Re: What is Diffraction?

luish m. coelho writes:

> a glass of water with a straw inside is a simple example.
> you see the straw bent but it is not.
> thats what happen with light when it changes the medium it is
travelling
> (from air to water or through the glass, example). I am not sure about

> what happens with pinhole, once there is no medium change. anyone?

>> I've been hunting on the web for a good description of diffraction,
but it
>> all talks about physics and x-rays. Could some one give a real
simple,
>> basic description of diffraction and how it shows itself in
pinholes? I
>> would appreciate no equations if possible. An example with a picture
would
>> be cool.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Lisa

That's 'refraction'. It's a bit harder to show a simple example of
'diffraction'
If you look at the photograph
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021201.html
diffraction is the effect that causes the stars to have the four pointed
spikes
and the ring around the brighter stars, although I'm not sure those
rings are
really diffraction rings.
Received on Wed Dec 11 15:46:27 2002