Question #e5d23
1 Answer
The phenomenon of bending of light around the corners of small obstacles and its consequent spreading into the regions of geometrical shadow is called diffraction.
Explanation:
Some real life examples where diffraction actually happens are:
1)The closely spaced tracks on a CD or DVD act as a diffraction grating (an optical component with a periodic structure, which splits and diffracts light into several beams travelling in different directions) to form the familiar rainbow pattern seen when looking at a disc.
Image source:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/grating.html
2) The hologram on a credit card is an example in which we engineer a grating so that we can get a desired diffraction pattern.
Image source:
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-hologram-as-a-security-feature-on-a-european-credit-card-25017109.htm
3) Diffraction in the atmosphere by small particles can cause a bright ring to be visible around a bright light source like the sun or the moon.
Image source: http://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/classes/met130/notes/chapter19/corona.html
Source used to answer this question : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction
