Wave Behaviour

Designed by Jerry Zheng

How do waves behave?
Recall propagating waves transfer energy but not particles.
● When waves encounter an object, they are either transmitted, reflected, absorbed,
refracted, polarized, diffracted, or scattered
● When waves encounter and overlap with other waves (superposition), they undergo either
constructive or destructive interference

Today we’ll look at the most common ones — reflection, refraction, diffraction, and interference.
Wavefronts
A wavefront is a line connecting points in waves that have the same phase
● The line typically connect all crests (or all troughs)
● This is just a new way to visualise a propagating wave

Wavefronts are always perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave

Huygens’ Principle
Reflection, refraction, and diffraction can be explained using Huygens’ Principle, which states
1. Every point on a wavefront acts as a new source of spherical wavelets
2. The new wavefront is the tangent of all the individual wavelets

As Huygens’ Principle is highly geometrical in nature, always draw diagrams to answer related
questions
 01 Reflection

02 Refraction

Today’s content
03 Diffraction

04 Interference
What is Reflection?
Reflection is when waves change direction after bouncing off a surface
● Specular reflection (smooth surface) produces a coherent image
● Diffuse reflection (rough surface) produces a non-coherent image
Huygens’ Explanation
Huygens’ Principle states
1. Every point on a wavefront acts
as a new source of spherical
wavelets
2. The new wavefront is the tangent
of all the individual wavelets

Let’s see how Huygen’s Principle

accounts for reflection!

Draw this with me!

Drawing
Law of Reflection
● Normal: an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface at the point of contact
● Ray: arrow that represents the direction of wave propagation (perpendicular to wavefront)
● Angle of incidence: angle that the incident (incoming) ray makes with the normal
● Angle of reflection: angle that the reflected ray makes with the normal

All reflection follows the law of reflection

● Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection (θi = θr)
● Incident ray, normal, and reflected ray are on the same plane
 01 Reflection

02 Refraction

Today’s content
03 Diffraction

04 Interference
What is Refraction?
Refraction is the change in direction of a wave passing from one medium to another
● This explains why a straw in water appears bent
● Dispersion of white light into a rainbow is also the result of refraction
○ Shorter wavelengths (e.g. blue) bend more as the result of refraction
How does Refraction work?
Recall light speed up in less dense mediums, and slow down in denser mediums.

When a wave approaches the interface between mediums at an angle

● One side of the wave will reach the new medium BEFORE the other
● This side will travel at the NEW speed while the other travels at the ORIGINAL speed
● The speed DIFFERENCE results in a bending effect

Try to visualise this for yourself!

Which Direction will the Wave Bend?
As a general rule, if the wave
● Slows down in the new medium, its ray will bend towards the normal (‘captured’)
● Speeds up in the new medium, its ray will bend away from the normal (‘escapes’)

Recall that
● Mechanical waves speed up in denser mediums, slow down in less dense mediums
● Electromagnetic waves slow down in denser mediums, speed up in less dense mediums
● Always TAKE NOTICE which type of wave you are looking at!
Exercise
The diagram below shows three wavefronts incident on a boundary between medium I and medium R.
Wavefront CD is shown crossing the boundary. Wavefront EF is incomplete.
a) For a travelling wave, distinguish between a ray and a wavefront.
b) Draw a line to complete the wavefront EF.
c) Explain in which medium, I or R, the wave has the higher speed.
Solution
Huygens’ Explanation
Huygens’ Principle states
1. Every point on a wavefront acts
as a new source of spherical
wavelets
2. The new wavefront is the tangent
of all the individual wavelets

Let’s see how Huygen’s Principle

accounts for refraction!

Draw this with me!

Remember frequency of a wave NEVER

changes, so a speed change MUST
result in a wavelength change (v=fλ)
Tips for Drawing
1. Draw the sides ladder
2. Draw the steps of the ladder
a. Ensure equal spacing between them
b. Ensure perpendicularity to sides
c. Make sure you have 4 ‘points’ where
the interface is
d. Make sure first/last points coincide
with edges of ladder
3. Draw wavelets
a. Draw them sequentially (left to right)
b. Follow rule of thirds (green subdivide)
c. Draw them to the steps
Challenge (if time allows)

In open ocean, waves travel in every direction.

At the beach, waves come from the same direction.
Why do waves always break perpendicular to the beach?
Water Waves (if time allows)

Deeper regions are denser than shallower regions (more water on top compressing down)
● As waves approach the shore, terrain naturally becomes shallower, and waves slow down
● Thus, waves will continuously bend towards the normal as they approach the shore
 01 Reflection

02 Refraction

Today’s content
03 Diffraction

04 Interference
What is Diffraction?
Diffraction is when a wave bends around obstacles or spreads out after passing through a
narrow aperture (a hole/opening).
● Diffraction is most appreciable/significant when wavelength is similar size to the aperture
● Why can we hear around corners but not see around corners?
Huygens’ Explanation
Huygens’ Principle states
1. Every point on a wavefront acts as a new source of spherical wavelets
2. The new wavefront is the tangent of all the individual wavelets

The edges of the wavefront bend as they become a new point source of spherical wavelets
from which wave propagates.
 01 Reflection

02 Refraction

Today’s content
03 Diffraction

04 Interference
What is Interference?
Superposition is when propagating waves travel through and overlap each other
● This superposition results in wave interference
● When waves interfere, they create a resultant wave (algebraic sum of individual waves)
Types of Interference
Phase difference refers to how much a wave is leading in front or lagging behind another wave.
● It is measured as an angle (0º to 180º or 0 to π)
● When waves are in phase (0º phase difference), they will add together and interfere
constructively
● When waves are out of phase (90º phase difference), they will subtract and interfere
destructively

Complete interference only occurs when two waves have the same wavelength and they are
either perfectly in phase or perfectly out of phase.
● Most interference is some combination of constructive and destructive
Exercise
Determine the phase difference between the two displacement-time graphs shown. Give your answers
in a) seconds b) radians c) degrees.
Solution
2D Interference
Recall that we represent waves in 2D with lines that represent the crests of the waveform.

Here, the two waves are travelling through the same medium and create resultant waves by the
principle of superposition.
● Intersections between two lines or two spaces are points of constructive interference
● Intersection between a line and space are points of destructive interference