a change in the direction of a wave that is caused by the wave moving past or hitting an obstacle.
The diversion of a ray of light from the straight path by a material obstacle. Thus light may be diffracted by water drops, producing coronae (q.v.).
The sidewise spread of light as it passes the edge of an object or emerges from a small aperture; causes halos or blurring of the image.
Periodic scattering of moving objects when they collide with an orderly pattern of fixed objects. Diffraction always follows Bragg's Law {n*Wavelength=2*Spacing of fixed objects*sin(angle of scattering)}. This periodic scattering is useful in determining the spacing of the fixed objects since all other variables in the equation are know. In Electron Microscopy the spacings being determined are those between atoms in a lattice or crystal.
Process affecting wave propagation, by which wave energy is radiated normal to the direction of wave propagation into the lee of an island or breakwater.
A situation where waves curve or spread-out as they pass through an opening or move around a barrier. Click here to see water waves diffracting ( movie). Back to Wave Index
A deviation in the direction of a wave at the edge of an obstacle.
The bending of light caused by the presence of an object.
The light rays bending around the edge of an object.
The frequency-dependent ability of sound waves to "bend" over or around a partial height barrier such as a furniture panel, which results in an effective "acoustical shadow" only at high frequencies.
The spreading of light as it passes the edges of opaque objects or through narrow slits. Light also is diffracted when passing through a lens. The effects of this distortion on images is greater as the aperture becomes srnaller.
The bending of light around an opaque physical edge that demonstrates the wave nature of light.
What happens to a sound or light wave when it strikes an object. The wave is bent or partially reflected by the object. The size and composition of the object in conjunction with the frequency of the wave determine what happens to the wave. For example, low frequency sound waves will bend around corners so you can easily hear bass even when you're not in the line of sight of the sound source. High frequencies don't bend around large objects, but are reflected.
The bending of soundwaves as they pass around an object. Also a re-radiation of sound caused by discontinuities in surfaces near the radiating device, such as the bolts securing drivers to a speaker cabinet.
diffract. Compare with effusion. The ability of a wave to bend around the edges of obstacles or holes. The effect is most noticeable when the obstacle or hole is comparable to the size of the wavelength.
the process of a wave spreading as it passes around an object or passes through a narrow opening.
A deviation in the direction of a wave of light.
Slight bending of light waves around a sharp edge that is a result of lights wave nature.
The bending of waves (as light or RF) when the waves are met with some form of obstruction.
The tendency of waves to bend around corners. The diffraction of light establishes its nature as a wave.
A phenomenon associated with the scattering of waves when they encounter obstacles whose size is about the same order of magnitude as the wavelength. Diffraction forms the basis for x ray crystallography, and also tends to produce aberrations that must be accomodated in the design and construction of high quality acoustical and optical systems.
The re-radiation of sound waves at discontinuities such as cabinet edges. The time-delayed wave interferes with the original sound output, causing peaks and dips in the frequency response and smearing the transient response.
The bending of light when it enters from one medium into another. For example, light bends as it travels from air into another substance, such as water. Diffraction also occurs when light enters from the air into a mineral, and the amount of diffraction varies among minerals.
The spreading of a wave motion, such as light as it passes an obstacle and expands into the region that is behind the obstacle. differentiation See magmatic differentiation, planetary differentiation, sedimentary differentiation.
The deviation in the path of a wave that encounters the edge of an obstacle.
The modification of white light as it breaks up into the color spectrum.
The process whereby RF signals or sound waves are, in certain circumstances, deflected from their normal straight-line path by physical objects.
The re-radiation of sound waves at the speaker cabinets extremities. This time delayed wave interferes with the original wave causing peaks and troughs in the frequency response which in turn smears the transient response.
Waves are scattered when they pass through an aperture or are bent by passing from one medium to another
The deviation of a wavefront from the path predicted by geometric optics when an opening or an edge of an object restricts a wavefront.
The behavior of a wave when it encounters an obstacle or a non-uniformity in its medium; in general, diffraction causes a wave to bend around obstacles and make patterns of strong and weak waves radiating out beyond the obstacle.
when light passes sharp edges or goes through narrow slits the rays are deflected and produce fringes of light and dark bands
This occurs when waves pass through a gap or round an object of roughly the same size, or smaller than their wavelength, and then spread out.
Anomalies created when a wave moves out from the diaphragm and encounters a radical change in the baffle - say a 90 degree corner. The sharper the corner, the greater the diffraction effect.
When a sound wave from a loudspeaker reaches an edge of the speaker cabinet, it creates a new source of sound that appears to emanate from the edge. This is called edge diffraction. Diffraction will occur any time a wave encounters an obstacle, or abrupt change in a surface. An animated cartoon (107 kb) shows a blue wave emanating from a dome tweeter that diffracts first from the rim of the tweeter as a green wave, and then from the cabinet edge as a red wave. Rounding the corners of a speaker cabinet will reduce, but not eliminate, diffraction. See the section on loudspeaker construction, for more discussion on this topic.
The spreading of light as it passes a sharp edge of an opaque object.
The spreading of light. Occurs when light passes through discontinuities (i.e. steps or edges). In an optical system, light can be diffracted to form multiple focal points or images.
is the breaking up of white light causing spectral colours.
A wave process in which energy is transmitted along wave crests. When a wave train passes a barrier, diffraction causes energy to propogate into sheltered regions behind the barrier.
When the direction of a sound wave is changed by obstacles or geometric changes in the sound path. Not to be confused with reflection or refraction. Hearing sound around a corner is an example. In loudspeaker systems, sound is diffracted by the edges of a baffle, in an amount depending on wavelength and the size and shape of the edge. It is a factor in the design.
When from one medium to another, the light bends after entering, it is said such. For example the bending of light from air to water.
The bending of light as it passes through a small slit or opening. When we study the diffraction of sunlight, we see a rainbow of colours.
Diffraction is when waves bend around an object, or through a gap in an obstacle. Diffraction is most obvious when the gap is about the same size as the wavelength. Bending Waves
The bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves beyond small openings (where small is defined as smaller than the wavelength).
The bending of waves, when they pass the edge of an obstacle, or through a small gap.
Bounced light. Light "refracts" off opaque materials softening and blurring an image.
An effect of the wave nature of light, diffraction occurs when light passes through an aperture or opening. Light from a point source such as a star will be focused, not to a point, but to a diffraction disk. The diffraction disk appears as a central point surrounded by concentric diffraction rings of light. The size of the diffraction disk is dependent upon telescope aperture and seeing conditions.
A modulation of light waves caused by interference in response to an obstacle in the path of propagation.
The bending of waves around edges.
The breaking up of a sound wave caused by some type of mechanical interference such as a cabinet edge, grill frame, or other similar object.
The ability that waves have to bend around corners. The diffraction of light establishes its nature as a wave.
Departure from perfect sharpness of the shadow edge of an illuminated object. Limits the minimum size of a focussed spot. See Huygens' principle.
A type of distortion due to multi-path resulting in the spreading out or “smearing†of the received signal. It occurs when identical signals arrive via different paths and have different time delays. A propagation phenomenon that allows radio waves to propagate beyond obstructions via secondary waves created by the obstruction. Classic types of diffractions are smooth earth and knife-edge.
Spreading of light after a wavefront passes by an opaque edge.
This occurs when a wave passes through a gap between two barriers and spreads out into a circular pattern. The amount of diffraction depends on the wavelength and the size of the gap. www.studyisland.com
the spreading out of light passing through an aperture or opening or opaque object
the spreading out of light as it passes the edge of an obstacle
The bending of light around objects, such as cloud and fog droplets, producing fingers of light and dark or colored bands.
Bending of waves around an object in their path.
bending of wave, i.e. light and sound, around obstacles in their path. Diffraction effects are common in microscope systems where apertures are used to help measure very small samples.
This is the process that makes holograms work, and refers to the bending of light as it passes through very small openings. Diffraction “patterns” use light wave interference to intricately control the intensity distribution of the light transmitted, so that 3-D, animated images can be formed. This is different from refraction, which is the bending of light when it passes from one medium to another, like air to glass.
Deviation of the direction of light or other waves' motion when the wavefront passes the edge of an obstacle and the wave is redirected or scattered.
The propagation of EMR around the edges of opaque objects into the shadow region.
The splitting of light into many tiny beams that interfere with one another.
The phenomenon occurring when water WAVES are propagated into a sheltered region formed by a BREAKWATER or similar barrier that interrupts a portion of the otherwise regular train of WAVES, resulting in the multi-directional spreading of the WAVES.
The bending of sound waves as they pass near an edge or corner of a solid object.
A fundamental and inescapable physical phenomenon where, in all light beams, some energy is spread outside the region predicted by rectilinear propagation.
The bending of radio, sound, or light waves around an object, barrier, or aperture edge.
Any redistribution in space of the intensity of waves that results from the presence of an object causing variations of either the amplitude or phase of the waves.(Basic Science/sound/reflection/discussion012.htm) (Course Material/Ultrasonics/EquipmentTrans/radiatedfields.htm)(Course Material/Ultrasonics/MeasurementTech/cracktip.htm)
The "spreading" of waves into the lee of obstacles such as breakwaters by the transfer of wave energy along wave crests. Diffracted waves are lower in height than incident waves.
A change in the direction of a wave front that is caused by the wave moving past an obstacle. Dipole: An open-back speaker that radiates sound equally front and rear. The front and rear waves are out of phase and cancellation will occur when the wavelengths are long enough to "wrap around". The answer is a large, wide baffle or to enclose the driver creating a monopole.
The bending of waves as they pass around corners or through holes smaller than their own wavelengths.
Deviation of part of a beam, determined by the wave nature of radiation and occurring when the radiation passes the edge of an opaque obstacle.
A phenomenon exhibited by a light's wave front when passing the edge of an opaque object (one that does not allow light to pass through it). The light becomes modulated, causing a redistribution of the light's energy within the wave front. You will see it at the edges of the object's shadow, in the form of minute dark and light bands. The edges of the shadow have a fuzzy appearance. Think of ripples meeting a rock in a pond. They go around the rock in a new series of ripples that can be seen on the sides of the rock. Light waves behaving in a similar manner are said to be diffracted.
When light is obstructed by an object and the wavefront is changed, interference occurs between components of the altered wavefront. The pattern formed by interference is called the diffraction pattern. Many components are designed to yield very specific diffraction effects (diffractive optics, gratings). Other components attempt to counteract this process in order to determine more information about the obstructing medium (electronic imaging).
The bending of a wave around objects placed in its path.
The Breaking up of a ray of light into either a series of light and dark bands, or into coloured bands of the spectrum.
The bending of sound waves around an object which is physically smaller than the wavelength of the sound.
The breaking up of bean of a white :light causing spectral colors.
Bending of a wave passing through a hole, creating a characteristic diffraction pattern in the image plane.
The spreading out of waves when they pass through a gap or around an obstacle. Waves
a phenomenon by which light, due to its undulatory nature, travels following a direction different from the straight line as expected according to geometrical optics, when it encounters small objects or it crosses slits. Due to diffraction, the image of a punctiform source appears as a disc, its size representing the diffraction limit; it is not possible to discriminate between two different objects if the distance between their images is smaller than such limit.
A phenomenon that causes wave propagated energy, such as sound, to change direction when reaching a sharp edge.
the bending of light as it passes through a small aperture or around a sharp edge
The splitting of white light into its constituent spectral colours-the colours of the rainbow colours- when it passes through a hole or grating.
light rays scattered and change direction when they are passed through a small hole or close to an opaque surface.
As a wavefront of light passes by an opaque edge or through an opening, secondary weaker wavefronts are generated, apparently originating at that edge. These secondary wavefronts will interfere with the primary wavefronts as well as with each other to form various diffraction patterns.
the spreading or bending of light that occurs when light passes around an edge.
Energy redistribution due to an obstruction or change in the surface over which it is passing. Diffuse 1. To pour in different directions. 2. Spread out or dispersed, not concentrated.
Diffraction is the ability of a wave to bend around corners. The diffraction of light established its wave nature.
The bending of waves as they travel around objects or as they travel through openings smaller than their own wavelength.
The bending or spreading of waves when they meet an obstruction.
the bending of light (or other waves) around an object or small opening.
The deflection of a sound wave by an obstacle in its path. Its wavelength must be short in relation to the size of the obstacle if the effect is to be significant. With loud-speaker playback situations, diffraction effects often manifest themselves as comb-filtering or phase anomalies, most of which are inaudible at normal listening distances.
The result of light waves interfering with other after passing through a narrow aperture, causing them to bend or spread.
The process by which electromagnetic waves are bent so that they appear behind an obstruction.
The process by which the direction of radiation is changed so that it spreads into the geometric shadow zone of an opaque or refractive object that lies in a radiation field. Diffraction is an optical "edge effect," differing only in degree from scattering. Diffraction becomes more evident when dealing with particles similar to, or larger than, the wavelength of the radiation. In meteorological optics, important diffraction phenomena include the aureole, Bishop's ring, corona, iridescent clouds, etc. The principle of diffraction may also be applied to the propagation of water surface waves, as into the sheltered region formed by a barrier.
The bending of light at the corners of objects or as it passes through narrow slits or apertures.
The bending of light or another form of electromagnetic radiation as it passes through a tiny hole or around a sharp edge.
Diffraction refers to various phenomena associated with wave propagation, such as the bending, spreading and interference of waves emerging from an aperture. It occurs with any type of wave, including sound waves, water waves, electromagnetic waves such as light and radio waves, and matter displaying wave-like properties according to the wave–particle duality. While diffraction always occurs, its effects are generally only noticeable for waves where the wavelength is on the order of the feature size of the diffracting objects or apertures.