INTERFEREN

CE
 INTERFEREN
Huygens’ principle: CE
All points on a wavefront serve as point sources of spherical secondary wavelets. After a time t, the new
position of the wavefront will be that of a surface tangent to these secondary wavelets.

The propagation of a plane wave in vacuum, as portrayed by Huygens’ principle.

The Law of
Refraction
We can define the index of refraction n for each medium as the
ratio of the speed of light in vacuum, c, to the speed of light v in
the medium. Thus n (refractive index) = c/v

For different media, n1 = c/v1 and n2 = c/v2

𝜆1 𝜈1
=
𝜆2 𝜈2

r
 The Law of
Refraction

Although the speed and wavelength of light in the medium are different from what they are in vacuum,
the frequency of the light in the medium is the same as it is in vacuum.
 Problem
Light of wavelength 589 nm in vacuum passes through a piece of fused quartz of
index of refraction n=1.458. (a) Find the speed of light in fused quartz. (b) What is
the wavelength of this light in fused quartz? (c) What is the frequency of the light in
fused quartz?

n = c/v => v = c/n = 3 * 10^8/1.458= 2.05 * 10^8 m/s

Labmda2 = lambda1/1.458 = > 404 nm

f = 3*10^8 /589 nm = 5.07*10^14 Hz