7/18/2023 0 Comments Diffraction of sound waves![]() ![]() If in an electric circuit, electrons passing through a narrow wire approaches a big container (as a wire), these electrons spread all around, and this scattering is the electron diffraction.Ĭonsider the below diagram to understand the cases mentioned above:ĭo you know what happens to water when you put a finger under the tap? Does water revert to the tap or it continues falling down? Or If the direction of water remains the same as before putting the finger under the tap? As the light is spreading all around the area, this spreading is the diffraction of light. Now, you switch on the flashlight of your mobile phone, and the flashlight emitting at the opened end of the tunnel spreads around. Let’s suppose that you are stuck in a tunnel and there is no one around to help you come out of it, so you try to call people moving around the tunnel but they can’t hear you. In a loudspeaker, you speak through a small hole, but the voice coming out spreads around the vicinity and that too modulated, i.e., the diffraction of sound. The diffraction of light is similar to the concept of using a loudspeaker. Here, we have discussed the types of diffraction like diffraction grating, Bragg diffraction, double slit diffraction, and electron diffraction. The aperture or the diffracting object effectively then becomes the second source of the wave.Diffraction Meaning: It is the process by which a stream of light or wave is spread out as a result of passing via a narrow area or across an edge, generally accompanied by interference between the waveform produced.Ĭonsider a train crossing the tunnel, inside the tunnel the rays of the headlight will remain converged however, as the train comes out of the tunnel, the same light spreads around the area. ![]() The wave then bends around the corners of an obstacle, through apertures into the regions of the shadow of the obstacle. Note: Diffraction refers to the phenomenon of a wave encountering an opening or obstacle. Therefore to encounter diffraction on electromagnetic waves in our normal lives, we would require microwaves and not visible light since microwaves have a much higher wavelength and the longer wavelengths of about $3\ cm$ can be seen in low light conditions. This does not happen in electromagnetic waves.įor observing the phenomenon of diffraction, the order of the magnitude of the wavelength of the waves should be comparable to that of the slit width. The motion of vibration in longitudinal waves is in the same direction as the wave propagation. Sound travels by longitudinal waves which radiate outward in concentric circles. The general wavelength of visible light ranges from $7000 \times m$. The wavelength of sound generally ranges from $17\ m$ to $15\ mm$. The frequency of human audible sound waves lies from $20\ Hz$ to $20\ kHz$. The wavelength of sound waves is much higher than that of visible light. This condition is satisfied only for sound waves in everyday life. For diffraction to occur, the slit width should be comparable to the wavelength of the light or sound waves. Hint: The reason for the diffraction of sound waves being more evident in daily experience than light waves is that sound waves have much higher wavelength compared to the visible light waves.
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