A Short Note on the Relationship between Path Difference and Phase Difference

The study is going to discuss path difference and phase difference and the relation between them. They can be seen as proportional to each other and have a direct relation between them. The point of discussion here is progressive wave motion, positive direction, propagation in waves and many more. The relation between optical path and phase change is another point of discussion and also the explanation of path difference. 

Discussion on Progressive Wave Motion

It is a wave that continuously travels in a medium and travels in the same direction without any change in its amplitude. This type of wave is called the progressive wave as well as the travelling wave. This type of wave occurs in nature when an object oscillates and produces waves that move through space. The space can be a vacuum, solid, gas or liquid. The waves that are moving through a liquid are generated by wind and ocean waves are examples of this type. Sound moves through the air are an example of waves that move through a gas.    

The Positive Direction of Wave Propagation 

The direction of propagation of a wave can be found by pointing the fingers to the right hand in the direction of the electric field. The waves are directed towards the magnetic field and then the direction of propagation happens. The transverse wave when moving in the positive x-direction, oscillations are in up and down directions that lie in the y-z plane. Wave direction is also reported as magnetic north. Wave direction is affected by wind duration, speed of the wind and fetch.     

Propagation in Wave

In physics, propagation seems to be wave movement. It can be defined as the act of multiplying production or producing offspring. Electromagnetic waves are propagated from the transmitter antenna to the receiver antenna. Understanding the propagation of electromagnetic waves, it is important to have a clear idea about the electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves are the waves that are created as a result of vibration that is produced between the magnetic field and an electric field. Propagation goes through some steps like the sky waves, space waves and ground waves.     

Main Relation between Optical Path and Change in Phase

An optical path is a path of light through a medium and an equal magnitude to the geometric distance. Optical path difference is the product of two terms: the thickness and difference in refractive index. Phase change, on the other hand, defines the change of matter from one state to another. The changes can be from the solid, gas or liquid form and the changes occur when sufficient energy is supplied to the system. Therefore, when a wave travels through different media, then political path length is added to find the total optical path length. The optical path length is used to find the phase change.     

What Is the Relation Between Time Difference And Phase Difference?

The phase difference between two radians is equivalent to a path difference and a time difference in the period. They can also be seen to be directly proportional to each other. The two waves having the same frequency phase difference and path difference are related to each other. Phase difference with time can be calculated by using the formula:

ps=360*td/p

Here, ps is the phase shift in degrees, p is the wave period and td is the time difference between waves.     

Explanation of Path Difference

Path difference is the distance travelled by two waves from their respective sources to a given point on the pattern. The path difference is equivalent to wavelength. The path difference between the two waves is the distance they covered. It is the physical distance between the two sources. It means a constant relationship between two coherent waves, giving their relationship to each other in terms of a fraction of wavelength difference. It is usually expressed in radians or as a fraction of pi. The path difference between two waves is equal to a whole number of wavelengths.     

Conclusion

The study gives the aspect of path difference and phase difference. Here, the path difference is the difference in the path and it is transverse by the two waves. Phase difference here sees the difference in the phase angle of the two waves. Here the explanation is also given on the relation between two path differences. This is a part of progressive wave motion and propagation in waves. Readers can get a clear idea about this aspect from the description.