Applications of Huygens Theory

Huygens theory is one of the most important and first noticeable theories to study light in depth. Huygens’s wave theory proved Newton’s theory of light incorrect. According to Huygen’s wave theory, light travels in the form of waves. Based on this theory, Huygens created an imaginary medium for the movement known as ether. This has a low density yet is prevalent throughout the atmosphere.

Huygen’s wave theory states that light travels in the form of a wave and this wave propagates in an imaginary medium called ether. Later on, it was proved that the nature of light was indeed the wave. 

History 

A Dutch scientist named Christiaan Huygens, developed a method to see how and where the wave propagates. In 1678, he proposed that all the points around any disturbance point became a source of waves. He further states in his theory that the waves formed to move forward from the point of their actual origin. He successfully explained this theory and later proved the linear and spherical wave propagation through the derivation of the law of reflection and the law of refraction using Huygens’s principle. The effects of diffraction were proposed by Augustinian-Jean Fresnel later.

Applications Of Huygens Theory

This principle helps us understand the movement of waves across different objects. The law of reflection can be derived from Hugyen’s theory. All the points on the wavefront are considered a source along the surface of the refractive medium. At that very point, all the waves bend depending on the new medium. Hence, this principle could help derive the law of reflection and the law of refraction as well. 

Hugyen’s principle helps determine where the wave propagates and how it propagates. 

It is also useful in linear wave propagation and spherical wave propagation.

Hugyen’s principle provides a basic understanding of the wave nature of light. This principle by Hugyen is used to explain the diffraction of light. When light travels through an aperture, each point of the light wave within the aperture is said to form a circular wave that propagates outward from the aperture, which is treated as a new wave source.  

The strength of the wavefront is highest in the middle, diminishing as it approaches the edges. Huygens’ concept may be used to deduce the rules of reflection and refraction. Points along the wavefront are viewed as sources along the refractive medium’s surface, at which point the whole wave bends due to the new medium. As soon as you drop a stone into the water it will create some disturbance around itself. So the water around is the wavefront. 

So what is a wavefront? Wavefront is a collection of all such points that go up and down due to the disturbance. In other words, a wavefront is a line or surface in the wave motion with disturbances at every point having the same phase. Wavefronts are of three types based on the source of light – cylindrical wavefront, spherical wavefront and plane wavefront.

In the above example, the water will go up and come down at the same time so that the time phase will be known as the same phase or the wavefront. In the same way, the waves form in the ether. Hugyen’s wave theory states that if there is any disturbance in the particle of the medium, it will start vibrating. 

Examples of the Huygens Principle

An example of the Huygens Principle in action is when an open doorway links two flats and a sound gets created in a remote corner of one of the apartments. A person in the opposite room will hear the sound as though it originated at the doorway.

Another illustration is that if a stone is thrown into the swash, it’ll produce waves around that time. These disturbances appear as indirect rings and are called wavefronts. Gradually, these wavefronts disperse altogether. These waves are carried forward by the secondary sources, and therefore, by secondary sources of those sources from then on.

Conclusion

Hugyen’s principle means that when you see a wave, you can also figure out an edge around it. It looks as if it is creating several circular waves around itself. In this, a tangent line makes the wavefront of all these circular waves. This is a very convenient and appropriate model used for calculating the wave phenomenon. An everyday example of this law is when someone from another hallway calls out to you, the sound seems to be coming from the doorway itself.