| Progressive Waves |
Oscillation of the particles of the medium;
amplitude,
frequency,
wavelength,
speed,
phase,
path difference.
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Progressive waves transport energy from one place to another. |
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| Longitudinal and transverse waves |
Characteristics and examples, including sound and electromagnetic
waves.
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Polarisation as evidence for the
nature of transverse waves; applications e.g.
Polaroid sunglasses, aerial alignment for transmitter and
receiver. |
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| Refraction at a plane surface
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Refractive index of a substance
s |
Candidates are not expected to
recall methods for determining refractive indices. |
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| Law of refraction |
for a boundary between two different
substances of refractive indices n1 and n2 |
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| Total internal reflection |
including calculations of the critical
angle at a boundary between a substance of refractive index
n1 and a substance of lesser refractive
index n2 or air; |
Simple treatment of fibre optics including function
of the cladding with lower refractive index around central
core - limited to step index only;
Application to
communications.
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| Superposition of waves |
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| Stationary waves |
The formation of stationary waves by two waves of the same frequency travelling in
opposite directions;
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No mathematical treatment required.
Simple graphical representation of stationary waves, nodes
and antinodes on
strings.
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| Interference |
The concept of path difference
and coherence.
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The laser as a source of
coherent monochromatic light used to demonstrate
interference and diffraction |
Comparison with non-laser light;
Awareness of safety issues.
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Candidates will not
be required to describe how a laser works. |
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| Slit patterns of fringes |
Requirements of two source and
single source double-slit systems for the production of fringes.
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The appearance of the interference
fringes produced by a double slit system, |
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| Diffraction |
Appearance of the diffraction pattern from a single slit. |
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The plane transmission diffraction
grating at normal incidence |
Optical details of the
spectrometer will not be required. |
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Derivation of the diffraction grating
equation |
Applications; e.g. to spectral analysis of light from stars.
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Where n is the order number.
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