As an instance of such discussion, consider No. 3 of the phenomena
tabulated above. I expect that every reader understands interference,
but I may just briefly say that two similar sets of waves "interfere"
whenever and wherever the crests of one set coincide with and
obliterate the troughs of the other set. Light advances in any given
direction when crests in that direction are able to remain crests, and
troughs to remain troughs. But if we contrive to split a beam of light
into two halves, to send them round by different paths, and make them
meet again, there is no guarantee that crest will meet crest and
trough trough; it may be just the other way in some places, and
wherever that opposition of phase occurs there, there will be local
obliteration or "interference." Two reunited half-beams of light may
thus produce local stripes of darkness, and these stripes are called
interference bands.
It is not to be supposed that there is any _destruction_ of light, or
any dissipation of energy: it is merely a case of redistribution.
The bright parts are brighter just in proportion as the dark parts are
darker. The screen is illuminated in stripes and no longer uniformly,
but its total illumination is the same as if there were no
interference.
PROJECTION OF INTERFERENCE BANDS.
It is not easy to project these interference bands on a screen so as
to make them visible to an audience,--partly because the bands or
stripes of darkness are exceedingly narrow; indeed I had not
previously seen the experiment attempted. But by means of what I call
an interference kaleidoscope, consisting of two mirrors set at an
angle with a third semi-transparent mirror between them, it is
possible to get the bands remarkably clear and bright, so that they
can readily be projected: and I showed these at a lecture to the Royal
Institution of Great Britain in 1892.
Each mirror is mounted on a tripod with adjustable screw feet, which
stand on a thick iron slab, which again rests on hollow india-rubber
balls. Looking down on the mirrors the plan is as in the diagram Fig.
7, which indicates sufficiently the geometry of the arrangement, and
shows that the two half-beams, into which the semi-transparent plate
divides the light, will each travel round the same contour A B C in
opposite directions, and will then reunite and travel together towards
the point of the arrow. A parallel beam from an electric lantern, when
thus treated, depicts bright and broad interference bands on a screen.
And the arrangement is very little sensitive to disturbance, because
the paths of the two halves of the beam are identical, and because of
the mounting. A piece of good glass can be interposed without
disturbance, and the table can be struck a heavy blow without
confusing the bands.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account