Teacher’s Notes:

There are 4 main sequences in this set:

1. Wave-fronts (in a ripple tank), arriving at a slit and being (slightly)
diffracted.
It is shown one step at a time, as you click your mouse.
You can talk it through, moving to the next step when you are ready.
This should help to reduce misconceptions which often arise due to the
difficulty of seeing what is happening in a ripple tank.
2. This is the same sequence, but now automated so that a single click
starts it off, and the motion is now more evident.

3. Wave-fronts (in a ripple tank), arriving at a narrow slit and being

diffracted. The width of the slit is about 1 wavelength.
4. The same sequence, but now automated so that a single click starts it
off, and the motion is now more evident.

Naturally it pays to have a quick practice-run first.

To start the slide-show in Full Screen mode, press Function key <F5>,
or right-click and select Full Screen
(to return to ‘normal view’ press the <Esc> key).
There is a photocopiable sheet of the same diagram in the
Physics for You Teacher Support Pack, page 247.
Diffraction
of waves
1
Learning Objectives
You should learn:

• What happens when a plane wave passes

through a hole in a barrier
• How this effect changes when the hole is
made smaller.
Diffraction at a wide slit
 Diffraction
with a wide slit
water in a ripple tank

barrier

with a wide slit

diffracted
wave
incident
wave
 Diffraction
with a wide slit
water in a ripple tank

barrier

with a wide slit

diffracted
wave
incident
wave
Diffraction at a narrow slit
 Diffraction
with a narrow slit
water in a ripple tank

with a narrow slit

diffracted
wave
incident
wave
 Diffraction
with a narrow slit
water in a ripple tank

with a narrow slit

diffracted
wave
incident
wave
 Diffraction
is most obvious
when . . .

. . . the width of
the hole . . .

. . . is about the
same as the
wavelength

incident
wave
Learning Outcomes
You should now be able to:

• Explain what happens when a plane wave

passes through a slit in a barrier
• Use the word ‘diffraction’
• Explain how the diffraction depends on the
size of the hole.
See Physics for You, page 169.