One objection was that the interference experiment was inconsistent with the law of energy conservation at points of constructive interference, the light intensity is twice the intensity calculated by adding the intensities associated with each individual slit. In this lecture i will discuss the basic theory of interference of. Department of physics, university of wisconsinmadison, madison, wisconsin 53705. Jd varma, associate professor in department of physics. Better known today is his twoslit experiment see fig. In order to observe interference in light waves, the following conditions must be met. The two sources of light should be very close to each other. We can see interference in action if we shine laser light through two slits onto a screen.
When the reflected beams are brought back together, an interference pattern results. Interference of light waves similar to interference of water waves. Interference of light is a common phenomenon that can be explained classically by the. In physics, interference is a phenomenon in which two waves superpose to form a resultant. Introduction in the 17th century, the properties of light were explained by sir isaac newton and christian huygens. When the monochromatic single wavelength light is passed through two slits, the bright spots maxima of the interference pattern that forms is symmetric around. From physical science study committee, college physics, lexington, ma, heath. Youngs double slit introduction video khan academy. Maximal constructive interference of two waves occurs when their phase difference is 0, 2. The michelson interferometer produces interference fringes by splitting a beam of monochromatic light so that one beam strikes a fixed mirror and the other a movable mirror. The waves emitted by two sources should either have zero phase difference or no phase difference. Interference of light physics 204 experiment 5 interference of light.