Phase Front Wave Interference Optics Laser Science Educational Hand Drawn

In physics, interference is a phenomenon in which two coherent waves are combined by adding their intensities or displacements with due consideration for their phase difference. The resultant wave may have greater intensity (constructive interference) or lower amplitude (destructive interference) if the two waves are in phase or out of phase, respectively. Interference effects can be observed with all types of waves, for example, light, radio, acoustic, surface water waves, gravity waves, or matter waves as well as in loudspeakers as electrical waves.

The word interference is derived from the Latin words inter which means "between" and fere which means "hit or strike", and was used in the context of wave superposition by Thomas Young in 1801.

The principle of superposition of waves states that when two or more propagating waves of the same type are incident on the same point, the resultant amplitude at that point is equal to the vector sum of the amplitudes of the individual waves. If a crest of a wave meets a crest of another wave of the same frequency at the same point, then the amplitude is the sum of the individual amplitudes—this is constructive interference. If a crest of one wave meets a trough of another wave, then the amplitude is equal to the difference in the individual amplitudes—this is known as destructive interference. In ideal mediums (water, air are almost ideal) energy is always conserved, at points of destructive interference, the wave amplitudes cancel each other out, and the energy is redistributed to other areas. For example, when two pebbles are dropped in a pond, a pattern is observable; but eventually waves continue, and only when they reach the shore is the energy absorbed away from the medium.