Wave Phenomena (HL)

Essential ideas:

• The solution of the harmonic oscillator can be framed around the variation of kinetic and potential energy in the system.
• Single-slit diffraction occurs when a wave is incident upon a slit of approximately the same size as the wavelength.
• Interference patterns from multiple slits and thin films produce accurately repeatable patterns.
• Resolution places an absolute limit on the extent to which an optical or other system can separate images of objects.
• The Doppler effect describes the phenomenon of wavelength/frequency shift when relative motion occurs.

The equation for simple harmonic motion (SHM) can be solved analytically and numerically. Physicists use such solutions to help them to visualize the behaviour of the oscillator. The use of the equations is very powerful as any oscillation can be described in terms of a combination of harmonic oscillators. Numerical modelling of oscillators is important in the design of electrical circuits.

When light passes through an aperture the summation of all parts of the wave leads to an intensity pattern that is far removed from the geometrical shadow that simple theory predicts.

Observed patterns of iridescence in animals, such as the shimmer of peacock feathers, led scientists to develop the theory of thin film interference.

The first laboratory production of thin films was accidental.

The Rayleigh criterion is the limit of resolution. Continuing advancement in technology such as large diameter dishes or lenses or the use of smaller wavelength lasers pushes the limits of what we can resolve.

Although originally based on physical observations of the pitch of fast moving sources of sound, the Doppler effect has an important role in many different areas such as evidence for the expansion of the universe and generating images used in weather reports and in medicine.