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This PhET simulation, now available on HTML5, offers multiple tools to explore wave interference in water, sound, and light waves. Users can simulate two waves without barriers, single-slit and double-slit interference, and diffraction patterns created by shining colored lights through different geometric shapes. New tools in this HTML version include adjustable slit width, slit separation, frequency, amplitude, and graphs of E-field vs. position and pressure vs. position.
Editor's Note: This simulation can serve to help students understand diffraction patterns associated with differently-shaped objects. It aims to explain how aperture geometry relates to the diffraction pattern and promote understanding of the relationship between wavelength and aperture size.
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Practices
- Technology
= Multimedia
Optics
- Interference
= Interference From Two Sources
Oscillations & Waves
- Wave Motion
= Interference and Diffraction
= Interference and Diffraction of Sound
Quantum Physics
- Probability, Waves, and Interference
- High School
- Lower Undergraduate
- Instructional Material
= Interactive Simulation
- Audio/Visual
= Movie/Animation
Appropriate Courses Categories Ratings
- Physics First
- Conceptual Physics
- Algebra-based Physics
- AP Physics
- Activity
- New teachers
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Intended Users:
Learner
Educator
Format:
text/html
Access Rights:
Free access
Restriction:
© 2016 PHET and University of Colorado
Additional information is available.
Keywords:
aperture geometry, constructive interference, destructive interference, double slit, interference pattern, single slit, sound, water waves
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created November 10, 2021 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:
November 10, 2021 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
August 11, 2018
Other Collections:

Next Generation Science Standards

Disciplinary Core Ideas (K-12)

Wave Properties (PS4.A)
  • The wavelength and frequency of a wave are related to one another by the speed of travel of the wave, which depends on the type of wave and the medium through which it is passing. (9-12)
  • [From the 3–5 grade band endpoints] Waves can add or cancel one another as they cross, depending on their relative phase (i.e., relative position of peaks and troughs of the waves), but they emerge unaffected by each other. (Boundary: The discussion at this grade level is qualitative only; it can be based on the fact that two different sounds can pass a location in different directions without getting mixed up.) (9-12)

Crosscutting Concepts (K-12)

Patterns (K-12)
  • Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide evidence for causality in explanations of phenomena. (9-12)
Structure and Function (K-12)
  • The functions and properties of natural and designed objects and systems can be inferred from their overall structure, the way their components are shaped and used, and the molecular substructures of its various materials. (9-12)

NGSS Science and Engineering Practices (K-12)

Developing and Using Models (K-12)
  • Modeling in 9–12 builds on K–8 and progresses to using, synthesizing, and developing models to predict and show relationships among variables between systems and their components in the natural and designed worlds. (9-12)
    • Use a model to predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system. (9-12)
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking (5-12)
  • Mathematical and computational thinking at the 9–12 level builds on K–8 and progresses to using algebraic thinking and analysis, a range of linear and nonlinear functions including trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithms, and computational tools for statistical analysis to analyze, represent, and model data. Simple computational simulations are created and used based on mathematical models of basic assumptions. (9-12)
    • Create or revise a simulation of a phenomenon, designed device, process, or system. (9-12)
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Record Link
AIP Format
, Version 1.01 (PhET, Boulder, 2016), WWW Document, (https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/wave-interference).
AJP/PRST-PER
PhET Wave Interference: HTML, Version 1.01 (PhET, Boulder, 2016), <https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/wave-interference>.
APA Format
PhET Wave Interference: HTML. (2018, August 11). Retrieved December 12, 2024, from PhET: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/wave-interference
Chicago Format
PhET. PhET Wave Interference: HTML. Boulder: PhET, August 11, 2018. https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/wave-interference (accessed 12 December 2024).
MLA Format
PhET Wave Interference: HTML. Vers. 1.01. Boulder: PhET, 2016. 11 Aug. 2018. 12 Dec. 2024 <https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/wave-interference>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Title = {PhET Wave Interference: HTML}, Publisher = {PhET}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {12 December 2024}, Month = {August 11, 2018}, Year = {2016} }
Refer Export Format

%T PhET Wave Interference: HTML %D August 11, 2018 %I PhET %C Boulder %U https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/wave-interference %O 1.01 %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %D August 11, 2018 %T PhET Wave Interference: HTML %I PhET %V 2024 %N 12 December 2024 %7 1.01 %8 August 11, 2018 %9 text/html %U https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/wave-interference


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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

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