AS · Topic 8

When waves meet.

The principle of superposition unfolds into stationary waves on strings and in air columns, the spreading of diffraction, two-source interference fringes, and the sharp orders of a diffraction grating. The beautiful, counter-intuitive heart of AS waves, where adding two waves can give silence or brilliance. Play the four simulations, then work through the lessons, the Paper 1 practice and the concept map below.

Simulations · live
Interactive · live Stationary waves Tune the frequency to lock in harmonics and watch nodes and antinodes form as two waves travel in opposite directions. Loads only when you launch, so the page stays fast.
Interactive · live Diffraction Narrow the gap toward the wavelength and watch the wavefronts spread ever wider as they pass the aperture. Loads only when you launch, so the page stays fast.
Interactive · live Two-source interference Move the slits and the screen to see bright and dark fringes appear, tied together by λ = ax ÷ D. Loads only when you launch, so the page stays fast.
Interactive · live The diffraction grating Change the line spacing and wavelength to send sharp orders to the angles set by d sinθ = nλ. Loads only when you launch, so the page stays fast.
Paper 1 practice · live
Multiple choice · instant feedback Paper 1 style questions A topic set of multiple-choice questions across stationary waves, diffraction, interference and the grating to test your recall and reasoning. Open practice →
Lessons · live
Stationary waves Diffraction Interference and coherence The diffraction grating
Concept map
Open the concept map