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Learning objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Discuss the propagation of transverse waves.
  • Discuss Huygens’s principle.
  • Explain the bending of light.

The information presented in this section supports the following AP® learning objectives and science practices:

  • 6.C.4.1 The student is able to predict and explain, using representations and models, the ability or inability of waves to transfer energy around corners and behind obstacles in terms of the diffraction property of waves in situations involving various kinds of wave phenomena, including sound and light. (S.P. 6.4, 7.2)

[link] shows how a transverse wave looks as viewed from above and from the side. A light wave can be imagined to propagate like this, although we do not actually see it wiggling through space. From above, we view the wavefronts (or wave crests) as we would by looking down on the ocean waves. The side view would be a graph of the electric or magnetic field. The view from above is perhaps the most useful in developing concepts about wave optics.

The figure contains three images. The first image, labeled view from above, represents a wave viewed from above as a series of thin, straight strips arranged adjacent to each other across the page. The color of the strips changes gradually from a darker blue near the crests of the waves to white near the troughs of the waves. A single black horizontal arrow points from left to right across the image. The second image, labeled view from side, shows a typical sine curve oscillating above and below a black arrow pointing to the right that serves as the horizontal axis. The sine wave has the same wavelength as the wave viewed from above. The third image, labeled overall view, is a perspective view of a wave of the same wavelength as in the first two images.
A transverse wave, such as an electromagnetic wave like light, as viewed from above and from the side. The direction of propagation is perpendicular to the wavefronts (or wave crests) and is represented by an arrow like a ray.

The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) developed a useful technique for determining in detail how and where waves propagate. Starting from some known position, Huygens’s principle    states that:

Every point on a wavefront is a source of wavelets that spread out in the forward direction at the same speed as the wave itself. The new wavefront is a line tangent to all of the wavelets.

[link] shows how Huygens’s principle is applied. A wavefront is the long edge that moves, for example, the crest or the trough. Each point on the wavefront emits a semicircular wave that moves at the propagation speed v size 12{v} {} . These are drawn at a time t size 12{t} {} later, so that they have moved a distance s = vt size 12{s= ital "vt"} {} . The new wavefront is a line tangent to the wavelets and is where we would expect the wave to be a time t size 12{t} {} later. Huygens’s principle works for all types of waves, including water waves, sound waves, and light waves. We will find it useful not only in describing how light waves propagate, but also in explaining the laws of reflection and refraction. In addition, we will see that Huygens’s principle tells us how and where light rays interfere.

This figure shows two straight vertical lines, with the left line labeled old wavefront and the right line labeled new wavefront. In the center of the image, a horizontal black arrow crosses both lines and points to the right. The old wavefront line passes through eight evenly spaced dots, with four dots above the black arrow and four dots below the black arrow. Each dot serves as the center of a corresponding semicircle, and all eight semicircles are the same size. The point on each semicircle that is on the same horizontal level as the corresponding center dot touches the new wavefront line, as if the semicircles are pushing the new wavefront line away from the old wavefront line. One of the center dots has a radial arrow pointing to a point on the corresponding semicircle. This radial arrow is labeled s equals v t.
Huygens’s principle applied to a straight wavefront. Each point on the wavefront emits a semicircular wavelet that moves a distance s = v t . The new wavefront is a line tangent to the wavelets.

[link] shows how a mirror reflects an incoming wave at an angle equal to the incident angle, verifying the law of reflection. As the wavefront strikes the mirror, wavelets are first emitted from the left part of the mirror and then the right. The wavelets closer to the left have had time to travel farther, producing a wavefront traveling in the direction shown.

The figure shows a grid pattern made of dots. The overall grid pattern would be square were its upper-right four dots not cut off by a gray solid rectangle oriented at forty five degrees counterclockwise from the vertical. Semicircles representing wavelets are centered on each dot. Arrows indicate that the wavelets approach the angled surface from the left and then reflect downward.
Huygens’s principle applied to a straight wavefront striking a mirror. The wavelets shown were emitted as each point on the wavefront struck the mirror. The tangent to these wavelets shows that the new wavefront has been reflected at an angle equal to the incident angle. The direction of propagation is perpendicular to the wavefront, as shown by the downward-pointing arrows.
Practice Key Terms 2

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Source:  OpenStax, College physics for ap® courses. OpenStax CNX. Nov 04, 2016 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11844/1.14
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