Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm studying if electromagnetic waves will interfere with each other, and if that interference will be readable. Is there any prior knowledge out there that I should know of? I've looked everywhere I could find. I've checked here, Google, and Google Scholar, and found nothing of any use at all. Um, help?

There is a whole area of Electrical Engineering study that involves two perspectives on the same thing: "Electromagnetic Interference and Electomagnetic Compatibility". The difficulty in studying electromagnetic waves is that they are not visible so it takes a lot of expensive test equipment and expertise in using the test equipment. To comprehend what the test equipment is telling you requires visualizing something that isn't visible so this isn't how people start out learning about waves and wave interference.

It is easier to study wave interference using waves that are visible. For example, dropping objects that sink into a pan of water will produce waves originating at the point of entry and the waves will bounce off of the sides in interfere with future incident waves. Waves from two different objects will also interfere with each other.

tjmachado,

Welcome to Science Buddies and thank you for your question. To add to what Craig_Bridge has already provided, it is important to remember that a propagating Electromagnetic (EM) wave will have a particular wavelength that will define where on the Electromagnetic EM Spectrum it resides. The EM spectrum includes, Radio waves, Microwaves, X-Rays, and even Visible Light…These are a few of the different classes of Electromagnetic Waves. Please see the EM spectrum map attached.

To experiment with interference patterns of EM waves, you could attempt to perform the “Young’s Double Slit Experiment”. Doing this with light waves can be very tricky since the wavelength is so small (0.4-0.7 microns), you need slits that are around the same width as the wave you are experimenting with to see results.

For an explanation of the EM spectrum and wave propagation, check out this link.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hb ... on.html#c1

Because EM waves move in sinusoidal manner identical to sound or water waves, the principles of interference is the same. The following link discusses wave interference.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hb ... rf.html#c1

Mainly, if two waves traveling in the same medium are “in phase” then they will exhibit constructive interference, but if they are “out of phase” then they will exhibit destructive interference.

I suggest performing a modified version of the Young's Double Slit experiment using a wave with a much larger wavelength, such as sound or water waves as an analog to EM waves.