Lesson 4.3 - Properties of Waves

VIDEO LESSON (19:59 min)

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HOW DO WAVE PROPAGATE? 

Huygen's Principle: Each point on a wave front behaves like a point source. The new waves from each point superimpose onto each other and produce the propagation of the wave
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REFLECTION AND REFRACTION

Reflection: Waves reflect off a surface at the same angle at which they are incident

Refraction: Waves slow down or speed up when the change media so they bend or refract. (Recall Snell's Law from grade 10 optics)


REFLECTION PHASE

If a wave reflects off of a denser medium it

  • flips phase
  • slows down
  • increase wavelength

 

DIFFRACTION

When waves encounter an aperture in a barrier they bend around the other side of the aperture.

CLICK on the following simulations to explore the properties of waves:

WAVE ON A STRING SIMULATION
WAVES INTRO SIMULATION
BENDING LIGHT SIMULATION

Modifié le: jeudi 26 mars 2026, 14:19