4. The Huygens principle - its application to: rectilinear propagation of light, reflection and refraction. (2p.) Flashcards
1
Q
Huygens Principle
A
The wave front is the surface over which particles are vibrating in the same phase. The wave front is always normal to rays. The Huygen’s principle makes it possible to find from the position of a wave front at some moment of time its position at the nearest moment of time.
According to the principle, any point of medium reached by a wave may be regarded as a source of spherical waves propagating in all directions. The enveloping surface, i.e. the surface being tangent to all spherical secondary waves in the position they reached at the moment of time t is the wave front at this moment.
