		COLOR PHENOMENA				Page: 03. 05
Introduction	Ingredients	Spectra	Attributes	The Human Eye	Color Mixing	General Terms
Color Spaces	How to measure	Color Scales	Color Effects	After Images		Contents

Spectra

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM on page 03.00
VISIBLE SPECTRUM on page 03.01
RAINBOW on page 03.02
PRISM on page 03.03
SOLAR SPECTRUM on page 03.04
INTERFERENCE on this page

I N T E R F E R E N C E

03-05-01
We all know the beautiful colors we see in a soap bubble or in a wafer-thin oil stain on water.
These colors arise because of interference. When dealing with visible spectrum we can also refer to interference.
The colors may not be in precise order, but this causes beautiful pattern of color as seen in the images.

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In physical terms interference is a process in which two or
more light, sound, or electromagnetic waves combine.

This causes constructive interference by reinforcement
or destructive interference by canceling each other.

The amplitude of the resulting wave being equal to the
sum of the amplitudes of the combining waves

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03-05-10

The image on the left shows
Constructieve Interference
A + B = C

The image on the right shows
Destructive Interference
A + B = C

03-05-11

I n t e r f e r e n c e E x p l a i n e d

An uncomplicated explanation with the help of monochromatic light.
03-05-08	Figure 1 shows a reflection of a light beam on a thin layer of transparent material. The light beam is parallel and exists of monochromatic light. The thickness of the layer is d. Beam 1 hits the layer in A by an angle of incidence i. One part is reflected as beam 3 and the other part is bend as AB with an angle of refraction r. In B occurs again a partial reflection as BC, which hits the inside layer in C. In C it gets partially reflected as CD and partially bend as beam 4. Beam 2 hits the layer in C with the same angle i. One part is reflected as beam 4 and the other part is bend as CD. Beam 1 and beam 2 interfere with each other. Beam 4, as the result, is made up or composed by the reflection of beam 2 plus beam BC.
	NOTE: In Figure 1 the angle of incidence i is 45°, which means that beam 1 en 2 are in phase and the made up frequencies of beam 4 look as present in Figure 2.	03-05-09

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Last update
2010-06-05