatise on the wave theory of light in which he presented a theory now known as HuygensPrinciple.  It states that every point on a wave front can be thought of as a new point source for waves generated in the direction the wave is traveling or being propagated.  OR--  the wavefront of a propagating wave of light at any instant conforms to the envelope of spherical wavelets emanating from every point on the wavefront at the prior instant (with the understanding that the wavelets have the same speed as the overall wave).  Fresnel later elaborated on Huygens Principle by stating that the amplitude of the wave at any given point equals the superposition of the amplitudes of all the secondary wavelets at that point (with the understanding that the wavelets have the same frequency as the original wave). These are termed Huygens wavelets. The formation of the  Airy disk can best be described by looking at how imaging of a luminous point occurs in a lens system such as is found in the compound microscope

Best Of luck

Cracking IIT just got more exciting,It s not just all about getting assistance from IITians, alongside Target Achievement and Rewards play an important role. ASKIITIANS has it all for you, wherein you get assistance only from IITians for your preparation and win by answering queries in the discussion forums. Reward points 5 + 15 for all those who upload their pic and download the ASKIITIANS Toolbar, just a simple  to download the toolbar….

So start the brain storming…. become a leader with Elite Expert League ASKIITIANS

Thanks

Aman Bansal

Askiitian Expert


Think You Can Provide A Better Answer ?

ASK QUESTION

Get your questions answered by the expert for free