Chapter 31, Problem 1A

What is Huygens' principle?

To determine

To Explain: The Huygens’s principle.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

Any point on a wave front may considered as a source of spherical or circular wavelets.

Each point on an advanced wave front is a new disturbance center from which emanate independent wavelets whose envelope is a part of a new wave front at every successive stage. According to Huygens’s principle, in a vacuum or transparent medium, all points of a wave front of light may be considered as a new source of wavelets that spread in each direction with a rate that depends on their velocities.

Conclusion:

Huygens’s principle states that, in a vacuum or transparent medium, all points of a wave front of light may be considered as a new source of wavelets that spread in each direction with a rate that depends on their velocities.