Waves II

Syllabus tag: KCSE | Physics | Form 3 | Topic 26 Waves II

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Describe reflection, refraction and diffraction of waves in a ripple tank.
• Explain interference and the conditions for it.
• Describe Young's double slit experiment and stationary waves.
• Explain resonance in air columns and its applications.

Summary

Waves reflect, refract, diffract and interfere. Constructive interference occurs where waves arrive in phase and destructive where they arrive out of phase. Interference requires coherent sources — same frequency and constant phase difference. Stationary waves are formed when two identical waves travel in opposite directions.