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9.3. Interference

Here we bring together all of the different ideas related to waves, interference and refraction to ook at a few specific examples. Firstly we look at diffraction gratings - which are commonly used to analyse light spectra. Finally we look at the phenomenon of thin film interference - the reason behind why bubbles and oil slicks have their characteristic rainbow sheen. There is some really interesting physics behind this, though it requires you to be confident using ideas about reflection, refraction and phase shift.

Before we start, take a look at this video by Crash Course 

The section has been divded up as follows:

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Multiple Slits

Multiple Slit Interference

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Video Lessons

Resources

IB Physics
Topic 9 Notes
IB-Physics.net
Chapter 9 Summary
IB Revision Notes
Mr. G
9.3 Teaching Notes
9.3 Student Notes

Questions

Cambridge University Press
Topic 9: Add Qs
Topic 9: Add Qs MS
Topic 9: MCQs
CUP Website Link
Freely available online
Grade Gorilla
9.3 (Interference) MCQ
Topic 9 (Waves) End Quiz
Quick IB Specific Mixed MCQs
Mr. G
9.3 Formative Assessment
Topic 9 Summary Qs
IB Specific Questions
Physics and Maths Tutor
Interference (AQA 2)
Interference MS (AQA 2)
A-Level Qs: overlapping content
Diffraction Gratings

Diffraction Gratings

Video Lessons

Khan Academy
Diffraction Gratings
Physics Online
Diffraction Gratings
Science Shorts
Diffraction Gratings

Resources

IB Physics
Topic 9 Notes
IB-Physics.net
Chapter 9 Summary
IB Revision Notes
Isaac Physics
Diffraction Gratings
Level 6 Beyond IB
Mr. G
9.3 Teaching Notes
9.3 Student Notes

Questions

Cambridge University Press
Topic 9: Add Qs
Topic 9: Add Qs MS
Topic 9: MCQs
CUP Website Link
Freely available online
Dr French's Eclecticon
Interference, Doppler, Polarisation
Interference, Doppler, Polarisation Solutions
Link to Dr French's Site
Extension: Pre-University Material
Grade Gorilla
9.3 (Interference) MCQ
Topic 9 (Waves) End Quiz
Quick IB Specific Mixed MCQs
Isaac Physics
Interference
Mr. G
9.3 Formative Assessment
Topic 9 Summary Qs
IB Specific Questions
Physics and Maths Tutor
Interference (AQA 2)
Interference MS (AQA 2)
A-Level Qs: overlapping content
Thin Film Interference

Thin Film Interference

Here we draw all these ideas we have looked at in our study of waves and wave behaviour to look at one specific example - why do bubbles or oil slicks appear to show rainbow patterns across their surface? This is all due to something called thin film interference, and it requires us to use our understanding of phase shift, reflection, wave interference, refraction and Snell's law to get our heads around it. 

Video Lessons

Resources

IB Physics
Topic 9 Notes
IB-Physics.net
Chapter 9 Summary
IB Revision Notes
Mr. G
9.3 Teaching Notes
9.3 Student Notes

Questions

Cambridge University Press
Topic 9: Add Qs
Topic 9: Add Qs MS
Topic 9: MCQs
CUP Website Link
Freely available online
Dr French's Eclecticon
Interference, Doppler, Polarisation
Interference, Doppler, Polarisation Solutions
Link to Dr French's Site
Extension: Pre-University Material
Grade Gorilla
9.3 (Interference) MCQ
Topic 9 (Waves) End Quiz
Quick IB Specific Mixed MCQs
Mr. G
9.3 Formative Assessment
Topic 9 Summary Qs
IB Specific Questions
Additional Resources

Additional Resources

IB Questions

A question by question breakdown of the IB papers by year is shown below to allow you to filter questions by topic. Hopefully you have access to many of these papers through your school system. If available, there may be some links to online sources of questions, though please be patient if the links are broken! (DrR: If you do find some broken links, please contact me through the site)

 

Questions on this topic (Section 9) are shown in royal blue.

Use this grid to practice past IB questions topic by topic. You can see from the colours how similar the question topic breakdown is year by year. The more you can familiarise yourself with the IB question style the better - eventually you will come to spot those tricks and types of questions that reappear each year. 

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