Interference

How it is used

Seen in Young's double-slit experiment, soap bubbles and noise-cancelling headphones. Constructive interference gives bright fringes or loud spots; destructive interference gives dark fringes or quiet spots. A stable pattern needs coherent sources.

Example sentences

1. The bright and dark fringes on the screen are caused by interference of light from the two slits.

2. Noise-cancelling headphones use destructive interference to reduce background sound.

Common collocations

• constructive interference
• destructive interference
• interference pattern
• double-slit experiment

Related terms

• diffractionThe spreading out of a wave when it passes through a gap or around the edge of an obstacle. It is strongest when the gap is about the same size as the wavelength.
• waveA disturbance that travels through a medium or through space and carries energy from one place to another without carrying matter with it.
• wavelengthThe distance between two neighbouring points on a wave that are at the same stage of their cycle, such as two crests. It is shown by the Greek letter lambda (λ).
• amplitudeThe maximum distance that a point on a wave or an oscillating object moves away from its rest position. A larger amplitude means the wave carries more energy.
• wave-particle dualityThe idea that light and matter can behave both as waves and as particles, depending on the experiment. Electrons, for example, can produce interference patterns.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• interference · Networking & Telecommunications

More terms: Waves, Oscillations and Sound

• frequency
• period
• simple harmonic motion
• Doppler effect
• resonance
• longitudinal wave