Practice question · Multiple choice
Interference produces bright and dark fringes, with dark bands where two beams both deliver light. Does that mean energy is being destroyed?
Hints
- Integrate the intensity across the whole pattern.
- Compare it with the sum of the two beams.
Show the answer
B. No, the energy is redistributed rather than removed
Why
Interference moves energy around the screen. The dark fringes give up exactly what the bright ones gain, conservation holds over the pattern, not point by point.
Practise Wave Optics: Interference and Diffraction
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