4.3 Wave Characteristics

4.
3 Wave Characteristics
➔ Wave fronts and Rays
➔ Amplitude and Intensity
➔ Superposition
➔ Polarization
WAVE FRONTS & RAYS

 A Wave Front:
Is a line representing all parts of a wave that are in phase and an equal number of
wavelengths from the source of the wave. The shape of the wave front depends upon the
nature of the source; a point source will emit waves having circular or spherical wave fronts,
while a large, extended source will emit waves whose wave fronts are effectively flat, or plane.
 A Ray:
Is a line extending outward from the source and representing the direction of propagation of
the wave at any point along it. Rays are perpendicular to wave fronts.
Abdur Rahman Butt Page 1

AMPLITUDE & INTENSITY
The intensity of a wave is defined as the amount of energy that passes though unit area
perpendicular to the wave direction in unit time.
The amplitude of a wave varies in a sinusoidal manner with time whereas the intensity of the wave
varies as sine squared.
The intensity of a wave depends on its energy and the energy varies in a different way from the
amplitude. Since the variation in amplitude is simple harmonic (or a sum of simple harmonic
oscillations) the energy variation with time is proportional to sine squared.
The intensity of a wave is proportional to the square of its

amplitude
𝑰 ∝ 𝑨𝟐
The units of intensity are W/m2 (hence I = Power/Area).

SUPERPOSITION
When two waves overlap the resulting disturbance is simply the sum of the disturbances produced by
each wave.
Consider two waves moving towards each other:

 With the same phase
 With opposite phase
NOTE: the pulses move through each other, their final shape and
amplitude being unchanged.
With pulses of the same phase the pulses reinforce while those of
opposite phase tend to canceleach other. If the pulses are of the
same shape and amplitude they will completely cancel at one point
as they pass through each other.

PHASE DIFFERENCE IN WAVES
The phase of a wave is used to describe location within a single wavelength
Note: Think of parts of a wave as angles of a circle
Phase difference can be thought of as the lag in time between 2 similar waves (same f) and can be
measured in degrees, radians or fractions of a wavelength
Wavelength – distance between 2 consecutive locations in phase

Phase difference in displacement-time graph
It is the fraction of a cycle by which one wave or particle differs from the other (lead/lag)
Phase difference in displacement-distance graph
From graphs:
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 2 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠

𝚫Φ= x 360o
𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒

POLARIZATION
A wave in which the plane of vibration is constantly changing is called an unpolarised wave.
However if the vibrations of a transverse wave are in one plane only then the wave is said to be plane
polarised.
When light is plane-polarised the vibrations are made to occur in one plane only. Light is a transverse
electromagnetic wave with the vibrations of an electric and a magnetic field occurring at right angles
to each other and in any plane at right angles to the direction of travel of the light.
It is important to realize that transverse waves can be polarised while longitudinal waves cannot.

Uses of polarization
 Sunglasses
 Car windscreens
 Polarization by reflection - glare/shine off roads
 Optical activity
 Polarization of scattered sunlight
 Stresses in materials
 Liquid crystal displays on a calculator
 Lap top displays
Polarizer and analyzer

Malus’ Law
Analyzer parallel to polarizer
The transmitted light has (almost) the sameintensity as the polarised light.
Analyzer perpendicular to polarizer
No transmitted light
Polarizer and analyzer at some other angle
The amplitude of the transmitted light waves is equal to component of the amplitude of the
polarised light parallel to the plane of the analyzer.
Therefore, amplitude of transmitted light is given by
(Amplitude of polarised light) ×cos 𝜃

The intensity of a wave is proportional to its amplitude squared therefore the intensity of the
transmitted light is proportional to the cos2 of the angle between the plane of polarization and the
plane of the filter:
𝑰 = 𝑰𝑶 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝜽
Where
Io = intensity of the light incident on the analyzer
I = intensity of the transmitted light.
Polarization by Reflection off Non-metallic Surfaces

Polarization of light by reflection depends on the following two factors:
 Material of the reflecting surface
 Angle at which the ray is incident
For instance unpolarised light reflected off the surface of the water becomes polarized in the direction
parallel to the surface of the water and produces a glare effect which is troublesome for fisherman
and mountain climbers.

4.3 Wave Characteristics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

4.3 Wave Characteristics

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

4.3 Wave Characteristics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

4.

WAVE FRONTS & RAYS

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 1

The intensity of a wave is proportional to the square of its

The units of intensity are W/m2 (hence I = Power/Area).

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 2

Consider two waves moving towards each other:

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 3

The phase of a wave is used to describe location within a single wavelength

Note: Think of parts of a wave as angles of a circle

Wavelength – distance between 2 consecutive locations in phase

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 4

Phase difference in displacement-distance graph

𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 2 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 5

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 6

Polarizer and analyzer

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 7

Analyzer perpendicular to polarizer

Polarizer and analyzer at some other angle

Therefore, amplitude of transmitted light is given by

(Amplitude of polarised light) ×cos 𝜃

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 8

Polarization by Reflection off Non-metallic Surfaces

Abdur Rahman Butt Page 9

You might also like