I hope this helps to explain why it is that we can predict outcomes on random events. It's the Law of Large Numbers that allows us to make predictions about the world (and makes gambling in Las Vegas ultimately a losing game - the house has the advantage and over time will win). The Law of Large Numbers produces a pattern. Refraction and frequency Waves Middle school physics Khan Academy. When random events are taken in large enough numbers, patterns can emerge.įor instance, when we flip a fair coin, doing a large enough number of trials will result in heads and tails coming up 50/50. Refraction and frequency Waves Middle school physics Khan Academy - YouTube. Created by David SantoPietro.Watch the next lesson. I think the important thing to remember is that randomness does not equate to chaos. We can see interference in action if we shine laser light through two slits onto a screen. The Law of Large Numbers, in this case, produces patterns.īut here's the kicker - each photon that is emitted is a random event - what prior photons did and what future photons will do has no bearing on the current photon. As trial after trial is added up, you'll get the same diffraction pattern. Kirchhoff Fresnel Derivation of diffraction from wave equation. So what does this have to do with the Law of Large Numbers and things being random? We can do this experiment not with a continuous light source but with individual photons. Diffraction grating (video) Khan Academy. component of velocity (Wave HeightgWave Period/ (2Wavelength)). What happens when the light interacts with the two slits and the screen is this (showing the interaction between the light waves, with their amplifications and destructions):Īnd it produces a pattern on the screen that looks like this (the "height" of the different shaded areas indicates how many photons hit that spot - which equates to how bright it is under constant illumination from the other side): Key points: Reflection happens when a wave bounces off of a boundary between two materials. Round Earth Calculator Hair Diffraction Calculator Immersed Weight Calculator. A flat screen/surface is placed on the other side. Learn about transverse and longitudinal waves through the examples of a shaken rope and a sound wave. There is a light source on one side of a barrier with two slits cut into it. It's an experiment that demonstrates the wave-like properties of light. Maxima in Single slit diffraction Wave optics Physics Khan Academy. I'll answer this using a physics example - the double slit diffraction experiment.
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